Valdez back to Tok!

Yesterday we spent a little time wandering around Valdez. It continued to rain, but Valdez still had their parade and other 4th of July activities. We talked to some people who said this was very typical weather for Valdez and they just plan on it. In addition to being rainy, it was cold, probably only in the low 50's or maybe 40's, but not freezing. But Valdez still has snow on the ground! We found this pile of it in town! We also found this trailer across from us to be interesting. It was obviously home built, but very nicely done. The biggest problem, however, is that with all the rain we had, when they wanted to be in out of the rain, their options were their car, or lying down in their trailer.

We took in a shop or two and then the Valdez museum. We had been to the museum annex where we saw a movie about the 1964 earthquake. Today's main museum was about the history or how the town began as a camp and later as prospectors came, others arrived to offer services, etc. It's so hard to comprehend that people took steamships up to Valdez from Washington, then climbed up over the Valdez Glacier to the Klondike goldfields on the other side. A lot of them didn't make it, but most of those who did found there were no gold claims left. It is an interesting history. There was also a stores called Anne's Sugar and Spice which showed free movies of both the earthquake and the building of the pipeline.

The museum also covered the earthquake in 1964 and the building of the pipeline from 1973-76. I found one fact of the pipeline interesting. They buried the pipeline in some places because they found out that the caribou would not go under it, thereby depriving them of being able to relocate to their wintering grounds. So the pipe was buried so the caribou would be able to traverse the areas they needed to. Other animals were not bothered by the pipeline. We have seen more pipeline on the way down to Valdez because the Richardson Highway, the route to Valdez, is the "Pipeline Highway." All the oil taken from the Prudhoe Bay area goes down the pipeline to the terminal at Valdez.

We also learned that cruise ships, long a boon to the local merchants, can no longer come into the port at Valdez. That occurred due to 9-11. My guess is because they consider the Valdez terminal to be a possible terrorist target. Just my opinion.

Today we drove out of a still rainy Valdez. Before we left, however, we took another look at the salmon fish hatchery. The tide was out and we were treated to a very cool view. Sitting on the stumps out in the mud were EAGLES! There was one on every stump. Some were adults, with their white heads and tails, and others were juveniles which look sort of spotted or mottled. Terry got one picture of several sitting on a spit and counted 3 adults and 3 juveniles.  When we left there we drove  up through the Thompson Pass and up the highway. We passed GlennAllen, where we had come in from Anchorage the other day, and proceeded north. We came to the Tok Cutoff which is the name they call the road that goes from the Richardson to Tok.

We did stop at the Worthington Glacier again. This time we got out and walked down the path a bit. You can hike all the way to the glacier and touch it, but we didn't do that. It looked like some rugged climbing and I couldn't do that. But we got some great pictures of the waterfalls and the blue ice in the crevices. Really cool.

We did see some moose again today, none close to the road. That is good, as I sure don't want to hit one, but it really makes photography difficult. Really have to zoom in and then getting a steady shot is harder.

We had a leisurely drive today because we had some bad road. One section on the Tok Cutoff was built on permafrost and it went back and forth from undulating to potholes, to gravel. It means slowing way down in order to keep everything in the cupboards.

We arrived at Three Bears Outpost about 4:30. We were here a few weeks ago on our way down from Chicken and on the way to Fairbanks. We are the ONLY ones in the park.

Tomorrow we head to Beaver Creek after crossing the border into Canada.

Till next time. . .

Dale

Fort Nelson to Muncho Lake, 6-6-13

Fort Nelson, B.C. to Muncho Lake

We got a better night's sleep last night partly due to our “eyewear.” I had ordered us both eyemasks to wear up here in the “land of the midnight sun.” Since it doesn't get dark here until almost midnight and it gets light again around 4 a.m. So it's hard to get sleep when you are used to having it dark. The fashionable eyewear I got us takes care of that problem.

We left this morning and we didn't get too far before we spotted a herd of buffalo/bison out in a meadow. We were quite a ways from them, but I zoomed in for a better shot. We continued on our way and passed some beautifully spectacular scenery. We are in hills and valleys, mountains and plains. We are pretty much seeing it all. Most of the time we are skirting the Northern Canadian Rockies.

We saw a lone animal today who seemed totally confused by us and his surroundings. We thought his mom must be nearby. We weren't sure if it was a moose or a caribou. The owner of the campground where we are parked verified it was a caribou and that it was probably about two years old. And he said they act goofy, so that is probably just his normal state. He also said by that age, they are on their own.

One big treat was big horn sheep. We saw three and they were just sitting looking at us from a short hill. We were quite close to them and they didn't seem too interested in us. Across the road from them were Stone's sheep. I'm not sure why they are called that, but they looked more like goats.

We arrived at Muncho Lake this afternoon. We hadn't covered much more than 150 miles, but we stopped at a couple of way points and met some colorful individuals. We also made several stops to see animals.

Muncho Lake is a natural mountain lake that runs for seven miles. It is narrow for the most part, but deep. Much of the lake is 300 feet deep and goes as deep as 600+ feet. The water was very cold, but it was super clear. There were actually some children camped here with their parents and the children were in the water. The campground owner said they were “locals” which may explain why they could tolerate the cold water. We have a beautiful view from right out our door. We can see across the lake and up the hillside.

The owner told us we could see sheep on either the mountains in front or behind us and perhaps some mountain goats. He also said that in the morning caribou swim across from the far side of the lake and sometimes come walking up through the camp. Also elk are prevalent and a black bear has frequented the camp recently. We have already seen the sheep. We saw them on the hills behind us. They were far enough away it was hard to see, but I did get some shots on my camera. We are hoping to see some moose or caribou yet.

We had a great campsite tonight, but we had no wifi, so this post will be a day late.

Till next time. . .

Dale