2019 Alaska Trip - Day 53 - On To Valdez For A Few Nights, Valdez Alaska

In the early morning, it started raining. And it continued raining, a cold rain, for hours.

We slept in on at our little mountain boondocking spot off the Glenn Highway, but neither of us were motivated to move. So, with our good 4G data signal, we just relaxed, did some photo uploading and writing, took care of a couple things, and waited.

Well, it just continued to rain, but when it let up just a bit around 12:30 p.m., we got moving. Linda backed out of her spot, and I led us to a paved turnout a quarter mile down the road where it was easier and cleaner to hitch up the Jeep.

Then we drove on to Glennallen where we topped off the gas tank ($3.60/gallon) before heading south on the Richardson Highway toward Valdez.

Now, my original plan was to stop and do some fishing on the Klutina River near Copper Center and then go to McCarthy/Kennecott and Wrangell-St. Elias National Park for a few days. And then we would head to Valdez for a few more days.

We still plan to do all that, but now we're going to do it in reverse order and go to Valdez first. So it was 50 miles to Glennallen and then it's another 115 miles south to Valdez.

Now the Richardson Highway started out reasonably well, but I'd say about 80 miles of it was pretty bad until we got to around mile marker 35. Linda was calling those 80 miles the second-worst road we've been on in Alaska behind the Tok Cut-off.

At least the weather cleared up a little as we drove south, and there were some scenic views along the way.

From around mile marker 35, the road was supposed to be a greatly improved for the next 11 - 12 miles according to The Milepost. And part of it was a big improvement, but part of the road had been completely torn out or was in the process of being torn out. There was 24-hour construction (from mileposts 33 to 30) and it looked like it's not going to end anytime soon.

After the construction, the road was good as we went past Worthington Glacier ....

and the Worthington Glacier State Recreation Site. This is the most visited site on the southern portion of the Richardson Highway. The glacier has been steadily receding for the last 150 years. It was designated as a National Natural Landmark in 1968, one of sixteen locations in Alaska with that designation.

As I said, we didn't stop as we were satisfied with our view from the road, but it is one of the few glaciers in Alaska that is accessible by paved road. There is a short, paved trail (0.8 miles one way) to a viewing point, but from what I've read, you can walk to the face of the glacier in another 10 - 20 minutes on unofficial paths that can be rocky, wet, and slippery. For some, depending on time in Alaska and area of travel, it's the best opportunity to get to the face of a glacier.

Linda prefers the tidewater glaciers and we've been to the face of our share of glaciers, but we might stop and take an hour on the way back for me to hike up there just so I can report back on this popular attraction.

About three miles farther is Thompson Pass at about 2,800 feet. These photos are starting down the other side, and the bent poles you see are guides for the snow plows.

Thompson Pass has been called "the snowiest place in Alaska" as it averages between 40 and 50 feet of snow per year.

And a couple miles down from the pass is Blueberry Lake State Recreation Site with a small 15-site, no-frills campground in a beautiful setting. We drove through to take a look and there were a few sites open that were large enough for us, but after considering our options, we decided to continue on to Valdez.

Past Blueberry Lake, there is a long, steady descent descent down into Keystone Canyon.

We're not looking forward to going back up on our way out of Valdez, and we may wait to hitch the Jeep until we get to the top.

Keystone Canyon is a lovely gorge with the Lowe River running through it and two popular roadside waterfalls that have large turnouts for parking. The first is Bridal Veil Falls right next to the river.

Note the parking is on the right side of the road heading south, so you have to watch for traffic and cross the road to get your best views.

While I was taking photos of the waterfall, I turned around and took a shot upriver.

Whitewater rafting tours out of Valdez are run on the Lowe.

Just around the corner, as we continued, is Horsetail Falls.

Moving on, we were headed to Valdez Glacier Campground, a public campground run jointly by the city of Valdez and the army. It's a military "Fam Camp", that is open to the public (which is rare), and it has over 70 first come, first served sites. It's located on Airport Road about a mile and a half past the airport.

Though it's about six miles from town, I thought it would feel more like a state park campground than the usual Alaska parking lot type RV parks. Plus, it's a little cheaper. I was right about the separation of spaces and the feel.

Sites 1 - 20 are electric sites with 20/30/50 amps, and the rest have no hook-ups. There is a dump station and a place to take on water. Prices top out at $45 for 50-amp usage and then it's $35 for 20/30 amp usage and $25 for the no hook-up sites. Military members get $5 off those rates.

I was all set to find a site with no hook-ups since we can't plug in, but Linda had other ideas. She wanted electric to run her Ninja Foodi. We selected Site 9 with electric.

Although we couldn't plug our rig in or run our generator, we could run a 20-amp extension cord to the 20-amp outlet on the pedestal and feed it into the RV through a slideout seal. So, that's what we did.

So, Linda can use the higher draw appliances (one at a time) such as her Ninja Foodi, her Instant Pot, the ice maker, her blow dryer, or the electric heater without having to use battery power through the inverter. Each appliance is plugged in directly to the pedestal using the extension cord. It works.

Though we have neighbors right across the road (with a waterfall high on the mountain above that we can hear), ....

the separation between our same-side neighbors is really good.

And we have a pretty good Verizon 4G signal as well.

This is a view down our road.

Oh, I should mention that four of the first six sites have little rental cabins on wheels, so there are fewer than 20 electric sites available.

After getting settled, it was already time for dinner given our late start today. I got out the Blackstone and we threw on a couple lamb shoulder cuts. We haven't had any luck cooking lamb, and tonight was no different. Linda said the taste was good, but I threw half of mine away - it was way too much effort to eat. In the future, we'll keep our lamb dining to visiting restaurants that know how to select proper cuts and prepare it.

After dinner, it was time to go for a ride - my usual "check out the area, get my bearings" ride. This time, Linda joined me. Perhaps that's because I have seen a lot of wildlife by myself on these late night jaunts in Alaska and Canada.

We turned left out of the campground and quickly passed the Community Shooting Range. Hmm. A few of our campgrounds here in Alaska have been near shooting ranges.

At the end of the road, about a mile from the campground, is Glacier View Park. Valdez Glacier terminates into the "glaciated" lake, and there is a lot of floating ice.

Though there is a glacier in the mountains in these next photos, it's not the Valdez Glacier.

Valdez Glacier, the source of all this ice, is hidden around the bend to the left over Linda's head in the photo below.

There were some glacier ice pieces up on the shore.

Too bad Esther wasn't here to grab one.

This is the view at the lake outlet which forms Valdez Glacier Stream.

As we were getting ready to leave, this sightseeing plane flew by.

Back to our Jeep with the mountains in the background.

Before we got here, my research showed this glacier lagoon, and I hoped we would be able to paddle it on our own. We certainly can, and we will do so before we leave Valdez.

By the way, there are some nice, free boondocking spots off the road out to the park.

Next, we drove away from town to Dayville Road. Dayville Road crosses the Lowe River and runs along the southern coastline of Valdez Inlet across the water from the town of Valdez.

Dayville Road ends at the high security entrance to the Alyeska Pipeline's Valdez Marine Terminal, the end of the 800-mile Trans Alaskan Pipeline.

On the last mile of that road before it ends at the pipeline terminus is the Allison Point Campground, which is actually four or five turnouts with side-by-side lined off "sites". The last two turnouts are large enough for small RVs and they have great views.

All sites are $20 and there are no hook-ups, no dump station, and no place to take on water. There are pit toilets at the turnout above. And there are walkways down to the rocky shore of the ocean.

The big draw for this campground, other than the views, is the shore fishing. When the salmon are running, this is spot is supposed to be one of the best places in Alaska to catch salmon from the shore.

You see, a mile and a half down the road is the Solomon Gulch Fish Hatchery which raises and releases pink and silver salmon.

When the salmon return to spawn, they run right by Allison Point and swim up the creek by the hatchery and other nearby creeks.

That's also the reason for the many "Bear Area" signs, as the bears also come when the salmon arrive. In July, the hatchery and creeks along the road become some of Alaska's best, road-accessible bear viewing sites. However, its recent popularity is causing some management issues between the tourists and the bears that Valdez is continually trying to work through.

If you camp at Allison Point during the salmon runs, you have to be very careful as there could be a bear around any corner of your RV.

Here's our Jeep in the currently empty parking lot next to the salmon and bear viewing area next to the hatchery.

And here is one final low-tide picture for the night looking out Valdez Inlet.

Before returning to our campground, we drove into Valdez for a look around. I was expecting something more industrial. While parts of it are, it has a certain charm and life about it. And the mountain surroundings are gorgeous.

It was pretty late when we got back to the campground, and we needed to get to bed. Earlier, before our evening venture, I booked an all day tour for tomorrow into Prince William Sound with Stan Stephens Glacier & Wildlife Cruises. The bar for these tours is getting higher and higher, so we'll see how this one stacks up. I suspect the next Journal entry will have a ton of photos. See you then.