Day 51: Kayaking in Valdez

Today was a particularly good day.  After breakfast, we walked over to the kayaking place, were fitted with appropriate clothes and PFD's, and headed out with our guide Webster.  We had opted for the Duck Flats tour which took us around shallow areas near Valdez in the Prince William Sound.  Having mentioned to Webster our interest in birds, he made a point of taking us to places where we could see kittiwakes, terns, gulls, and ducks.  We even saw some pigeon guillemots and some oystercatchers.    Besides the birds, it was just a lovely place to paddle, with great scenery.

Upon our arrival back at the small boats harbor, I mentioned to Webster that we had left our dog in the RV, and he recommended the local dog park.  Ranger loved the opportunity to run after his frisbee after being stuck inside by himself  for more than three hours.

Later in the afternoon, I browsed in some local shops and did some laundry.  Again, with Webster's recommendation, we went out for beer and pizza ...and the pizza was excellent. 

Something about Valdez that I did not know before:  There is the old Valdez and the new.  The old was almost completely destroyed in the 1964 earthquake (measured at 9.2), and rather than rebuild in the same location, a totally new town was built a few miles down the road.  A few of the original houses were picked up and moved, but most of the town is fairly new, in late 60's style.  Residents who moved to the new location were offered lots at $400 each.  The town government was able to plan its layout, and it includes a good number of small parks and green areas, and it has a lovely ferry terminal with lots of flowers as well as a big civic center.  All in all, its one of my favorite Alaska towns that we have visited!  

And as mentioned to brother Jim, this is Bunny-land!  Someone in the past released domestic rabbits, and they have managed to thrive in this cold environment.  The town is full of rabbits, black, gray, tan....they're everywhere.  Most entertaining for Ranger!

Day 50: Valdez

Today we drove the rest of the Glenn Highway, to Glenallen, then turned south on the Richardson Highway toward Valdez.

The first hour or so we were on windy mountain roads, following the Matanuska River.  Then the land flattened out quite a bit, and we were in an area with many small lakes (good fishing?).  By Glenallen, the land was fairly  flat but with huge Mount Sanford, Mount Drum, and Mount Wrangell rising in front of us.

Turning south onto Route 4, the Richardson Highway, the going was somewhat boring for the first part, then we went into more big mountains.  Here there were glaciers, and we stopped for a walk and lunch at Worthington Glacier, about 30 miles north of Valdez.  

Coming into Valdez, one passes through an alpine region with incredible snowy mountains all around, then one comes down, down, down a seven and a half mile long decline into the Keystone Canyon, with waterfalls and big stone walls.  Very dramatic scenery!  Once in Valdez, one is again at sea level, but with snow-capped mountains all around.  It's colder here than it has been in past days, and the tour guide says that the average summer temperature is 53, and in the winter they average over 300 inches of snow!

We decided to stay in an "in-town" RV park in Valdez, so we are basically in a gravel parking lot. However, it is across the street from the small boat harbor (which provided Dan with entertainment on an afternoon walk) and in easy walking distance of the small shops and restaurants of Valdez.  This is the "new Valdez", having been re-built entirely after the 1964 earthquake (magnitude 9.2).  We stopped into a business that provides sea-kayaking tours in the Prince William Sound and made reservations to go out paddling tomorrow.

Day 49: Kasilof to Palmer

Snow on the mountaintops, clouds in the valleys, and rain everywhere!

It’s another rainy day, but at least this was one that had been planned for travel. We stopped by the Kenai airport to return the rental car and then proceeded to the end of the Sterling Highway, turned north  on the Seward Highway, and headed along the Turnagain Arm toward Anchorage.  On this return trip, it was high tide along the Turnagain, so the huge mudflats were gone.  There were still quite a few fishermen along Bird Creek where we had camped a week ago.

Going through Anchorage, the rain let up.  Just north of Anchorage, we turned east on the Glenn Highway, heading toward Palmer, Glenallen, and ultimately Valdez. 

We stopped for the night at King Mountain State Recreation Site, a small campground along the Matanuska River.  The sun actually came out for a while, so Ranger was able to get a good walk and some outside time.  It stayed nice until after we had started our campfire, at which time the wind rose, the black clouds rolled in, and the rain started again.  So we retreated inside, to a dinner of pork BBQ and beans, and a quiet evening of reading.   No electric, no water, no cell service, and no internet here. 

Day 48: A quiet last day in Kasilof

We awoke to the sound of rain on the roof-----and went back to sleep.

The day was spent reading, checking on our next few destinations on the internet, doing crossword puzzles, and basically being pretty lazy!  

Dan gave the rental car a thorough cleaning in preparation for returning it tomorrow.  ($100 fee for returning it exceptionally dirty, and he wanted to get every bit of dog fur out!)  The sun came out for a bit in late afternoon, allowing us a little time outside.  (Ranger was happy for that.)

Both of us are coughing and blowing noses, so a day of rest was just what we needed.  Tomorrow we head back through Anchorage.  

Day 47: Seward

OK, Seward was disappointing.

I expected to like Seward. I knew that many cruise ships pull in there, so I expected a vibrant town with gorgeous scenery. 

It was a beautiful sunny day, and we thought we’d do a day trip and check out Seward, to decide whether we wanted to head there next for the early part of the week.  The drive across the peninsula, following the Kenai River to Kenai Lake, was nice, with sparkling water and snow-capped mountains.   And Seward had both of those: very blue water of the Prince William Sound and big mountains surrounding it.

Seward also had lots of tourists.  Hundreds of RV’s.  Yes, it was a warm, sunny Saturday, but the place was packed.  The city has maintained a park all along the water, with playground, bike path, and flower beds, from the Alaska Sea Life Center (big attraction, which we did not tour due to having Ranger with us) for quite a few blocks.  Then it becomes camping space, run by the locality, basically gravel parking lots for RV’ers.  Again, hundreds of them.   They were all parked parallel about 6 or 8 feet apart, with rows of them going back four or five deep.  If all those people were there to camp in the midst of stunning scenery, all they were seeing was the front or back or sides of another camper.  We made a quick decision not to plan to camp there!

In addition, Seward is known for its rainy weather, and indeed the ten-day forecast showed rain almost every day for the next week.  That would not be pleasant for one of the cruises in the sound or for sea kayaking.  So when we leave Kasilof on Monday morning, we will not be heading to Seward!  

Day 46: Soldotna and Kenai

Our travels today took us north of Kasilof, with a first stop at the Visitors Center for the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge.  We did a brief tour of their indoor exhibits but had really planned to hike their trails.  However, no dogs.  So we had to leave poor Ranger in the back seat while we did a short walk to the lake.  We did see about eight different types of birds, which was good compared to most of our birding outings this trip.

 A stop at the tourist information center in Soldotna resulted in walking Ranger along their path to the Historical Museum.  There were actual cabins in which homesteaders lived, furnished according to the period, along with the original school house. One gets a picture in mind of the mid-19^th century, but Soldotna was actually settled post-World War II!  The area was uninhabited at that time, and the federal government offered 160 acres free to any veteran who would homestead.  He must build some sort of dwelling, live there for seven months out of the first year, and he would be given the deed to the property.  And people really came. The schoolhouse which was used in the early 1950’s was lit by Coleman lanterns, and the teacher had to carry a gun while coming to work due to the bears in the area!  Hard to believe all of that was happening within our lifetime.  Even I recognized and remembered the foot-treadle sewing machine, the metal lunch boxes, and the "Dick, Jane, and Sally" school books.   Soldotna today is a thriving town with a small airport, restaurants, stores, and all the amenities of current times.

The drive along the Kenai Spur Road was surprising in that I was not aware of the oil drilling taking place in Cook Inlet.  The scenery was a mix of trees and industrial buildings, and the road ended at Captain Cook State Recreation Area in the northwest corner of the Kenai Peninsula. Looking out from the beach, we could see oil-drilling platforms.  We had a sandwich (surrounded by the notorious Alaska mosquitoes), drove through the campground there (nice, but very buggy!) and then headed back, stopping for a few groceries on the way home.

Day 45: Salmon!

Dan got up early and went out fishing and was gone all day.  However, at the end of it all, I had grilled salmon for dinner, along with a lot of packs in the freezer.

I used the time to catch up on laundry (much needed) and cleaning. Then Ranger and I went to Clam Gulch State Recreation Area, about eight miles south of our campground, and took a long walk on the beach.  There were many enticing things (dead fish, jellyfish, and so forth) for him to sniff. 

The sunny weather continues, with highs in the 60’s and lows in the 40’s.