Living in Alaska - Life in the Last Frontier

Part One: Valdez and Cordova Day One)

CORDOVA (Day 2-Sunday)

Unfortunately, we didn’t sleep very well our first night in Cordova. The room was quite warm, despite turning the thermostat all the way down. When we opened the window to get some fresh air, the noises of the night (people walking by, fisherman heading to work early), woke Steve and he had to close the window - which made the room hot again. He also missed sleeping with a fan for “white noise”.  I, on the other hand, can sleep through just about anything, to include noise. But I can’t sleep if I’m too warm. Once Steve closed the window, I became uncomfortable and slept fitfully.  It was not a good night for either of us.

Because it was Sunday, there weren’t any restaurants open in town. We had a microwave in our room, and the hotel manager suggested that Steve run to the local grocery store and pick up a few microwaveable breakfast bowls.  When he came back to the room, he had a box of Jimmy Dean sausage and egg sandwiches (frozen), and two boxed breakfast skillets.  It wasn’t exactly fine dining, but it calmed our growling stomachs.

Steve also came back to the room carrying a fan. It seems our room was supposed to have a fan in it, and for some reason did not. I was thankful that it would be cooler for sleeping the rest of our stay.

The weather was damp, but it wasn’t pouring. Rain fell intermittently, but when it wasn’t actually falling from the sky, it seemed to hang in the air around us. We decided to go exploring, and planned to check out just about every road in town. There aren’t that many.

First we drove out to the Orca Adventure Lodge. The lodge is a converted cannery on the Cordova waterfront, about 2 miles from town and the ferry.  We discovered that they did serve meals there on Sunday, but the meals were scheduled for narrow windows of time, which wouldn’t have worked for us anyway.

On the way to the lodge, we passed by several canneries. Workers were hard at work; the fishing industry never rests, it seems.  I loved the way the buildings were constructed high on stilts, or wooden pilings, perched over the water.  The textures and colors of the wood, metal roofs, brightly colored paint, and kayaks - in contrast to the deep forest green of the tall spruce trees - were breathtaking. The misty morning added to the mood and the intensity of the colors.

Here’s another view of the marina/harbor:

Steve and I drove up and down every street in the main part of town. We saw old homes, new homes, old buildings, new buildings, old churches and new churches and even a ski hill. We also came upon another cemetery and a little park with a lily-pad filled pond and the lushest foliage I’ve seen since moving to Alaska.

Making our way to Power Creek Road, we passed the Cordova Municipal Airport, which consists of a level gravel/sand bar adjacent to Eyak Lake. Float planes were tethered at the shore, and a sign warned that aircraft had the right of way. The only thing we saw flying on this particular day were the gulls who seemed to enjoy hanging out on the runway. Steve got a kick out of blowing the horn and making them take to the sky.

The drive on Power Creek Road was amazing! We passed by waterfalls of all sizes; some were merely small trickles, while others were loud rushes of water falling from high in the hills. And the trees were so thick with moss and other rain-forest plants. So beautiful!

We drove all the way to the end of the road, stopping frequently along the way to enjoy the beautiful trees, lake, and silence.

By the time we got back to town, it was raining. Not ready to end our day of exploration, we turned onto the Copper River Hwy and drove about 14 miles, until we reached the gravel road that leads to a trail from which you can get a good view of Sheridan Glacier.  Lupine were blooming along the trail, and the beautiful purple really stood out against the mint green of the foliage.

After our short hike in the rain, we felt chilled so we decided to go back to the hotel room to relax. A local Italian restaurant  was open for dinner (Ambrosia Restaurant) so Steve walked over to order some take-out. I had a small pepperoni pizza, while Steve opted for a gyro and salad. We enjoyed this informal meal in our room, chased with a bottle of wine.  The rain started to fall much heavier, so we opted to stay in for the rest of the evening.  I think we were asleep before 10pm. We’re such party animals!

Day 3-Monday

The next morning, we had breakfast at The Killer Whale. The food was really good and much better than microwave breakfast sandwiches. We then walked a few doors down - to Copper River Fleece - so I could pick out a jacket. I finally settled on a color and trim style, and opted to go all out and add a hood, zipper trim, and hood trim. Steve found a rain-resistant pullover for himself.  All custom sewing would be done later that afternoon, and my jacket would be ready to pick up by 5pm.

We decided to drive back out to Childs Glacier and the Million Dollar Bridge.  The weather looked much more promising as we approached the end of the road. We stopped several times along the way for photos.  I loved the reflection in this pond:

The Million Dollar Bridge:

This is Miles Glacier. It’s across from Childs Glacier:

This turquoise stream was right across the bridge:

This little ‘cabin’ is a sonar fish counting station. You can read more about the station here. That’s Childs Glacier in the background:

Here’s one of the viewing areas, where you can sit and watch Childs Glacier calve. You can really see how close you are to this glacier. It’s really something!

Look how high the waves can go! We saw one huge calving, and the wave that came off of it came about 3′ or 4′ up the riverbank. It was really neat!

We spent about an hour and a half at the glacier, watching pieces of ice break off and fall into the river. The weather wasn’t too bad; a little chilly, but at least it wasn’t rainy. It was quite misty though, and the mosquitoes were hungry.

We made it back to town a little after 5pm - just in time for me to pick up my new jacket. Here I am modeling it for Steve:

Later that evening, we had plans to have dinner with my online blogging friend “Mrs DillyDally” and her family. I found Terry’s blog a few months ago, when I was searching for Alaskan bloggers to add to my Google Reader.  Terry is a very talented needlepoint and quilt artist, who spends the rainy days of Cordova creating beautiful works of art along with other talented and enthusiastic women.

While I don’t possess skills with a needle, and can’t converse intelligently about such things, I can share my love for Alaska with another Alaskan. Like all who choose to live here in the Last Frontier, Terry understands the phenomena of coming to AK on a great adventure, and finding your entire being enveloped by the beauty, the lifestyle, and the people.

Terry prepared a delicious dinner of chicken and rice, and followed the meal with a dessert of blueberry crisp and ice cream that really hit the spot. Steve and I enjoyed lively and interesting conversation with Terry, her husband Jon, and son Leif. Before we knew it, it was after 10pm and, with bellies bursting, we called it a night.

I so enjoyed meeting Terry and her family, and I hope that our paths will cross again someday. Thank you, Terry, for your hospitality and recommendations for activities while in Cordova. You live in a beautiful place, and I am so glad that Steve and I added Cordova to our travel itinerary this year.

Day 4-Tuesday

Steve set the alarm to get up early for some fishing in Eyak Lake. I was a little worried about him going off by himself - especially in an area that attracts bears. We’d seen our share of scat while out and about, and all Steve was armed with was bear spray. The trail to the *good* fishing spot was rough and narrow and more than 2 miles long.

I spent the morning editing photos, worrying about Steve every minute that he was gone. Cellphone service is pretty much non-existent once you got outside of the town limits, so I had no way to check on him.  I was glad when he returned to the room about 3 hours later. Unfortunately he was fish-less. Fortunately, he was safe. It turns out that he only walked about a mile of that two mile trail, when he came around a bend and saw a black bear waddling down the trail ahead of him (going away from him). He didn’t relish the idea of sharing a narrow trail with a bear, so he didn’t stay long. He tried a few other places before coming back to the room.

When Steve got back, he busied himself unpacking and repacking the truck for our ferry ride back to Valdez the next morning.  When all was loaded up, we took a walk down to the harbor to see if there was anything going on.  On the way, we stopped at the Cordova Historical Museum to have a look around. It was quite interesting, and Steve became engrossed in several binders that had photos and information about the Exxon Valdez oil spill that occurred in March 1989.

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I found this article in the BBC News, comparing the spill of 1989 with the recent spill in the Gulf of Mexico:

Exxon Valdez oil polluted coastlines, contaminated fishing grounds and killed huge numbers of animals.

Now, most of the species affected by the spill have recovered or are on their way back.

But herring - once a major catch in Cordova - disappeared in the years after the spill and have never returned.

Oil company Exxon cites studies that suggest no link, but local scientists and fisherfolk will tell you otherwise.

This year Cordova opened shrimp fishing for the first time since 1989

They point out that the spill occurred during spawning season, that the inlets and bays where herring traditionally laid their eggs were choked with oil, that herring spawn at age four and that the herring population collapsed four years after the spill.

Either way, Cordova’s fishing industry was badly hit. Permits to fish herring commercially had been worth hundreds of thousands of dollars before the spill but became worthless, leaving many fishermen facing huge amounts of debt.

RJ Kopchak, a former fishermen turned development director for the Prince William Sound Science Center, says he held herring fishing permits and equipment worth $200,000 (£132,000) when the spill happened.

“Today, they are worthless,” he said.

The disappearance of the herring lead to the loss of money and people. Nearly a third of Cordova’s population departed in the wake of the spill, restaurants and five nightclubs closed and businesses went bankrupt.

Sue Laird, a former fisherwoman who now runs a seafood company, said the fishing industry had begun to recover.

“We’re still missing herring, we’re still missing several things.”

But, she added: “This is the first year [since the spill] we’ve had a shrimp fishery.”

Exxon spent billions of dollars on the clean-up and claims against it, just as BP is doing in the Gulf of Mexico today.

A court ordered Exxon to pay $5bn (£3.3bn) in damages. After years of court battles, the amount was reduced to a tenth of that, $500m.

Many fought for compensation for years, and the stress took its toll. While Cordova is not a depressed place now, the scars remain evident.

“We had lost our community during the spill years,” said Sylvia Lange, whose family had to leave Cordova in order to carry on fishing. Now, she runs a hotel in the town.

She said watching news of the BP spill reminded her of how the town was split into “haves and have nots”, when some people working for the Exxon clean-up effort became known as “spillionaires”.

“All told there were 10 years of total chaos, families splitting apart, not talking to each other, divorce,” she continued.

“And then there were 10 years of making it right again, and I think we were there, after 20 years.”

The BP spill has re-opened old wounds in Alaska. Many fear the past here could foreshadow the future in the Gulf of Mexico.

“My heart goes out to those people in the Gulf,” fisherman Leroy Gilkinson said over a morning coffee and smoke in the wood-panelled bar of the historic Alaskan Hotel on the town’s main street.

“I think they’re going to have it worse than we had.”

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On display in the museum is a community quilt. The placard mounted next to the quilt says

“This community heirloom quilt was donated by Cordova Northwind Quilters’ Guild in 1989.  It originated from a quilt block contest entitled “Great Things About Cordova.” All blocks that were entered appear in the quilt, which took nearly three years to complete.  Each block bears the name or initials of its artist. Community members donated to the Guilds’ scholarship fund in order to have their names embroidered on the quilt, as well.”

It just so happens that my friend Terry has a square on that quilt (photo above right). It depicts the Million Dollar Bridge, showing the collapsed section which fell during the Good Friday earthquake of 1964. The bridge was repaired in 2004-2005 - long after this quilt was created.

Down at the harbor, we stopped in at the Ilanka Cultural Center, where we admired the many beautiful handmade art pieces, jewelry, clothing items, and baskets.  From there, we took a short walk to the Cordova Fishermen’s Memorial. A plaque mounted beneath the statue says “Dedicated 1985. Of sea captains young or old, and the mates - and of all intrepid sailors… Pick’d sparingly without noise, by thee, old Ocean… Indomitable, untamed as thee.” (Walt Whitman, “Song for All Seas, All Ships”) Surrounding the statue are many engraved plaques with the names of those fishermen who lost their lives at sea, or spent their lives working at sea. Some of the memorial plaques are quite sad; particularly those for people who were lost at sea. Especially when several members of the same family were taken at once.

The Fishermen’s Memorial:

A spider web glistens with rain:

A colorful harbor shed:

Salmon in the sidewalk:

We had an awesome lunch at Baja Taco. There was so much food on my plate, that I had enough for lunch the next day.

Day 5-Wednesday

The alarm went off at 6am so that we could finish packing up the truck, and enjoy a leisurely cup of coffee. We had to report to the ferry at 7:30am. It was raining as we drove the truck down the ramp. Fog hugged the shoreline, and hung low over the ocean. Steve and I found a seat at the front of the boat, and relaxed for the 2 hour ride back to Valdez. After picking up the camper, we had a 400+ mile drive to Cooper Landing. It was going to be a long day…

Go to PART THREE: Cooper Landing and Palmer