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.