Our next road trip was to Valdez. We camped overnight and then drove back to Anchorage the next day. Valdez is very similar to Seward in a lot of ways, but there are some key differences. Seward is a larger community and is set up for tourists since cruise ships dock there. Seward is also much a much shorter drive from Anchorage (2.5 hours vs. 5 to 5.5 hours to Valdez). The drive to Valdez is a beautiful one though, driving through Chickaloon Pass, past Matanuska Glacier, through the Copper River Basin, Past Worthington Glacier, through Thompson Pass, past some beautiful waterfalls, and into Valdez.
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| Showers have a tendency to develop over the mountains... this one was particularly neat, I thought. |
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| The famous Alaska Pipeline. There are several points along the road system where you can see the pipeline... this is one of them. |
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| Thompson Pass... getting close to Valdez! |
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| Thompson Pass... a place that sees a lot of volatile weather. |
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| Onward to Keystone Canyon... this is Bridal Veil Falls. So beautiful! This photo was taken at 10:30pm. |
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| Also in Keystone Canyon... Horsetail Falls. This photo was also taken at about 10:30pm. |
There is a fish hatchery near Valdez with some great views and opportunities to see bears, eagles, and several other wildlife. We camped at a campground near Valdez Glacier that was nice and quiet, and then went to check out the glacier that was just down the road.
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| Icebergs... with Valdez Glacier in the background. The glacier used to reach down to this lake! |
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| More glaciers... |
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| The wind became nearly calm while we were there... and gave us some great reflections! |
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| A panoramic view of Valdez Glacier |
We spent some time that morning at the Valdez Small Boat Harbor, where we watched fishermen getting ready to head out to fish for salmon. It was busy, but relaxed at the same time. The boats were all crowded into the harbor, and nets were being fixed, food loaded on the boats, and repairs made to the boats. We enjoyed watching them for quite awhile, and wanted to see them all leave the harbor, but we had to start working our way back to Anchorage.
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| Near the fish hatchery |
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| Fireweed... blooms from bottom to top throughout the summer. |
On our way back, we stopped at Worthington Glacier (it was raining pretty steadily there) and then continued on back to Anchorage.
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| Worthington Glacier. You can see a couple people (in yellow jackets) on the left side of the photo... for perspective. |
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| Proof it was raining at Worthington Glacier? Or... just a fun "texture" shot. :) |
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