Valdez

On July 30th, Margie's birthday, we drove 116 miles down the Richardson Highway to Valdez.  As we turned off the Glenn Highway to the Richardson, the Wrangell Mountains were on our left.  This mountain range has twelve peaks above 10,000 feet, including Mount Blackburn which tops out at 16,390 feet. What a spectacular view!  Except the mountains were covered in clouds.  Further down the Richardson is the Copper River Valley and the Klutina River, an area we would like to visit some day.  Also along the Richardson is the Alaska Pipeline, carrying oil to the terminal in Valdez.

Not far from Valdez we passed the Worthington Glacier.

We noticed these posts along several highways.  This is near Thompson Pass.  The posts are used as a reference point for trucks clearing the snow from the highway. 

 
 
With a population of more than 4,300 hardy souls, Valdez  is located on the Port Valdez estuary in the Prince William Sound.  It is the furthest north ice free port in Alaska, with good access to the interior.  Like most ports in southeastern Alaska, Valdez has an active commercial fishing fleet and attracts sports fishermen throughout the summer when the fish are running. 

 

Valdez first became established during the Klondike gold rush in the late 1890's.  80,000 miners in search of gold went inland to the Klondike  through Skagway, via the White Pass and along the famous Chilkoot Trail.  Looking for an alternate route, 5,000 miners came though Valdez in 1898.  The only trail out of Valdez at that time was over the Valdez Glacier. They had to ferry their gear twenty miles up to the top of the glacier pulling a seven foot long wooden sled.  A typical miner carried 1,500 to 2,000 pounds of gear and supplies into the interior. Because the average load on the uphill climb was less than 150 pounds, miners spent weeks moving their gear over the glacier. Many died along the trail. When they got to the banks of the Klutina River, little or no gold was found although the area was later found to be rich in other minerals including copper.

In 1899 the Army cut a trail through Keystone Canyon just a few miles outside Valdez and over Thompson Pass that led to the first glacier-free land route from Valdez to the interior, avoiding the difficult climb over the Valdez Glacier. Although efforts to find gold in the Copper River area failed, with the trail through Keystone Canyon open Valdez became an important ice-free port for shipping goods into Alaska as well as shipping gold from the Klondike out of Alaska. The community prospered.

Unfortunately, locating the town at the mouth of the Vladez Glacier flood plain was a bad choice. The delta area on which the town was built was mainly composed of poorly consolidated silt, fine sand and gravel. The epicenter of the 1964 Good Friday earthquake was only 46 miles from Valdez.  The seismic vibration during the earthquake liquefied the soil, causing a rapid displacement of an estimated 96 million cubic feet of soil right in Valdez. The ground around the town dropped nine feet and shifted sideways thirty feet, and caused a mini Tsunami that tossed the SS Chena, which has just tied up at the dock, upwards high enough that the engine screws were exposed.  The waves dropped the Chena on to the beach.  A subsequent wave picked  the Chena up and dropped her back into the bay.  The tanks in the Standard Oil facility nearby ruptured and caught fire. The combination of the oil tank fire and the mini-Tsunami resulted in 32 deaths in Valdez, mostly people who were near the dock area or at the Standard Oil facility.

After the earthquake, the town was relocated four miles away where the ground provided a more solid foundation.  Sixty houses were loaded onto this trailer, built for this purpose, and carried to the new Valdez. 

 
The remaining houses were set on fire and burned.  Today, only a few concrete slab foundations and the now rotted pilings of the old pier remain.

In 1977 the 800 mile Alaska pipeline was completed, to carry oil from Prudhoe Bay on the Arctic Ocean to the terminal in Valdez, where it was loaded onto tankers.  It was outside Valdez, in the Prince William Sound, where the Exxon Valdez ran aground on Bligh Reef in March 1989, causing an 11 million gallon oil spill.   

Because a number of wildlife species in the Prince William Sound have been in decline since the 1960's, it has been difficult to identify the long term impact of the spill on local species.   Although many during our visit spoke about the Good Friday Earthquake and there is a museum with a  model of Old Valdez and many displays about the earthquake, we saw nothing about the oil spill.  The skeptic in me wonders if this is because more than 80% of the state budget is funded by oil revenues. For sure oil plays a very important role in the Alaskan economy.

New regulations approved by the Alaskan legislature following the oil spill limits the size of tankers that can use the Valdez terminal, and effective this year only double hulled tankers may enter the Port of Valdez.  Also, the law requires that two tugs accompany any tanker entering the estuary.  The second tug serves as a backup incase the first tug has a failure. If you look closely, near the port bow of the tanker is an armed Coast Guard patrol boat.  As they passed us the patrol boat pulled into the lead and led the parade down the estuary.

 

We parked our rig at the Bear Paw RV Park, across the street from the harbor.  This is a great location and the park is well organized.  We particularly liked being able to pop across the street to see what's going on in the harbor.

Like other towns along the coast that we have visited on this trip, Valdez is a great place for sea kyakking.

Gulls gather around the fish cleaning stations on the wharf and have a feeding frenzy whenever fish remains are tossed out.

They really get into it.

  
 
One day we went out on the Lu-Lu Belle to the Columbia Glacier. 

We headed down the gang plank.

 

And boarded the Lu-Lu Belle. 

 
Immediately after leaving the harbor we came across a large number of Sea Otters.  These two, in particular, caught my attention.

Photos of other Sea Otters we saw along the way, including a mother and pup near the glacier, can be viewed by clicking Sea Otters
 

Further along the shoreline, the Captain nosed the Lu-Lu Belle into a rock outcropping where there was a Horned Puffin waiting to greet us. 

We also saw  Puffins in the water.  This is a Tufted Puffin.

Of course you can't go out on the water along this part of the Alaskan coast without spotting a whale. Here a Humpback whale. I suspect it is a cow, with a calf to her right.

 
And down she goes.

And we saw Steller seals along the way.

 

We also passed Bligh Reef, where the Exxon Valdez ran aground in 1989.  In case you are wondering, this is Captain Bligh of the Bounty, although when the reef was named after him he was a young officer. Our Captain told us the Exxon Valdez was "only" six miles off course when she hit the reef.

Margie braving the chilly air with her trusty camera at the ready.

And Fred relaxing, knowing Margie will get the shot.

 
 
Boats cannot get closer than eight miles to the Glacier because of ice flows, so we were not able to see any calving, as we did on the Aialik Glacier near Seward. The boat trip into the bay and among the icebergs near the glacier was interesting.

The Lu-Lu Belle slowly worked her way through the ice bergs.

 

Despite the cool weather we enjoyed our outing on the Lu-Lu Belle.

Just outside Valdez is a wetlands area.  There were quite a few Mallard ducks in the pond.  We spent a couple of hours watching and photographing the Mallards.

To see more photos of these beautiful ducks click on Mallards
 

On the far side of the inlet is Allison Point, where the Oil Terminal is located.  Near the Oil Terminal is a fish hatchery. The abundance of fish this time of year attract both Grizzly and Black Bears in search of food.

Along the road we photographed this Grizzly sow with her three cubs.  As soon as we started taking photos they disappeared into the trees.

 
This little guy had a difficult time getting up the bank, but he finally made it.

 
Further along the road we came to a wetlands area that was full of salmon...

 
and a young Black Bear who seemed to be having a great time chasing and eating the fish. He doesn't look like he is lacking food.

For more photos of Grizzly and Black Bears click on Bears

Near the hatchery we watched a pair of eagles building a nest high up into the trees.  They made several trips to bring branches and other materials for the nest. 

 

For more Bald Eagle photos click on Bald Eagles 

The gulls are always fun to watch.

 

How about a little surfing with a Bonaparte Gull?

 
As a final comment, if you visit Valdez put The Magpie Bakery on your list of places to visit.  In fact, go daily.  They have a small but excellent selection of pastries and other baked goods. As the selection changes from day to day, it's important to visit each day. It's your civic duty to do so! Based on our research of Bakery's across Alaska, we would rate The Magpie among the top three.

After a wonderful six days in Valdez, we headed for Haines.  And more bears. And Eagles. Hope to see you in Haines.  If not, we're bound to see you somewhere else down the road.

 

Comments

[Ellen]

We visited Valdez in 2003. Went out on a boat, to see the glacier. Is there more floating ice than usual for August ?
Your rich history of the gold miners, earthquake, and moving the town, was really interesting.
Loved the pictures of you both on the Lu Lu Belle. You are still smiling, so your adventure must be enjoyable. Russ and I stop at local bakeries when we travel. Our taste buds remember the best ones.

[Fred]

Hi Ellen,

Pleased you are enjoying the blog. Our frequent research trips to local bakeries is becomming aparent. The price we all pay! Oh well, we'll soon be back in Nevada County and will work it off on Airport Road.

[Ellen]

Your Haines Blog was wonderful! So many fascinating experiences and sights. We really like the bears. And it looks like you were fairly close at times!
As your odyssey draws to a close, you must feel a sense of wonder about what you have seen and done. Truly you have made so many memories, to be savored in the telling, and thinking about before a winter fire.
We have missed seeing you here in Nevada City, but have rejoiced in your travels and enjoyment of the beautiful state of Alaska and its natives, both human and animal.
Travel safe, and enjoy the rest of your journey !