More on Valdez
10-20-2015
Author: Blog Editor in JeepandRV
Valdez is often missed by RV'ers circling Alaska and they are really missing out. Valdez is best know for the oil spill but that is not Valdez. This is a town where you can see nine active glaciers from Main St, where bears can be viewed from your car eating salmon and teaching their cubs how to fish, where you can take a boat tour up to the face of a glacier to hopefully see it calve and then watch whales play on the way back to the dock, where you can fish for record breaking halibut and salmon, walk easily up to a glacier, drive along a road with huge waterfalls feet away from your window, pan for gold, and for us where we took my first helicopter tour up to a glacier ice cave.
The pilot not only took us to the cave but he showed us several glaciers, waterfalls, old abandoned mines, and remote areas that had unspoiled beauty. The ice cave is one of those places where a photo is worth a thousand words since that is the only way to convey the colors. What the photo can not show is the mystery of walking through melting glaciers that were made thousands of years ago. It is also a bit scary as large chunks of ice can fall at any time.
On the way back you get to view Valdez and the bay from the air which was great for perspective. The town itself has about 2,000 full time residents who brave the winters, known for dumping serious amounts of snow and attracting heli-skiers. During the summer it swells with fisherman and campers who come to get away from the crowds. We were lucky enough to be at the dock when a 226lb halibut was brought in, over seven feet in length.
We were not lucky enough to see the mother bear with triplets. This is her second set of triplets, the first set are flourishing so she must be a good mother. Talking to the locals I found out that the smallest one was not being good at following directions so mother bear was not as willing to take them through the gauntlet of tourist who flocked to the beach every day to watch her feed. The last day we were in town the smallest one was swept down river during a crossing in the fog, those who saw it happen said that mama bear was crying for her baby and had to go pretty far down river to catch him/her but that the other cubs stayed on the bank and waited until mama and runt got back to them. Hopefully all three will survive the winter and we can get photos next year.
The pilot not only took us to the cave but he showed us several glaciers, waterfalls, old abandoned mines, and remote areas that had unspoiled beauty. The ice cave is one of those places where a photo is worth a thousand words since that is the only way to convey the colors. What the photo can not show is the mystery of walking through melting glaciers that were made thousands of years ago. It is also a bit scary as large chunks of ice can fall at any time.
On the way back you get to view Valdez and the bay from the air which was great for perspective. The town itself has about 2,000 full time residents who brave the winters, known for dumping serious amounts of snow and attracting heli-skiers. During the summer it swells with fisherman and campers who come to get away from the crowds. We were lucky enough to be at the dock when a 226lb halibut was brought in, over seven feet in length.
We were not lucky enough to see the mother bear with triplets. This is her second set of triplets, the first set are flourishing so she must be a good mother. Talking to the locals I found out that the smallest one was not being good at following directions so mother bear was not as willing to take them through the gauntlet of tourist who flocked to the beach every day to watch her feed. The last day we were in town the smallest one was swept down river during a crossing in the fog, those who saw it happen said that mama bear was crying for her baby and had to go pretty far down river to catch him/her but that the other cubs stayed on the bank and waited until mama and runt got back to them. Hopefully all three will survive the winter and we can get photos next year.
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