First Day Trip to Anchorage

Connie...

We arrived in Palmer yesterday where we are camped at the Mt. View RV Park. As we have so many times lately, we look out our window and see the beautiful mountain so majestic. On Saturdays in Anchorage, there is an outdoor market which we visited today and took in the sights of the downtown. Anchorage is very walker friendly, so it's fun to park and take to the sidewalks. There are many parks with areas to sit and people watch or take in the  colorful flowers so beautifully planted all over the city.

  

Leslie found one of her favorite subjects to photograph. We thought she should take the opportunity to get up close and personal. Although the guys' bear doesn't look quite so cuddly, they agreed to be good sports and pose.  This was actually a gift shop; "Grizzly's" with lots of said named merchandise.

After taking in the outdoor market, we headed for Humpy's for lunch. Robert and Leslie had been telling us about this place, and it was great food with lots of beer choices. We loved it!

 

We learned that the city of Anchorage maintains 18 greenhouses for supplying the downtown flowers.  Some 300,000 flowers are planted in the Spring and thousands of hanging baskets of many varieties are placed throughout the city.   So pleasing to the eye.

 

Matanuska Glacier

Stan . . .

Today we traveled from Tolsona Wilderness Campground to Mountain View RV Campground near Palmer, AK.  The scenery along the trip varied from greatly from snow covered mountains to valley floors & river views, but about midway we were able to stop alongside the highway and view the Matanuska Glacier in the distance.  The Matanuska travels from high up in the mountains down to the valley below and it is the portion of the glacier in the valley that we were able to see and photograph.

The glacier movement can be seen at it's valley destination below.  We arrived in Palmer several hours later and have set up camp here for the next week or so and will be traveling into the Anchorage area (about 45 miles south) over the next few days to shop and take in the sights of Anchorage.  Anchorage is by far the largest city in Alaska with a population in excess of 300,000. 

Around The Campfire

                                                                    Connie...

After leaving Valdez, we came back to Glennallen (Tolsona Wilderness Campground) for a couple of days.  When we arrived it was a cold and rainy day.  In fact, we were setting up camp in quite a downpour.  We were concerned that we would not be able to have our favorite happy hour around the campfire.  The clouds moved out and we were able to enjoy our drink of choice, margarita and sit around a great campfire.  Above picture of Robert & Leslie as they relax and take in the beautiful surroundings.

                                                   

As you can see in the above picture, Stan is ready for those pesky mosquitoes.  Those bug zappers really work!  We haven't had to wear the mosquito head nets yet, but that will probably come around, especially as much as we like to sit outside.

 Below is another view from our campsite.  The water was quite a bit higher after the rain than it was the first time we stayed here.  Check out those leaning trees.  Wonder how long they will last until crashing into the water.

Part 3 More of the Glacier/Wildlife Cruise

Stan . . .

These are puffins that were resting high above the water on a rock ledge on the shoreline that the boat was able to pull up alongside.

Sea lions resting/sleeping on the an ice flow out in front of the Columbia Glacier.

Connie & me with the Meares Glacier in the background. The boat was able to get within approx 1/4 mile of the face of the Meares Glacier due to the much smaller size of the ice flows around the glacier as compared to only being able to get about 10 miles from the Columbia Glacier due to the size and volume of ice flows calving off of the glacier. The air temperature was pleasant during the entire cruise, but it did get much colder as we got closer to the face of the Meares Glacier. We prepared accordingly and were able to add or shed "layers" of clothing as necessary in order to stay comfortable.

Valdez Glacier/Wildlife Cruise-Part 2

Stan . . .

In the above picture the Columbia Glacier is seen in the distance with all the "calving" ice drifting about in front of us. The Columbia Glacier rises about 40-50' above the water line but extends upwards of 300' below the water line. Most of the floating ice results from the water melting the ice below the water line and the pieces breaking away from the glacier then pop up to the surface.

The second picture is the face of the Meares Glacier. The face of the Meares Glacier is approx. 200' above the waterline and only 30-40' below the waterline, thus most of the "calving" happens above the waterline with the breakaway pieces creating a loud roar as they fall away and then crash into the water. Connie got several pictures of the calving on her camera and will post them on one of her blog entries.

This is a humpback whale that we spotted and then followed for about 45 minutes as he traveled around in Prince William Sound. He would first surface by exhaling thru his blowhole, then arch his back as seen in the above picture as he prepared to dive back below the surface for another 8-10 minutes before reappearing.

After arching his back and beginning his dive his tail is the last thing you will see for the next 8-10 minutes until he surfaces again for another breather.

Valdez Glacier/Wildlife Cruise

Stan . . .

We boarded the Spirit of Valdez and departed for our Glacier/Wildlife cruise promptly at 10:00 AM and enjoyed a thoroughly enjoyable day at sea returning to the Valdez Small Boat Harbor around 7:15 PM.  The wildlife we were able to see and the views of the Columbia Glacier & Ice Field as well as being able to get very close to the face of the Meares Glacier will provide us with lasting memories which we will cherish forever.

Some of the wildlife/sealife we were able to see up close on our Glacier cruise.  The sea otters in the above picture were enjoying a leisure swim when we were able to cruise up along side them.

The eagle was sitting in the treetop along the shoreline that we were able to cruise up close to as the average depth of Prince William Sound is 800 feet.

This sea lion was resting on one of the buoys out in Prince William Sound that the oil tankers use to chart their way into the Port of Valdez.

These sea lions were sunning themselves on a sunny southern exposure shoreline along the western side of Prince William Sound

Our Glacier/Wildlife Cruise

Connie...

Today we took a cruise to view glaciers and wildlife.  What a wonderful time.  We headed out on the Valdez Spirit around 10:00 a.m. and it was rather cloudy and cold.  It looked like we might get some rain, as the clouds hung low over the mountains around the harbor.  We didn't care though as we were hopeful of seeing beautiful views and ocean wildlife. We were not disappointed.

This is the view we had as we looked behind us traveling out of the harbor.  The clouds were still hanging about halfway between the tops of the mountains and the shoreline.  Sometimes when we would look out our window of the trailer, you would swear the mountains had disappeared, because the clouds were completely covering the mountains from top to bottom

 

 As we sailed along the beautiful waterways, we continued to take in the beauty all around us.  From sea to mountains to tree landscaped shores, it was something to behold.  

Below is a photo of the Meares Glacier.  If you look closely, you can see a portion of the ice breaking off and crashing into the water.  At times we could hear the breaking from the opposite side.  It was tricky getting pictures, because we would hear it before we could see it.  Constant back and forth monitoring with the camera lens was crucial for a good photo.  Absolutely spectacular!!

Sights From Glennallen to Valdez

Stan . . .

Traveling from Glennallen to Valdez the Richardson Highway goes over Thompson Pass.  Near the summit of Thompson Pass is the Worthington Glacier.  The above picture is the parking lot area near the trail that leads to Worthington Glacier.  The Thompson Pass area gets an average of 900" (that's 75') of snowfall each winter and we were told that three weeks earlier this parking lot was still covered in 5-6' of snow.

The pathway to the viewing area of the Worthington Glacier is only about 1/4 mile and this was our first opportunity to get "up close & personal" with one of the many glaciers in Alaska.

After descending Thompson Pass toward Valdez we traveled thru Keystone Canyon where the above waterfall named Bridalveil Falls was located.  The falls were right next to the highway and the roar of the falling water was extremely loud, but was an awesome thing to watch.

Our RV Park was located in downtown Valdez right on the harbor front.  The small boat harbor pictured below is filled with boats of all types and sizes, many going out into the Prince William Sound waters daily to fish.  The mountains surround the Valdez harbor on all sides and made for a very picturesque setting.  Valdez gets an average of 300" (that's 25') of snowfall each winter.

On our return trip back to Glennallen en route to Anchorage we were able to pullout along side the Richardson Highway and get to view the Alaska Pipeline.  The pipeline was built between 1975 and 1977 and travels 799 miles from Prudoe Bay to Valdez harbor.  In places where there was a danger of avalanches the pipeline was buried under ground, but in areas where there was danger of the heated pipeline melting or causing damage to the permafrost the pipeline was elevated as shown in the above picture.  The supports for the pipeline are spaced approx. 60' apart and the pipeline takes a zig-zag course in order to allow for expansion & contraction as well as movement due to seismic activity.  The pipeline can shift as much as 12' side to side and as much as 3' forward or backward on the skid plates located on the bottom of the pipe at each of the support locations.

Arrival in Valdez

Connie...

We arrived in Valdez, AK on June 18. After setting up in the campground, Bear Paw RV Park, we decided to take a walking tour of the town. We were camped just a stone's throw from the harbor. Seeing the boats docked with the mountains behind was a beautiful sight. As you see in the picture below, a lot of people take to the sport of ocean kayaking.

As were walking along the main drag almost every landscape had huge flowers in bloom. I couldn't resist getting these poppies in the picture. The photo really does not do them justice.

Someone was a lucky fisherman. This was a halibut just brought off the boat; what a catch. I would love to try for something that large. After that, we found a good seafood restaurant and enjoyed the fare of the ocean.

Tolsona Wilderness Campground & Wrangell-St. Elias National Park

Connie...

Our campground at Tolsona Wilderness was without a doubt, one of our favorites. The view above is out our back window. A babbling stream and the calming breeze through the swaying trees was truly a way to enjoy the outdoors.  There were plenty of places to walk and explore.

Stan & I were sitting having breakfast one morning and when we looked out the back window this little duck swam up. He was splashing around in the water and stayed on the little rock island for quite a while, allowing us to take his photo.

                                       

While staying at Tolsona Wilderness, we took a day trip into the  Wrangell-St. Elias National Park. This is the nation's largest national park; 13.2 million acres.  It also is home to the second tallest mountain, Mount St. Elias at 18,000 feet.  The mountain pictures above is Drum Mountain which is in the same range.  This picture was taken from one of the lookouts within the park.

                                       

Below is a fish wheel used to catch fish in mass quantities.  This was located at the visitor's center which was very interesting.

Tolsona Wilderness Campground, Glennallen, AK

 Stan . . .

The picture of the sign to the right is along side the Glenn Highway about 6-7 miles west of Glennallen, while the second picture is taken from the same spot looking east back toward Glennallen and the Wrangell Mountains.  The mountain tops are shrouded in clouds, but if you look close you will notice that the bright white areas within the clouds are actually the continuation of the mountains up into the clouds.  The enormity of this mountain range is quite impressive to say the least!!

The Wrangell Mountains are located within the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park which is the largest National Park in the entire United States.

Leslie, Robert & myself enjoying happy hour around the campfire at our campsites here at Tolsona Wilderness Campground (Connie was enjoying happy hour too....she was the one behind the camera taking this picture).

The view of our "backyard" as we sit around the campfire shown in the earlier picture.  This picture was taken just after  8:00 pm and the sun was still about 2-3 hours away from setting.