Denali & Richardson Highway Regions – Our 6-Month Alaska Adventure Part 9

Our 6-month adventure continues as we leave the Denali National Park Area and head across the central wilderness section of Alaska.

We’ve been fortunate to have longer stays over the past few posts, but now it is time to explore the very remote central region of Alaska.  We will be in this region for 10 days with 4 different lodgings.  This central region is purported to include some of the finest scenery in all of Alaska. The map below gives an overview of the areas we are going to cover in this post.

Day 1: The Denali Highway – part 1 (day 72 of the overall trip)

The Denali Highway – part 1

The GPS shows we have 105 miles to travel today, but with what we know from reading about the Denali Highway, we are looking at approximately 4 hours of driving.  Yes, if you do the math it means we’ll probably average around 25mph.  The first 39 miles are on a paved road, AK-3, and we drove this yesterday on our way to and from Talkeetna.  We know there’s some construction that takes the road to one lane for several miles, so that burns time into the drive.  In Cantwell, we turn east onto AK-8 also known as the Denali Highway.

The entire Denali Highway is 135 miles stretching from Cantwell to Paxon, connecting the Parks Highway with the Richardson Highway.  Most of it is unpaved with the exception of 2.5 miles near Cantwell and 21.5 miles near Paxson – but even the paved sections aren’t well maintained.  We will travel 68 miles of it today.  It is considered one of the most spectacular drives in the world.  Much of the route lies above the timberline, so the views go on forever. The mountains of the Alaska Range form a majestic backdrop, with miles of rolling tundra smattered by shallow lakes in between.  There are only 4 lodges along the entire route – each is a self-contained spot with lodging and meals and not much else.  One location offers gasoline and another offers tire repair.  The road is notorious for flat tires – and we brought 2 spare tires, just in case.

This road was in the worst shape of any unpaved road we’ve driven on, in Alaska or otherwise.  It doesn’t help that its been raining which adds mud to the experience.  You can easily see the potholes as the sun reflects off the water in them – but the water masks their depth.  Thankfully, there are very few other vehicles on the road which allows you to drive on the right side of the road, then switch to the left side (to avoid potholes), then in the middle, then the left again – and so on.  The worst was when there were potholes on the entire road so you just had to back down to 5mph and go very slow….there is no lane without a pothole.

Here and there through the rain and fog we catch glimpses of the beauty of this area. We take our time and enjoy the view that we do have today and stop along a raging river to eat lunch. Tomorrow, when the weather is forecasted to break, we are going to double back and catch some of the scenery we know is hidden today.

Alpine Creek Lodge – Night 1

After 5 hours, we finally arrive at the Alpine Creek Lodge and note there is a construction crew re-grading the dirt & gravel road right in front of our lodge.  We hope this means the road from this point to Paxson is in better shape.  At the foot of the hill, we see a dog sled training facility and as we climb the hill to the lodge, we find that this road is full of potholes and mud puddles and its even rougher than the road we just travelled on.

We know that this this lodge is off “the grid” given its location in the wilderness and we pass the generator room as we enter the lodge to check in.

We check in and drop our stuff off in our room – the Captain Quarter’s Suite.   There are about 10-12 rooms total.  Some have bunk beds; some have a queen bed and the “luxury suites” have a queen and a twin.   None of the rooms have a private bath – just 3 bathrooms to share.  Dinner and breakfast are included with the price of our lodging, so we set out to figure out the logistics. Our room has a commanding view of the valley and wilderness as far as the eye can see. This lodge really is literally in the middle of nowhere.

We take a short walk around the lodge to familiarize ourselves with the layout. There is a common area with satellite tv outside our room. We walk by the dining room tables that have a map of the nearby river engraved on then the length of all 3 tables. We stop and admire the bear on the wall which turns out to be a record sized bear shot by the owner’s son.

Since it is only about 4pm, we head to the Grizzly Bar to kill some time.   Claude, the owner, is sitting in a recliner next to the door and welcomes us.  Russ is behind the bar and serves us up a few beers; he met Claude as a guest about 8 years ago and loves this place and his buddy so much, he comes up for the entire summer every year.  Russ uses a walkie-talkie back to the kitchen to let them know to bring us dinner around 5:30pm.  Guests will be eating pulled pork, mashed potatoes and salad tonight.  We learn the staff will eat fried moose.  Since they caught the moose themselves, they aren’t allowed to serve it to guests (only USDA inspected meats for guests) – and when we watch some of the staff eat, we think they may have gotten the better choice.

Ruby, Claude’s dog, serves as cleanup for anything that is left over on you plate.

We learn that Claude and his wife, Jennifer (who checked us in) moved here in 2008 with their 5-year-old son, Bobby.  The place had been abandoned for years and was occupied by porcupines and other critters.  Bobby is now 20 and still lives here and helps them run the place.  He’s 100% home schooled and has completed 2 years of college remotely.  Over the bar is a large 55″ monitor that shows photos from years and years of living here.  We see Bobby growing up, learning about hunting moose & bear (he’s got a certificate from killing the 24th largest grizzly on record).  We see summer scenes and lots of winter scenes with snowmobiling.  This lodge is the only one of the four along the road that is open year-round.  They offer multiple tours including hunting, rafting, fishing and snowmobiling.  Chrissy runs the kitchen, also known as Chrissy’s Café.

A group of 11 people roll in on their motorcycles, all part of a 10 day long tour group.  It is all men and one woman, all from the UK (except the tour leader).  Russ comments that the motorcyclists rarely drink and sure enough, only 1 comes down for an adult beverage.  They all choose to eat in the main dining area and head to bed early.

 

Day 2: The Denali Highway – part 2 (day 73 of the overall trip)

We’ve chosen to stay 2 nights at this place so we can explore the area a bit. We head down to the main dining room to get some coffee and this gives us a chance to meet and talk with some of the motorcycle group. Breakfast is 2 eggs, bacon and French toast.

Windy Creek Trail

Russ told Harrison about the 29-mile Windy Creek Trail and says our truck should be just fine to handle its road conditions which will include some minor stream crossings.  We travel back the way we came in and find the trail about 15 miles later.  We turn onto the very narrow trail, with bushes on both sides that makes it just wide enough for the brown beast.  Not far in, the road widens enough to accommodate a large puddle.  We have no idea how deep it is – but it is every bit of 12′ in diameter.  We trust Russ and go slowly through the water.  The trail is rugged and we keep passing through more and more large puddles, each one seems to be a little rougher and deeper than the last.  After 4 miles we decide to turn around if we can even find a place wide enough to do so.  Nancy remarks that if we got a flat tire in here, there’s no room to change it.  Another mile down the road we find a remote campsite and turn the Brown Beast around – and drive back to the Denali Highway.

Drive to Paxson on the Denali Highway

New plan – we will double back and catch some of the views that were hidden yesterday with the fog and rain and then drive the rest of the Denali Highway to Paxson. Then we might drive north on the Richardson to the spot where the road was completely washed out 10 days ago.  That section of the Richardson just re-opened, one lane only, about 3 days ago.

After just a few miles of driving, we spot a female moose grazing on the tall grass inside a pond.  After taking some photos, we continue to back track for a bit.

We pass the Clearwater Mountain Lodge before pulling into a campsite to admire the views. After a short break, we turn around and proceed back in the direction of Alpine Lodge. As expected, the views of this area are much improved over the previous day.

We pass by the construction workers in front of the Alpine Creek Lodge and sure enough, the road is now greatly improved.  We still choose to drive slowly to bask in the glory of the scenery around us.

We stop for lunch on a spot overlooking Maclaren Glacier and then proceed toward Paxson.

 

We finally hit real pavement when Nancy notices the low tire pressure light is on.  We pull over, and sure enough, we can not only hear air escaping our right rear tire, but we can actually watch the tire going down.  And so, we find the jack, get one of the spare tires and proceed to change it.  Nancy remembers passing the Maclaren River Lodge about 20 miles back and seeing a tire repair sign.

Maclaren River Lodge Tire Repair Stop

Back at the Maclaren River Lodge, Harrison goes with the truck and tire to the tire repair shop just down the hill while Nancy sits at the bar with bartender Jessica and has some home-made vanilla ice cream.  Twenty minutes later, Harrison is back at the bar with Nancy & Jessica and we decide to enjoy a few beers.  Harrison learned they repair about 1 flat tire per day – and they charged a whopping $15.  Jessica is from Columbia, SC and here for the summer.  She works from 11am – 10pm daily and gets off 2 days a month.  Her job includes housing, meals and all her travel expenses to get to/from here.  So far, she loves it. Jessica admires the necklace that Nancy made, and Nancy tells her about her jewelry making hobby. Jessica ends up buying a couple of the necklaces that Nancy has made as we travel.

Alpine Creek Lodge – Night 2

We decide NOT to travel the rest of the way to Paxson today.  We just turn around and head back to base camp.  We stop in at the Grizzly Bar and sure enough, King Claude is sitting in his recliner throne and Russ is behind the bar.  Also joining us are Bobby and one of the summer workers, Irene.  She is from Lancaster, PA.  She works from 9am – 2pm in the kitchen prepping for lunch and then deals with the busloads of tourists that will come here from Denali National Park.  She comes back on duty from 4pm – 7pm for the dinner crowd which is primarily for the overnight guests and staff.  She gets no days off – because the busses and overnight guests come daily.  Her job also includes housing, meals and a plane ticket to get here and back home.  We suspect she and Bobby might have a little thing going!  Dinner tonight is meatloaf, mashed potatoes and salad.  Claude, Russ, Bobby & Irene want to play poker, so they walkie-talkie up to the kitchen to see if anyone else wants to join in.  A few minutes later, two guests from Switzerland come down to the Grizzly Bar – and the game begins.  We just observe for a bit and then decide to head to bed.

 

Day 3: Then Denali Highway & the Richardson Highway – part 1 (day 74 of the overall trip)

The Transition from Alpine Creek Lodge to Antler’s Rest Bed & Breakfast

The morning starts with us walking around a bit and looking at the trail head for a hike and the gold panning area that we were told about.

After a little bit of exploring, we head inside for coffee down in the main dining area and a chance to chat with fellow travelers.  Like yesterday, breakfast is served at 8am but today we get 2 eggs, sausage and a yummy warm oatmeal/apple crisp.

We pack up the car and head to complete the Denali Highway to Paxson.  As we travel the road, we try to figure out where we could have gotten a flat tire yesterday on this much better section of road.  Our only guess is that it happened when we pulled off the road for lunch.  The weather is overcast and its spitting rain which in turn obscures the views we know are there, but the road is a least paved now as we finish off the Denali highway heading towards the Richardson Highway.

At Paxson, we connect up with where we were driving back on day 40 when we transitioned from Tok to Fairbanks and took a small detour to Paxson on the Richardson Highway.  We decide NOT to go north on the Richardson to see where the road washed out – we will just turn south and head to Glennallen where we’ll stay for the next 2 nights.  The 368-mile Richardson Highway connects Fairbanks in the interior with Valdez on the southcentral coast.  As with many roads, it began when gold was discovered (in this case, in Fairbanks).

Richardson Highway & Glennallen

Once we turn south on the Richardson Highway, we are about 1/2 way to our next stay.  The weather is nicer although still overcast – this is better than the forecast said and we’re very grateful. Along the way we hit an 18-mile section where there is major highway construction going on and it delays us for a bit as we wait for the pilot truck. In the distance, we can see the start of the coastal mountain ranges.

We pass by the small towns of Gakona and Gulkana and finally make it to Glennallen.  We drive about 2 miles onto AK-1 also known as the Glenn highway. We notice occasional small businesses; there are just as many open as those that have gone out our business. Some of these look like they have been closed for years.

We find our lodging for the next 2 nights, Antler’s Rest Bed & Breakfast.  We are staying in the Snow Bunting Room and it is one of 6 rooms.  We can tell this place was purposely built as a B&B.  It is basically 2 buildings each with 3 bedrooms and a living room – that are connected by one kitchen in the middle.  We are allowed to use the kitchen to cook, but we decide to go hunting for a restaurant.

The town seems much smaller and offers far fewer restaurants than internet research implied.  We stop at the grocery store for a few items and ask where we can get a beer and a burger.  The check-out clerk says there is only 1 restaurant in town, and they don’t serve alcohol.  We had driven by the place, but it wasn’t open.  He mentions the only other place he knows of is 16 miles in the next town of Copper Center.  We drive down the Richardson Highway to the Grizzly Pizza only to find it too is closed.  We drive through Copper Center on the Old Richardson Highway and don’t see anything that appeals in any way.  We head back toward our lodging and spot 2 places next to each other at a gas station – a Thai food truck and Ernesto’s Mobile Grill.  We choose the latter and there’s quite a line – which hopefully means the food will be good.  Sure enough, our fajitas and quesadillas hit the spot.

Back at Antler’s Rest, we meet some of the other guests and hear about other places where folks had dinner.  Apparently, that grocery store clerk doesn’t get out much because there are a few more restaurants than he seemed to know about.  But none of the other guests were “wowed” by where they ate, but we take note of options for tomorrow.

 

Day 4: Nebesna & Tok Cut-Off Roads (day 75 of the overall trip)

We are staying at a B&B, but this one is still skittish from the pandemic, so you make breakfast yourself.  They give you lots of ingredient choices, but with 6 occupied rooms in the place and everyone making their own breakfast, it is a little bit of a challenge.

Nebesna Road into Northern Wrangell-St. Elias National Park & Preserve

It is a beautiful day for a scenic drive, so we decide to head up to the northern back entrance into Wrangell – St. Elias National Park and Preserve.  This is America’s largest National Park at 13.2 million acres.  It is the same size as Yellowstone, Yosemite and Switzerland COMBINED (with taller peaks).  We stop at the Visitor Center to see if the road we need to travel has been completely re-opened or not. We view some of the exhibits and then get a couple photos of the park’s mountains in the distance.

Nebesna Road is 42 miles long but another one of those washouts has closed the road at mile 29 about a week ago.  It still is closed, but 29 miles is better than nothing.  To get to Nebesna Rd we head toward Tok via the Tok Cut-Off Road (Glenn Highway).  The unpaved road is rough, but nothing worse than we’ve already driven on.  The views go on for miles.  And this is the piddly north entrance – we’ll be going much deeper into this park from the southern entrance tomorrow.

Tok Cut-Off Road to Tok & Back

After turning around at the wash-out, we have a lot of time left in the day and the weather is still beautiful.  We decide to drive further north on the Tok Cut-Off Road to connect up the roads and be able to say we drove on every main paved road on the maps in Alaska (with the goal of driving on them all).  We know the gas is less expensive in Tok and they have a much better grocery store than Glennallen.  So, we travel another hour and a half all the way to Tok, fuel up and grab a few groceries.  The drive was truly spectacular.

Scenic drives are always different in the opposite direction and this one is no exception. We hit a bit rain on the way back but before we get back the weather clears again, and we get a great view of the mountains to the south.

And so, we return back to our Bed & Breakfast where we connect up with other travelers.  We decided there weren’t any restaurants that interested us, so we cook a meal in tonight.

Day 5: The Richardson Highway – part 2 & The McCarthy Road (day 76 of the overall trip)

The McCarthy Road

We are very excited for today’s adventure especially since the weather forecast is improving.  We are transitioning to a very remote part of central Alaska in the heart of Wrangell – St. Elias National Park to a town called Kennecott.  We drive south on the Richardson Highway to the McCarthy Road turn-off.  This entire turn-off is 90 miles, and they say to plan 3-5 hours for the drive.  The first 30 are paved, but as we’ve learned, that doesn’t necessarily mean the road is smooth.  This part of the road takes us to the small town of Chitina.  The last 60 miles are unpaved and have a notorious reputation for flat tires.  The road follows an old, abandoned railroad bed which was haphazardly pulled up without clearing away all the old railroad spikes, etc.  The old railroad was used to ship the copper from the Kennecott Mines over 196 miles to the town of Cordova where it was then shipped to Washington State for final smelting.  The deeper we go into the park, the more we are rewarded with tall snow-covered mountains looming in the distance.

Base Camp – parking & shuttles – McCarthy

We arrive at a place called “Base Camp” where our driving ends.  We have .5 miles to the small town of McCarthy (population 42) and a total of 5 miles to the small town of Kennecott (whose population is counted together with McCarthy).  There are shuttle services that take you to one, the other or both (depending on the shuttle service).  We park our truck in the designated area for our lodging and take note that our lodging shuttle departs once an hour, on the hour.

We have to cross a footbridge over the river to get to the shuttle pick-up area and the road.   It is 1:15pm so we decide to walk the .5 miles to McCarthy to stretch our legs.

Within 10 minutes, we arrive at McCarthy and see it has 2 or 3 places to eat, a saloon, a roadhouse and a few gift shops.  This town may be small, but it has personality!   We grab a beer and sit on the deck while listening to 2 guys playing guitar and singing – they aren’t official entertainment, just two guys enjoying music together.  We notice many antique cars here and one local is glad to share his story with anyone who passes by.

We learn that McCarthy was the site of a reality TV show called “Edge of Alaska” which last for 4 seasons and focused on the isolation of this town in the winter.

Kennecott Glacier Lodge

We walk back to base camp to grab the 5pm shuttle to the Kennecott Glacier Lodge.  We have carefully planned what we will need to take with us because if we forget something, it will require more shuttles back and forth and they only run once an hour.  The 5 mile drive takes just over 15 minutes and it is one of the bumpiest drives in this mini-van.

Kennecott is one of those quintessential places where there’s a beautiful old lodge, the historic Kennecott Copper Mine buildings, glaciers, mountains and valleys for miles.  There are 2 buildings at the lodge.  The original building has rooms with shared baths and the newer building has rooms with private baths.  We check into our room (with a private bath) and feel how special this place is.

You either eat here at the lodge, from a food truck just down the hill, or you go back to McCarthy.  We’ve chosen the “meal package” that was rather reasonable – $65/person/day for breakfast, lunch and dinner.  Dinner tonight is filet mignon with mashed potatoes, vegetables and a blueberry Crème Brulee for dessert.  The food is beyond expectation for such a remote location.

 

We are talking a full tour of the mine in the morning but this time of year in Alaska, it’s not really getting dark, so before dinner, we walk around to get a feel for where we are staying the next couple days.

Day 6: Kennecott (day 77 of the overall trip)

Kennecott Mine Tour

We’ve signed up for the 9:30 Kennecott Mine Tour so we are up early, eat a fabulous breakfast from the well-stocked buffet and check in for our tour in the building just across the “street”.  We are met by our tour guide, Abby, and she turns out to be a wealth of information.  We have about 10 others on the tour with us.

In 1900, two men were exploring this region of the park when they spotted a large green field in the distance.  As they approached the field, they realized it wasn’t plants, it was copper.  They got backing from the Guggenheims and J.P. Morgan to fund the mining operations consisting of 5 mines:  Bonanza, Jumbo, Mother Lode, Erie and Glacier.  All the ore was mined in the hills in a series of 77 miles of tunnels, then transported by 6 miles of aerial trams to the processing area.  The processing area is a 14-story wooden structure.  The mines produced over 4.6 million tons of coper containing 1.183 billion pounds worth gross revenue of $200 million and net profits of $100 million.  The copper supply was depleted by 1938 and so the mine and the town was closed and the railroad abandoned.  In 1980, the area was declared a National Park & Preserve and extensive efforts have gone into restoring this magnificent piece of history.

Abby gradually walks us up the trails, stops with stories along the way, to the top of the 14-story structure where we learn that this is the largest free standing wooden structure in North American.

To our surprise, we are issued hard hats and she unlocks the door and we learn we get to go inside.  It doesn’t look very stable from the outside, but once inside, we have no fear.  We see where the ore enters the building via the tram buckets and how it moves its way down floor to floor, being processed into finer and finer ore as it makes it way.  We learn about various “crusher” and “shaker” methods that extract the copper, azurite and malachite from the limestone.  We learn about ammonia leaching, invented by the people at this mine to get the purest copper possible.  After all, since it must be bagged and shipped 196 miles over rail and then on to Washington State by boat, you want your ore are pure as possible.

As we walk back through the mining town, we get to walk in a few other buildings such as the rec hall, and we get to see their bunk houses for the 600-man operation.   There are a total of 76 building.  Abby also points out many of the mountains and tells us how lucky we are that the weather is so crystal clear today.  We see Mt. Blackburn, the highest peak in Wrangell – St. Elias (the 5th highest peak in the US and the 12 highest in North America).  It is a former volcano and today there is just a small whisp of cloud over the face.  Abby tells us they haven’t even seen the mountain for 3 weeks.

More Shuttles to Retrieve More Stuff from the Truck

Next we do a series of shuttles to get to the truck to retrieve some of Nancy’s jewelry because 3 folks at the lodge have commented that they want to purchase a pendant.  We decide to grab one more beer in the town of McCarthy before heading back to Kennicott. We take a shuttle back to where we can catch the shuttle for the hotel. While we are waiting, we read about the home-made truck “Rigor Mortis” that was in service in this area for about 40 years. When our Shuttle Driver Alexandra picks us up, we make a short stop at the airfield that’s used for shuttle service into this area. Most people actually fly into this area rather than drive the notorious McCarthy road.

We grab a delightful lunch on the balcony porch and then do the 4-mile round-trip hike to Root Glacier.

We do the self-tour, not the one where you have a guide and are issued special crampons/ice spikes so you can walk on the glacier.  We only walk to the overlook, but it is still very close.

Our dinner tonight is a baked cod with salad and a delightful rice pilaf – and dessert is a caramel apple crumble.  We spend the rest of the evening sitting outside looking at the mountains and listening to music.

 

Day 7: The Transition to Valdez – The Richardson Highway – part 3 (day 78 of the overall trip)

The McCarthy Road in Reverse

It is really hard to leave this awe-inspiring area, but it is time to transition to Valdez for the next 4 nights.  We enjoy another fabulous breakfast and pick up our pack-n-go lunch.  We take the 9:30am shuttle out to Base Camp to get our vehicle and then do the McCarthy Road drive in reverse.  Once back on the Richardson Highway, we are very disappointed that the weather isn’t cooperating today, but we do get to see some of the waterfalls as we approach Valdez. Thomson Pass, the high point with lots of views, is completely engulfed with clouds.  The only consolation is that we will drive this road back north on the next leg of our journey. We see the sign for Valdez about 16 miles from the town and wonder why it’s so far from town.

Valdez

We later learn that Valdez is the largest town in all of Alaska – by surface area, but with a population of just under 4000, it doesn’t even rank in the top 10 .   Valdez is the only year-round ice-free port in Alaska and serves as the terminus for the Trans-Alaska pipeline.  It took the brunt of the 2nd largest earthquake on record, magnitude 9.2, that occurred in March, 1964.  We learn that the town of Valdez was moved and rebuilt on a new location just 4 miles away after the earthquake.  What was left of the original town has since completely burned and no traces exist.  Valdez is also famous for the Exxon-Valdez oil spill in 1989.

We do a brief walk-through town and stop at Mike’s Palace for dinner.  We enjoy a great pizza and call it an early night.

Day 8: Valdez – Solomon Gulch Fish Hatchery (day 79 of the overall trip)

We are staying at a Best Western and they provide a robust breakfast.  The weather is still a little iffy, so we relax over the morning working on our blog.  We just walk around town and then after lunch at Fu Kung, we head to the Solomon Gulch Fish Hatchery.

Solomon Gulch Fish Hatchery

Just before reaching the fish hatchery, we pass the refinery which produces diesel and jet fuel for the military bases in Alaska.

While visiting a fish hatchery doesn’t normally catch our attention, several folks that we’ve met have just raved about it.  It is located about 10 miles outside of the town center, but this is one place that is don’t miss between July and October.  We hit Solomon Gulch Fish Hatchery at the perfect time – high tide when the salmon are running at peak.   At first, we notice how the water is “boiling” with salmon trying to get upstream – truly a sight to behold.

Then we notice a few sea lions sitting at the first rise cherry picking salmon out of the water.  They catch them sideways then slowly toss them up and around until they can slide in headfirst into their mouths.

The seagulls are dive bombing the sea lions trying to grab a fish they either lose grip of, or pieces of fish flying off the main body.  All told, we count 9 sea lions!  We don’t see any bears, but all the signs say that if bears show up, they close down the viewing areas.

Next we go on the self-guided tour that show us the life cycle of these salmon.  In general, salmon spawn in fresh water and then die.  Their eggs hatch, then after about a year, they head out to sea for 4 – 6 years while they mature.  They then return to where they were spawned to repeat the cycle of life.  They suspect the fish can detect the unique mineral signature of their spawning area. This fish hatchery collects the returning fish after they climb up the man-made fish ladders to the holding tanks.  They put them to sleep with an electric shock, extract the eggs from the females and the milks from the males and mix it together.  These mature fish will die anyway, so they are then sent off to dog food companies for final use.  Meanwhile, the hatchlings are raised at the hatchery until they decide to head to sea to mature.  This process ensures sufficient numbers of wild salmon return each year to increase the harvest of sport & commercial fisheries.  They release over 272 million salmon annually.

 

We grab an early dinner at The Wheelhouse which has amazing views of the harbor.  We get to watch boats coming in and out with snowcapped mountains in the background.  We are excited to see that the weather forecast is improving.

 

Day 9: Valdez – Museums and Glaciers (day 80 of the overall trip)

A Walk around Valdez

Early in the morning Harrison takes a walk around the Valdez neighborhoods to get a feel for the town passing the hospital, schools and playgrounds among other things.

Valdez Main Street

Main Street in Valdez is small and fronts the Harbor. It’s mostly a collection of places to eat, gift shops and tour companies.

Valdez Harbor

Valdez harbor is a mixture of personal craft and working fishing boats. When the weather is clear this is a spectacular location! As you walk the harbor you can often catch people cleaning their catches.

Valdez Museum – Building 1

After another robust breakfast at the hotel, we both venture out to get in a good walk around town.  We’ve heard there are great museums here and we stop in at the Valdez Museum first.  This first museum focuses on the earthquake’s impact on the town.  As mentioned earlier, it was magnitude 9.2 – and it shook for a full 5 minutes.  We see before and after pictures.  We hear recordings of those who lived through it.  Thirty-two people were killed instantly when the dock in town collapsed into the water.  We learn of the numerous aftershocks that went on for days, many in the 6.0 magnitude range.  We learn of the 30′ waves that hammered the town as underwater landslides continued to impact the area.  We also learn of the rebuilding efforts that took just 3 years to completely move/replace the town 4 miles away on more stable ground.

Valdez Museum – Building 2

Next, we head to the 2nd Valdez Museum that focuses on the original settlement during the gold rush fever days.  Salesmen pitched an easier route to gold by first sailing into Valdez and then hiking the “all American route” over the Valdez Glacier to the promised gold.  It was far from easy, and most folks lost their life savings.   The museum also has a significant display that outlines the Exxon-Valdez oil spill and we learn it ran aground 24 miles from Valdez on Bligh Reef shortly after a staff shift change.  Eleven million gallons of oil were spilled, and we learn of the clean-up efforts.  The film we watched made 25 years after the spill (8 years old), tells that most of the wildlife has fully recovered although a few species are still struggling.  We also learn the ship has been renamed several times and is never allowed to sail in these waters ever again because all tankers now need to be doubled hulled.

The Fat Mermaid

We have lunch at one of the more well-known places, The Fat Mermaid.  The service was a little slow and the food was mediocre – but the beer was inexpensive!  Every time we walked by this place it was VERY busy, so perhaps we just hit a rough spot.

Valdez Glacier

For our afternoon, we decide to head out to the Valdez Glacier.  This is a 20-mile valley glacier located in the Chugach Mountains that terminates n Valdez.  The runoff is so vast each summer that it creates a large lake that is approximately 640 feet deep.  We spot a couple kayaking in the cold, murky waters.  We pick up a small piece of glacial ice that has broken off and note how clear the ice is.

Once back in town, we still need to find a Valdez shot glass for our collection and weave in and out of at least 10 different stores before finally finding one. We really loved the Wheelhouse and try to go back for dinner, however, there’s a sign that notes they are closed tonight due to technical issues.  We pass by the crowded Fat Mermaid and head into Mike’s Palace again.  Another great meal and then we’re off to bed.

 

Day 10: Valdez – Mears Glacier & Wildlife Cruise (day 81 of the overall trip)

WIldlife along the Cruise

We saved the best Valdez adventure for the day with the clearest weather forecast – an 8-hour cruise to Mears Glacier with wildlife viewing along the way.  We get to Stan Stephen’s boat dock and after a brief wait, board the boat.

Soon we are underway, and our first wildlife sighting is a “raft” of sea otters.  We get to watch these delightful creatures floating on the backs and enjoying the warmth of the sun.  They have over 1 million hairs per square inch on their bodies and that is what keeps them warm.

We pass the Alaska pipeline terminal and learn that at there have been as many as 90 tankers a month that fill up and take shipments south to refineries on the west coast.

The scenery is really great as we cruise out into Prince William Sound all along the way we pass glaciers and waterfalls off in the distance.

 

As we move on, we pass a number of fishing boats and stop to watch one of them haul in their catch. We learn that the salmon run near the shoreline close to the surface.  We learn the larger boats are tenders that off load the catch and take it for processing. We also learn the tenders are the boats that have been filmed in the reality show Alaska Ice Fisherman. They work the Bering Sea in the winter and service the salmon boats here in the summer months.

We are fortunate to pass by 3 different whales, one of which gives us a great show of his tail as he does his deep dive.  Whales can hold their breath for 6 – 12 minutes and each time we watch one dive, the captain turns on the timer and lets us know when 6 minutes have gone by so we can watch for it to surface.  We are also lucky enough to spot one whale that is sleeping – they basically are in a trance state and are on auto-pilot near the surface floating along, mini-diving and back up for air now and then.

We are served a bagel with cream cheese inside the boat cabin where we meet Eddie & Linda from Wisconsin as well as a couple from Holland.  Eddie & Linda have been travelling in their RV for about as long as we’ve been on this trip so we compare notes of places we’ve been to and where we’re going.  The couple from Holland has rented a truck camper and is at the beginning of their trip, so they listen eagerly.

The Mears Glacier

We reach the Mears Glacier area and the waters are teeming with ice chunks so we slow way down.  When ice breaks off from the main glacier and falls into the water – this is called calving.  We learn there are 4 types of ice chunks, classified by their size.  The Mears Glacier extends under water for about a mile before we reach the face above water.  The Mears Glacier is still advancing, meaning more ice is added each year than melts.  If a glacier is getting smaller each year, it is termed a retreating glacier.  We learn that the beautiful blue color we see in the ice is a function of the density of the ice – only the blue light of the rainbow spectrum is strong enough to come through the ice to be seen.  We are able to get within 1/4 mile of the glacier, but the boat floats away and we have to keep moving the boat back closer to shore.  We hear what sounds like thunder, which is the ice cracking and moving.  We are blessed to witness a fairly large calving and the video is posted here.

More Wildlife along the Cruise

We begin heading back with a stop by a southern facing shoreline peppered with sea lions.  Sea lions must sleep on land and this beautiful location offers lots of protection and warmth.  They are loud!

As we leave the sea lion area, we are served a delightful chicken alfredo lunch inside the cabin.  We sit with the same folks and continue our conversations from earlier.  We stop for a while to look at some Puffins and are also blessed to have a pod of Dall Porpoise’s playfully follow the boat for a brief while.  We spot a bald eagle or two in the trees along the shore.  Soon we are back at the dock after a long day at sea.

The Wheelhouse is open again so we head in for dinner.  Nancy chooses the charcuterie board as her dinner (scrumptious) and Harrison grabs a spicy burger.

 

Summary

We really, really loved the central region of Alaska.  It is the most remote area we have done (except for the trip to the Arctic Ocean on the Dalton Highway) so it can lack food and lodging options, but it is worth roughing it to see the glory in this area.  We wouldn’t change a thing about how we spent these 10 days and we highly recommend everything we did.

 

Up Next

It is time to stop the wandering nomad life in remote areas.  We head to the Anchorage suburb called Wasilla for 8 days where we’ll be able to get our truck serviced (the 30K service) and do some wonderful scenic drives.

 

Prior Legs of the Journey

Part 1 – The Trip to Key West is located here.

Part 2 – Cross Country to Bellingham Washington is located here.

Part 3 – The Alaska Ferry Inner Passage to Juneau is located here.

Part 4- The Alaska Ferry Inner Passage to Haines & Skagway is located here.

Part 5 – Haines to Fairbanks Alaska is located here.

Part 6 – Three weeks in Fairbanks is located here

Part 7 – Fairbanks to the Arctic Ocean is located here.

Part 8 – Denali National Park is located here.