Day 89 – July 1 Happy Canada Day

We were up at 7:00 to beat the rush to the laundromat and showers. We wanted to see some of Valdez (even in the fog) before heading to hopefully better weather inland as forecast last night.

Valdez is what Whittier could be if it combed its hair and brushed its teeth. Primarily a commercial and recreational charter fishing centre with a strong dash of kayak rentals thrown in for good measure Valdez clearly faces the sea both geographically and economically. We walked around the waterfront marina where a mixture of pleasure craft and working boats were moored side by side. Although yesterday saw the waters leading into Valdez Arm strewn with fishing boats, this morning saw every finger dock occupied.

Valdez parking lot

We found out by talking to one of the fishermen that today was an off day, one of many set aside to allow salmon stocks to return to the streams to ensure replenishment of this valuable resource. The fisherman we were talking to was from a boat that was registered in Washington that comes up the coast for the salmon fishery.

After touring the waterfront we drove to the Maxine and Jesse Whitney Museum which houses a collection of First Nations art and artifacts collected by Maxine Whitney, who was a long time resident of Valdez. Although only one room in size it houses an eclectic array of artifacts ranging from arrow heads to basket work and scrimshaw. This is all woven amongst some tremendous taxidermy displays of moose, wolves, fox, wolverine, bison, and two full sized polar bear. As the guide books had advised, this was well worth the stop.

After gassing up and stocking the larder we headed out just as the mist of the morning turned into a full fledged rain fall. Not far out of town we pulled off the road where not one but three waterfalls plummeted down the hillside into the concrete grey waters of the Lowe River. The largest of these falls was Bridalveil. I think this is our third if not fourth Bridalveil Falls of the trip. It was the perfect spot to stop for lunch and on rainy days like this we really appreciate being able to walk back into the BRT from our seats, make a lunch, clean up and sit at the table while looking out the ‘dining room’ window at spectacular scenery, all without getting a drop of rain on our precious little heads. Life is good.

Bridal Veil Falls

Room with a view

As the road climbed out of Valdez we drove right into the thick clouds we had seen that morning capping the hills surrounding the town. At times we had to reduce speed, the visibility was so bad. We could only imagine the mountains and waterfalls that we knew were hidden from our view. However even this weather had its own beauty as the diffuse light accentuated the palette of greens on the hillsides.

Along the way we caught views of the Worthington Glacier, and by the time we reached milepost 40 outside of Valdez were passing over near dry pavement, the clouds were lifting and hints of shadow were appearing. By milepost 50 we were seeing patches of blue sky ahead. The weather continued to clear as we headed north and inland.

Worthington Glacier

At Glennallen we began to trace back over our steps along the Glenn Highway that we had taken the previous week while on our way to Anchorage. Interestingly, viewed from the other direction, the scenery still had a fresh perspective to offer us. As the driving was good and there was little reason to stop (it certainly wasn’t getting dark) we continued to drive towards Tok (toke) . The campsite before Tok, Eagle Trail was too buggy so we proceeded on past Tok, after stopping for gas, and stopped at the Tok River State Park. This was a small park right on a bend of the Tok river and we found several sites open, one of which was close to the fast flowing grey waters of the Tok.

There was left over chili in the fridge so supper prep was easy. It had occurred to me part way through the day that in all of my 61 years this was probably the first time I had ever been out of the country on July 1. Although less than 2 hours drive away I still feel like I am in another country and as beautiful as Alaska has been I am looking forward to crossing back into Canada tomorrow.