We can’t wait to share with y’all one of our favorite places in all of Alaska, the port town of Valdez and the phenomenal Prince William Sound.
If you’re old enough to remember the environmental tragedy of the infamous Exxon Valdez oil tanker that ran aground just outside Valdez’s port, you may have sad memories of that time back in 1989. But the Sound has recovered beautifully, despite the destruction at that time. We believe it’s one of the most beautiful places in the world, truly. Don’t forget to click on any of the smaller pics to see a larger version.
We set up in a very large campground not far from the harbor, side by side with LOTS of neighbors but great services. The day after we arrived, Bubba took the opportunity to see the sound up close, on a full-day fishing expedition, searching for halibut, rockfish and lingcod.
Bubba, tell the story!
Bubba here! So, after getting skunked on my charter trip on the Kenai River for
Chinook salmon, I was careful to put my remaining dollars on a reputable charter company, Valdez Outfitters. I ended up on a boat with a family of five people,
from Grandpa down to the 15-year-old grandson, and off we went up Prince William Sound. We rode for two hours non-stop until our captain, Andy, finally set us on a spot. The next thing we know, I’m catching the first fish, a nice 20-lb. dark rockfish. Right after that, the guy next to me caught an 80 lb. halibut, wow. After that the race was on for the remaining folks to get their hooks in the water. By the end of the day,
after 6 hrs, all of us caught our limit of two halibut (mine were 35 & 25 lbs.), two
dark rockfish (20 & 15 lbs.), and 2 golden-eye rockfish (30 lbs. each).
One person caught a silver (Coho) salmon and another caught a monstrous
and evil-looking lingcod. Success all around! We hurried back into port and
it took two large rolling tubs to carry all the fish in, well over 350 lbs. total.
Mine totaled 23 lbs. of cleaned fish, yum! I’d call that a perfect day!
And back to Bonnie: After Bubba’s exciting day of fishing (while I stayed home and did laundry!), I was more than ready to get on a boat. The best way for old folks with minor disabilities, like us, to see the Sound is by boat, so even though we had taken the wildlife/glacier cruise out of Seward, we jumped at the chance to do it again. This time we hopped aboard the Glacier Express and we were NOT disappointed!
Check out this short video for the highlights, and scroll on down to see some of the most beautiful views in the world: Prince William Sound
The beauty of Prince William Sound, when not just facing forward like viewing a photograph but being surrounded by it on all sides, is simply breathtaking.
Below: Quintessentially Alaskan. Loved the ship name; which came first, the ship or the candy?!
So if you like fish, you’ve probably eaten something these people have worked so hard to catch. Fascinating to watch.
We watched this guy rise and sink for several minutes in preparation for his dive.
And when they do this, you know they’re going to dive deep! It was soooooooo cool!
A second whale:
And again, same guy:
Then we came upon a colony of Stellar Sea Lions, and the cacophony of noise from all their barking, roaring and trumpeting was hilarious! Everyone on the boat was laughing.
Then the real highlight of the trip appeared. As we began approaching Columbia Glacier, the air got significantly colder. We staked out our space at the rail, even through the freezing temperatures.
A large group of tourists sat snuggly inside on the ride up to the glacier, then attempted to push us out once we arrived. We refused to yield; we figured we had worked for our spots! And what sights we saw!
Distances are deceiving in such vast spaces; we’re still 2.5 miles out from the glacier face and it was the closest we could get because of the icefield.
Leaving the glacier behind, we passed actual icebergs, occupied by seals in some cases.
Then arriving back into Valdez Harbor, as the sun sank behind the mountains. Simply spectacular.
The next day we decided to check out the Valdez Fish Hatchery to learn more about the salmon in Alaska and how they maintain the population in spite of commercial and recreational fishing. Though I’m not a fish lover (ha!), it was very interesting how they sustain this important resource. All the black shadows in all these pics are actually thousands and thousands and thousands of salmon. They’ve come to spawn, so instead of allowing them to go up the river to do so, they’re guided up a “fish ladder,” where they can be spawned in a controlled environment so no eggs get wasted.
The hatchery attracts all kinds of animals to the “fish buffet,” like eagles, bears and wolves. Unfortunately all we saw were the seagulls, helping themselves.
Check out this video: Seagull Water Park
Eventually it was time to leave (in a rush, because I thought we were staying one day longer than we had actually reserved and had to bug out to make room for a new arrival for our spot!). So many campgrounds, so poor a memory!
Arriving near Tok, Alaska, we can almost always count on seeing a moose there! 56
After a restful stop in Tok, where Gary fished and we also got a broken shackle on the RV repaired, we sadly said goodbye to Alaska and began our descent back down the (oh, crikey, nail everything down in the RV) Alaska-Canada “highway.” I use the term “highway” loosely, as it’s more like a backwoods country road.
Stay tuned for some gorgeous shots from British Columbia as we work our way slowly back south.