Days 61-62-63 End in Valdez

We planned our stay in Valdez as a “chill spot” ... with a bit of sightseeing.

On our first full day in Valdez, we did the sightseeing by taking a cruise out to Meares Glacier. Then, we took two days off to just relax and enjoy some quiet time. Not much time outdoors, unfortunately, as the days were drizzly. And when the wind was blowing, it was downright chilly.

Today, we did a bit of sightseeing again.

Valdez filled up these past few days with people here to celebrate Independence Day. We opted to stay away from the crowds by staying away from the part of town that was set aside for the festivities.

Instead, we walked through downtown Valdez and hiked the short Dock Point Trail. Then, taking advantage of the fact that most of the locals and visitors were at the community barbecue, we grabbed a bite to eat at the Nat Shack ... excellent (if spicy) halibut tacos.

After lunch, we hopped in the car and drove out to the Old Valdez Townsite ... which was destroyed by the tsunami that followed on the heels of the Good Friday Earthquake of 1964 ... at 9.2 on the Richter Scale, the strongest quake to hit the USA. There’s nothing left of the town, but we did pay our respects at the memorial before moving on.

Next up ... the Solomon Gulch Hatchery which can incubate up to 230 million pink salmon eggs and 2 million Coho salmon eggs. From what I gather, however, we are two weeks too early to see the action when a small percentage of the salmon born here return to spawn at the end of their lifecycle. But there was a great video that explained how the hatchery operates so all was not for naught.

Our next two stops took us to lakes in the area ... Robe Lake and Valdez Glacier Lake. The glacier for which the latter is named is no longer visible from the lake. But there are icebergs to make up for that ... dirty though they were. Unfortunately, there is no way to walk around the entire lake, so we made do with a short stroll before returning to the Cruiser for a quiet evening at home.

We’re now halfway through our Valdez stay ... and we have more sightseeing and relaxing to fillet those days.Read more