Valdez

The road into Valdez was spectacular to say the least, we had a lovely sunny, cool day and drove by glaciers, waterfalls, over a pass and dropped sharply down into the sound.

Another glacier dropping down from Mt Witherspoon. The Valdez Glacier also dropping from Mt Witherspoon surrounded old Valdez, it split into two as it came down to the sea and that was where the gold prospectors were dropped from the ships when the gold rush started into 1898 as it was the easiest to access the glacier up which the prospectors climbed to get through the mountains onto Dawson City, in the Yukon.

The decent down into the sound, engine brake working overtime,  those  poles are not street lighting but are to mark the edge of the pavement for the snow plows in the winter.

Bridle Veil Falls.

Our camp site over looking the upper reaches of the sound. Old Valdez at the foot of the Valdez Glacier was hit with a 9.2 measured earthquake for five minutes in 1964. The water front, wharf and 62 people lost their lives as the tsunami hit in three waves.  Buildings on the waterfront were washed away and water flooded the rest of the town.  Within three years they moved the town down the inlet two miles onto solid ground as liquefaction destroyed what the water did not.  Some of the buildings that survived were up rooted and rolled down the road to a new site. It was also here in 1989 that the Exxon Valdez filled and ran aground as it exited Prince William Sound.

Valdez Museum

These two fire engines from 1907 were just gleaming.  

Salmon waiting for the tide

Across the Sound from Valdez there is a salmon fish hatchery, the tide was out and the weir boom was lowered, the odd salmon was jumping through the white water into the calmer water beyond, but most were milling around waiting for the water to come back.

There were sea gulls flying around very excited but the water was just boiling with the amount of salmon waiting to get further up the stream.

No kidding! You could have crossed the creek on the backs of the salmon........Click on these two photos to enlarge to really see the fish.

Valdez from across the sound

Looking across the sound that Valdez from the fish hatchery and oil tank farm.  It was from this tank farm that the Exxon Valdez loaded it's cargo for it's fateful exodus out of the Valdez Sound in 1989.

This is one of the most unique tents we have seen on this trip. A great way to be well up off the ground and away from bears.  When folded up it stays up on the four legs but folds into a flat platform about four inches thick, they still have access to the pickup tray.

Glenn highway enroute to Valdez

On the Glenn Highway we passed Mt Marcus Baker 13,176 feet  high and Mt Witherspoon 12,011 feet high, this glacier descended out towards the highway in a frozen river.

Helicopter Ride

Anne left around lunch time to take Larry to Anchorage airport to fly up into the Arctic to meet one of his pilots for a flight check and would be gone over night, so Will took us up in a Robertson 44 for a flight up to the Knik Glacier not far out of Wasilla.

Wasilla has many small lakes in and around the town and throughout the valley

Bill knees, toes and ear phones on the left as we fly over the ice.

Glaciers are frozen rivers with the ice grinding the mountain away as they descend down the valleys, it is quite surprising how dirty they look in places. 

Returning to Wolf Lake Airport and coming into land out side of Pollux Aviation's Hanger, Dutchess is parked beside the building.

Robertson 44's  are four passenger helicopters and have racks on each side of the body to carry extra equipment.

Will, our pilot, myself and Bill after the flight.

Sarah Palin's house

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Sarah Palin used to be the Governor of Alaska and resigned to be the Vice Presidential contender for the Republican Party in the 2008 Presidential Elections against Barack Obama. She will forever be known for her comment of being able to see Russia from her kitchen window. Her house is on one of the many lakes in the Wasilla area.

Anne's Garden

These toadstools were growing by the path down to the hanger amongst the trees on the property.
Anne's garden by the back door was beautiful and even had moose and caribou antlers 'growing' by the steps. We had a great two day visit with Ann and a 'flying' visit with Larry the second evening, good to see them both and will see them again in Kerikeri in November.

Wolf Lake Airport

Wolf lake Airport and Larry and Anne's home on Beechcraft Ave, the garage is a huge work shop to the right of the house and the driveway leads down to the hanger on the edge of the airport runway.

Float Plane Marina

This seemed to be a common occurrence at Wolf Lake Airport, with homes with hangers built all around the airport in the trees this float plane was pulled out of the water the day we arrived at Larry and Anne's and the next day was launched again.

Across the road from Larry and Ann's house was this marina for parking float planes, They have tie down lines out into the grass beside them and just taxi out onto Wolf Lake to take off and land. As the weather gets colder the aircraft are pulled out of the water and stored or equipped with skis for winter flights. 

Pollux Aviation at Wolf Lake Airport

When we arrived at Larry and Ann's they had us park down on the grass beside the hanger and Bill was in 7th heaven being able to count and watch planes and helicopters take off to his hearts content.

Taken out of the front of Dutchess with and R22 sitting on the grass and plane taxiing past.

Larry flew in at about 10pm at night and it is still light enough to see, he had had a 10 hour flight back from Dutch Harbour half way down the Aleutian Island Chain. This was the R44 he bought about two months ago in Florida and he, Anne and one of his pilots flew back to Alaska.

Ann, Kath and Bill

Coming into Wolf Lake Airport, Pollux Aviation's Hanger is about half way down on the left side.

Hatcher Pass Mine

Anne and Bill with the  upper Hatcher Pass Valley behind them. 

In the afternoon we took a drive up the Hatcher Pass to see the old mine site.  It was clouding over and a cool breeze was starting to blow. Looking down the Pass towards the valley that Wasilla and Palmer are in with the range of mountains that have the Kink Glacier. On the right is the old mine managers house that today is the information centre. The mine was in operation until the early 1960ies.

Looking up towards some of the mine buildings that have been saved and that wrecks of the mine behind them.

Another view down to the valley with a butte before the mountains on the other side.

Seward

This was our view out of Dutchess's front window at Seward, the stone cairn and wind vane and mountains across the sound.

Leaving Seward

From Homer we drove back north to Soldotna and through the mountains to Seward on the other side of the Peninsula.  We had a lovely campground right on the water front looking down the sound.  On the way out we noticed this water wheel with belt attached to the stone in the trough of water with an invitation to sharpen you own knives.  In the little creek that turned the water wheel salmon were spawning.

A look down the sound from Seward.

Homer

Do pictures lie?

The boardwalk along the shopping area of the Homer Spit.

The Bald eagle looks like he has been carved onto the top of the lamp post, but he was watching everything that went on in the camp ground, including the people that were cleaning their salmon near by.

Homer Spit

We drove up the huge hill behind Homer to look out over the view, in front is the Homer Airport runway with the Homer Spit branching out into the sound. Below looking across the sound at a glacier, the tanker ship we think was a gas freighter as it looked like it had five huge white tanks on the super structure.