Jim and Lyndi ZR-1 Road Trip 2019 - Back to Alaska

[QB93Z]

Day 17 Ferry to Valdez continued

We left Whittier at 1:30 and sailed across Prince William Sound to Valdez. The ferry, MV Aurora, smaller than the MV Columbia that we rode thru the Inside Passage. There is only 1 car deck and no passenger cabins.



Along the way we spotted some wild life near the ship, dolphins and and Harbor Seals:





As we approached the port of Valdez, we passed the Valdez Oil Terminal, the end of the Alaska Pipeline, on the south bank of the Sound:




There was a medium size cruise ship in port waiting loading for an evening departure. The Alaska Ferry terminal was just ahead of the cruise ship, so I got to evaluate the ship handling skills of the Captain and the line handlers:



The approach to the berth was satisfactory. The Captain used his bow thrusters to get parallel to the berth:




Once we were close to our position the Bow Line Handlers sent the mooring lines over. First to be sent over was a messenger line with a monkey fist to make the throw easier. Lyndi got a picture of the throw for line 2:




The Line Handler on the pier pulled the mooring line to a cleat a strain was taken to position the ship:



Based on my experience mooring submarines, I would rate the landing as Very Good.


We made a short drive to our hotel and Lyndi really liked the desk clerk's sweater. Lyndi likes Bats:



Jim

[QB93Z]

Day 18 Sight seeing in Valdez, AK

We spent the day looking around Valdez. Valdez is a small town in a relatively isolated location. The reason Valdez is important is that it is the terminus of the Alaska Pipeline. Because Valdez is a cruise ship port, there a lot of hotels here. Other industries include a fish hatchery and adventure cruises:






The Alaska Oil Pipeline was built from 1974 to 1977. It is a 800 mile, 48 inch diameter pipe that runs from Prudhoe Bay on the Arctic coast of Alaska to Valdez in the south. We found several pieces of the pipe on display in town:






We visited a water fall near Valdez and found this interesting statue of a fisherman hooking a bear, with the ZR-1 and beautiful scenery in the background:




On the south shore on Port Valdez there is a Salmon Fish Hatchery operation that has very successfully helped to maintain the population of Salmon in the Gulf of Alaska:






The scenery around Valdez is stunning. Even when the cloud ceiling is low, the water and mountain views are great:




We hiked out from the west end of town to the shore of the Sound:




I always try to post pictures of exotic Alaska wildlife. For today we have this cute bunny we found eating grass near the hotel:




Jim

[Paul Workman]

Highlight of my day, as I convalesce, is the next installment of the pictures you post on your trip! (Alaska is on our "todo" list - soon as we can "get it all together"!)

Thanks for taking us along!

Paul n Ami

[QB93Z]

Day 19 Valdez to Copper Center, AK

After a nice stay in Valdez, we drove north on the Richardson Highway to Copper Center, AK to get ready to fly out to Wrangell St Elias National Park.

As we drove out of Valdez we visited some beautiful waterfalls along the highway. We took lots of photos and some video. Now we cannot copy the photos that are on the SD Card. I don't know if it is a chip failure or a problem with the video corrupting the data. We will get it sorted out and try to post after we get back to an internet connection.

See you in two days....

Jim

[QB93Z]

Hello, we are back on line!

On day 20 we left Valdez and drove to a B&B Cabin on Willow Lake in the Copper Center region of eastern Alaska:





The cabin was wonderful and was built personally by our host. While we were in the cabin, their home was being raised off the foundation and prepared for a 50 foot move away from the water's edge:




to be continued......

[QB93Z]

I spoke to soon. No internet connection with Verizon. I have 5 bars for phone but no internet.


Sent from my iPhone using ZR-1 Net Registry

[WARP TEN]

Originally Posted by QB93Z

I spoke to soon. No internet connection with Verizon. I have 5 bars for phone but no internet.


Sent from my iPhone using ZR-1 Net Registry

Doesn't it work over the phone if you have Cellular Data turned on? I recall it did for us here in the lower 48.--Bob

[QB93Z]

Originally Posted by WARP TEN

Doesn't it work over the phone if you have Cellular Data turned on? I recall it did for us here in the lower 48.--Bob

Hi Bob, In the rest of the world that is the way it works. Apparently in remote Alaska internet access is separate.

We are in White Horse, YK now and I can connect to the internet here.

Jim

[QB93Z]

Resuming the Trip Log, from the Copper River area we drove to Chitina, AK to catch a plane to Kennicott:




The flight to Kennicott was about 20 minutes across the western side of the National Park. The weather was perfect and the scenery of the Wrangell Mountains was amazing:






We crossed the Copper River:




Seen from a plane, the Wrangall Mountains are amazing. There is every type of terrain and examples of plate tectonics, volcanic activity, glaciers, and erosion:



There are two large glaciers that join to form the large moraine at Kennicott:



Here is a view of the buildings of the Kennicott Mine. The copper mine operated from 1910 to 1938. The buildings and property are now privately owned and the mountains are a National Park:




to be continued.......

[QB93Z]

We landed in the small "village" of McCarthy, AK and took a lodge shuttle bus up the mountain to Kennicott Lodge and Mine. Not wasting any time we checked in and hiked out to the toe of the Root Glacier:







The trail was in very good condition and paralleled the edge of the moraine. The moraine is a large field of ice that is covered in grit and rock dust that may be 800 feet deep below what we see. There are voids and rivers running through and under what we see:




We took a side trail that scaled down to the edge of the glacier:




When we got to the edge of the "toe", which is the part of the glacier that is the top layer of glacial ice, we decided to climb on to the ice:






Jim