Alaska – Page 8 – Wandering Dawgs

Day 82: Bear Sighting on our last day in Valdez

August 6, 2013May 21, 2015Posted in Alaska, Birds, WildlifeTagged Bald Eagle, black bear, Nature, salmon, Valdez2 Comments

Day 82: Monday, August 5, 2013

Our original plan was to spend 3 nights in Valdez and then start heading back home. We liked it here so much we ended up spending 5 nights.

We couldn’t pass up our last chance for fish and chips so we had lunch at Old Town Burgers. My halibut and chips were delicious and Henry enjoyed his fish tacos.

We met a great group of folks on the boat yesterday who told us there was a mama bear with four cubs on the way to the fish hatchery. Of course we couldn’t pass up an opportunity to see a bear so we took a drive back to the hatchery. We took Blondie down to the water and she wasn’t sure what to make of the fish.

As we drove back from the hatchery Henry spotted a black bear on our side of the road. We pulled over to the side of the road and watched the cub follow his mama back into the woods. With her cub safe and sound mama made several trips to retrieve dead fish from the creek bank to take back to the cubs. While this was all going on a Bald Eagle was preening on the top of one of the trees. After watching the bears for a long time we got ready to leave and saw a golden eagle fly overhead.

The cub followed his mama back into the woods

Black Bear Cub

Mama bear eating a fish on the ground

Mama bear looking for more fish near Valdez

A Bald Eagle was pruning while we watched the mama bear

Mama bear carrying a fish back to her cubs

It was a great day to end our stay in Valdez. We will now begin our journey back home with one more night in Alaska before entering Canada to head south.

Day 81: Wildlife and Glacier Cruise from Valdez

August 6, 2013June 19, 2015Posted in Alaska, Birds, Glaciers, Waterfalls, WildlifeTagged Bald Eagle, Columbia Glacier, Killer Whales, Orcas, Puffins, Sea Otters, Stan Stevens Cruises, Stellar Sea Lions2 Comments

Day 81: Sunday, August 4, 2013

The day was overcast with a chance of rain but it was our last opportunity to take a cruise so off we went on the Glacier Spirit with Stan Stephens Cruises. The boat had a nice, warm comfortable cabin and plenty of viewing areas outside. We left the Valdez Harbor about noon for our 6 hour cruise.

We went out on the Glacier Spirit

One of the crab boats from “Deadliest Catch” tv show

A boat heading out of the harbor

Foggy day for a boat ride

The scenery was breathtaking and there was plenty of wildlife. As we cruised close to shore we saw too many eagles to keep count. A pod of Dall Porpoise bow surfed for a while. They’re too fast to get a picture but beautiful to watch.

Sea Otters on Columbia Glacier tour from Valdez

We stopped to watch the sea otters on our way out into the bay

We spotted this pair of Bald Eagles as we cruised by on a wildlife and glacier cruise from Valdez

Henry enjoying the view from the bow of the boat

Hundreds of juvenile Stellar Sea Lions

Puffins on the Columbia Glacier Cruise from Valdez

The highlight of the day was seeing a pod of Orcas with a calf.

Pod of Orcas with calf

We finally saw Orcas!

A pair of Orcas on Columbia Glacier tour from Valdez

The captain navigated through huge chunks of ice to get into Columbia Bay for a close up look at 10 mile wide Columbia Glacier.

Chunk of ice from the Columbia Glacier

The Columbia Bay was full of ice as we approached the Columbia Glacier

We were about two miles from the Columbia Glacier when I took this photo

This piece of ice from the glacier is big enough to be called an iceberg

A small sailboat sails around the ice

A chunk of ice from the glacier

The ride back to Valdez was just as spectacular.

We saw waterfalls as we went by

An oil tanker leaving Valdez

A couple of the small rocky islands we passed

Do you see the profile of a face on the right side of the rock?

This waterfall looks like it is coming out of the clouds

The waterfall is actually below a glacier

Day 79: Waterfalls, glaciers and salmon in Valdez

August 5, 2013July 9, 2017Posted in Alaska, Glaciers, WaterfallsTagged Alaska Pipeline, Coho Salmon, Fish weir, Horsetail Falls, Keystone Canyon, Solomon Gulch Fish Hatchery, Valdez Gold Rush Days, Worthington Glacier1 Comment

Day 79: Friday, August 2, 2013

I love Valdez. It is a quaint fishing village with about 4500 year round residents. It is not too commercial or touristy and everything here revolves around the water. The harbor is surrounded by mountains and is the northern most harbor in Alaska that doesn’t freeze in the winter. The Alaska pipeline ends in Valdez.

Valdez is all about the fishing

View of the bay across from the campground

The sign says it all

Boardwalk next to the harbor

Really nice fish cleaning tables

Looking into the bay from the small boat harbor

A barge going out into the bay

Love the old wooden boat

Wooden boat at the Valdez Museum

Valdez Small boat harbor

On our drive into Valdez we descended a long steep grade on the highway past several glaciers and waterfalls without stopping so we took a drive back up the highway to do a little exploring in Keystone Canyon and at Worthington Glacier.

Horsetail Falls waterfall in Keystone Canyon

Bridal Veil Falls in Keystone Canyon

Bridal Veil Falls is next to another smaller waterfall

This old railroad tunnel was never finished when a feud interrupted progress and a gun battle took place

Near Thompson Pass on the road to Valdez

Beautiful green valley on the road to Valdez

Up close at the Worthington Glacier. With a state recreation area parking area and paved trail to an overlook, this is Alaska’s most accessible glacier.

The lake at Worthington Glacier

Henry and Blondie at Worthington Glacier

This sign explains the Solomon Gulch Hatchery Fish Weir

On the way back into town we took a drive to the other side of the bay to stop by the fish weir next to the hatchery to see if the salmon were spawning. There were fisherman on the banks catching salmon. At the fish weir by the hatchery the water was filled with thousands of fish.

Fishing for salmon across the bay from Valdez

Kids trying to touch the salmon as they swim upstream to spawn. You can see fins sticking up in the water.

Thousands of salmon in the water

The Fish Weir

Fish Weir at the Solomon Gulch Fish Hatchery

We arrived in Valdez during their Gold Rush Days celebration. The Klondike Gold Rush is an important part of Valdez history and the residents celebrate for several days with events for adults and kids. Friday night was the Wine Walk and start of a street fair. The ladies were all decked out in the 1890’s outfits having way too much fun!

Valdez Gold Rush Days

Gold Rush Days in Valdez during the Friday night Wine Walk around town.

If you haven’t looked at them lately, check out the maps of our journey.

Day 78: Beautiful drive to Valdez

August 2, 2013February 10, 2016Posted in Alaska, GlaciersTagged Bayside RV Park, Glenn Highway, Matanuska Glacier, Mount Wrangall, Valdez, Willow Lake, Worthingtoon Glacier

Day 78: Thursday, August 1, 2013. Glacier View to Valdez, Alaska. Bayside RV Park Site 80. 196 miles driven.

Before hooking up the fifth wheel we took a short drive to view the Matanuska Glacier from an overlook on the Glenn Highway.

View of Mantanuska Glacier from overlook on Glenn Highway

Rock messages on a hill beside the road.

Again we had no luck seeing wildlife but the beautiful mountains, lakes, and glaciers made up for the lack of wildlife.

We had lunch at Willow Lake with a view of Mount Wrangell

We could see Worthington Glacier from the highway about 30 miles from Valdez

The views along the highway into Valdez are spectacular

Welcome to Valdez

Our campsite at Bayside RV Park in Valdez. The bay is behind the camper.

The last few miles into Valdez take you down a steep grade through a spectacular canyon with many waterfalls. We didn’t want to stop while pulling the RV so we will drive up there later to look around some more. Our RV park is right beside the small boat harbor and close to the bay.

Day 77: Dall Sheep watching in Glacier View, Alaska

August 2, 2013May 21, 2015Posted in Alaska, RV Parks, WildlifeTagged Dall Sheep, Glacier View Alaska, Grand View RV Park

Day 77: Wednesday, July 31, 2013. Williwaw Campground to Glacier View, Alaska. Grand View RV Park Site 1. About 150 miles traveled.

The drive to our RV park along the Glenn Highway was scenic with no wildlife sightings. I am still constantly on the lookout for moose and bears. We passed through areas where caribou are sometimes seen but there were none to be found today.

The Grand View RV Park advertises “Dall Sheep Viewing” so we stopped there hoping to see some Dall Sheep on the mountains across from the campground. While I did laundry all afternoon we got out the binoculars and spotting scope in hopes of seeing the sheep. We weren’t disappointed. Four of the Dall Sheep (big horn sheep) were grazing high up on the mountain late in the afternoon. They were too far away for photos but they were fun to watch.