Living in Alaska - Life in the Last Frontier

***WARNING: PHOTO HEAVY***

Steve and I spent a week in Valdez from the 12th to the 18th. We were in Valdez when we received the sad news about Sean. When I think back to that trip, it feels a little surreal. I believe the heavens were mourning with us, as sunshine and blue skies became overcast. When the rain began to fall, it seemed to time itself to my tears.

At one point, my thoughts turned to memories of another trip to Valdez: September, 2006. We were there when the news came that my mother had passed.  I remembered that I was walking the Dock Point Trail with Sedona at about the same moment my mother left this world.  It’s a beautiful walk and a great place to find peace and the opportunity for introspection.

So I leashed up Sedona and we took that walk again… alone.  And I did a lot of thinking about Sean, and my mom, and sadness, and family. But at the same time I couldn’t help but notice the immense beauty around me. Mountains, and glaciers. Lushness. Blue skies. Mist and fog.  What a juxtaposition of emotions. How is it possible to feel immense sorrow, and then joy, within seconds of each other?

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FAIRBANKS - VALDEZ

These photos were taken along the way, mostly shooting out the windshield:

Horsetail Falls, Keystone Canyon outside of Valdez:

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IN VALDEZ

After setting up camp, Steve and I relaxed a little, made dinner, and then drove over to Allison Point in search of fishing bears. When the salmon come back to spawn, the bears know they can have an easy meal if they come down to the weir. Eyewitnesses told us there was both a black bear sow and cubs, and a grizzly sow and cubs, coming down to fish every evening.  We never saw the grizzly, but we did see several black bears.

These tourists kept getting closer and closer to the bear, despite warnings that this was Alaska and not Disneyland. I’m happy I didn’t photograph a mauling.

The next morning, we woke to heavy fog rolling between the mountains and drifting over the water. This is pretty typical in Valdez and just adds to the beauty of the area.  Steve and I have explored just about the entire town and surrounding area during our many visits to Valdez. I don’t know how Robe Lake escaped us.

There’s a state-owned seaplane base on Robe Lake, and several were tied up at the dock. The fog, the stillness of the morning, and the lake reflection made for a beautiful and quiet morning.

The fog drifting over the Valdez Glacial Stream was spectacular, so we parked and took a walk along the bike path. The bike path starts in downtown Valdez and goes out past the duck marsh. There are beautiful views all along the trail.

I loved the layers in this photo, and the colors:

Steve and I decided to check out the military campground near Valdez Glacier. Although there was a campground host RV, with a phone number posted on the door, no one answered the phone when Steve called to inquire as to setting up a silver salmon fishing charter. Here’s the brochure for the campground. There are quite a few sites - both tent and primitive RV camping, but I’m sure the 21 RV sites that have electric book up quickly.  You can also book fishing charters through the campground and save a few dollars over local charter companies.

This is the waterfall next to a picnic pavilion, that was quite pretty. However, the standing water at the base of the waterfall (stream overflow), was a breeding ground for mosquitoes.

As the sun moved higher in the sky, the fog melted off - moving quickly from the water to the shore, and then further out of town.  I was so happy to see blue skies. I believe the temperature was in the mid to high 60s later in the day. A perfect day in Valdez.

There’s a pretty pond with a picnic area a couple of miles outside of town. I remembered it from our last visit and wanted to see how the reflections were. It was perfect! Across the pond, at the tree swing, was a little girl playing. I liked the way she was reflected in the water:

I love this old boat laying on its side with the mountains in the background:

Since the sun was out, we decided to go back to the camper and then take a walk around town.  The Women’s Silver Salmon Fishing Derby was going on, and Valdez was crowded with women who were participating.  Deck hands hauled harbor carts, nearly overflowing with fish, to the fish cleaning stations. Women milled around, showing off their catch, having their photos taken, and bragging about the one that got away. The air buzzed with happy chatter and laughter. Steve once again asked me if I’d please get a license next summer so I can catch some fish for our freezer (even though I don’t eat it).  Little by little, he’s wearing me down. *grin*

We walked along the slips in the marina, checking out boats, watching folks come and go, and just enjoying the sunshine.  As we neared the far end of the marina, we noticed a sea otter taking a leisurely bath only a few feet from the dock.

I was worried that my presence would scare him off, but he seemed quite at ease even as several more folks approached to watch and photograph him.

He (or she) was so methodical with the way he washed every inch of his fur. Sea otters have to keep their fur impeccably clean or it will lose its ability to keep them warm while floating and swimming in frigid water.  He started on his belly, worked up to his head, and then finally cleaned his webbed feet.

This is the view from our camper of the duck marsh:

It was quite the busy weekend in Valdez, and we ran into several people that we knew. Alaska is truly a small community spread out over a really big state. I enjoyed a beer and some chit-chat with my friends Sue and Bridget on Saturday, and then saw my musher friend Jan, as she was staying in the same campground we were. Across the road, my friend Kim and her boyfriend were tent camping, and we met up with them at Allison Point.  On Tuesday evening, Steve and I met up with army friends, Bruce and Maria. I haven’t seen Maria since Steve retired from the army. Her husband just retired himself, and they are staying in Alaska.  It just so happens that the photograph I took of the red-haired “fisherwoman” above, is a friend of a friend and he saw the photo and identified her. Small world indeed.

The next day (Sunday), Steve went out early on a shark fishing charter. Weather wise, it was a beautiful day - with morning fog that soon melted away leaving sunshine and blue skies.  At first I was going to just stay in the camper, as I was so sad about Sean and couldn’t stop crying. I felt particularly alone without Steve there.

Then Sedona came over to me and lay at my feet, looking up at me with her sweet brown eyes. “Do you want to go for a walk?”. She jumped up and ran to her leash. I grabbed my camera and a light jacket, and we took off walking for the Dock Point Trail.

The Dock Point Trail is an easy walk, although if you walk counter-clockwise around the loop, there’s a really steep climb at the beginning. I prefer to do it the opposite way and come down the hill at the end.  There are two overlooks along the way, and there is a path that connects the two within the trees, but it can be muddy with all the rain.  Best to go back to the boardwalk and follow the established trail, unless you don’t care about messing up your shoes.

There’s a small park with a picnic pavilion at the trail head. There’s also a beach of sorts, where I’ve seen kids wading out into the (very cold) water. I’ve also seen people fishing from that beach, so footwear is a good idea to avoid stepping on a lost hook.

Everything was so blue in the morning sunlight:

I took these along the trail:

After a quick lunch at the camper, I went for a drive around town. You don’t have to drive to get around; the entire downtown area is accessible on foot. But I wanted to drive out to the Mineral Creek Trail area.

I walked a short distance on a trail paralleling Mineral Creek. The fireweed blooming along the way was so pretty:

I came back into town, and stopped at the Convention Center for a climb to the overlook. A set of stairs up the side of the steep hill, leads to a beautiful covered viewing area. There’s a picnic table up there too. From this vantage point, the town of Valdez is even more beautiful, where it nestles at the base of the mountains. I’m glad I made the climb, but it reminded me that I need to exercise more.

Here’s a view of Valdez, looking toward Mineral Creek Canyon:

This is looking toward the duck marsh and the small boat harbor:

Later that evening, Steve returned from his shark fishing expedition empty handed. He was not a happy fisherman. We stayed in all night, listening to the rain roll in. Both exhausted, we were fast asleep before 10pm.

We woke to chilly rain on Monday morning. I also woke up feeling very sad. I didn’t want to do anything but stay in warm lounge clothes and watch movies all day.  So that’s what we did.

After dinner, we decided to brave the rain and drive over to Allison Point for high tide. Steve fished, while I went looking for bears. It was very foggy over at the point. You could barely see the mountains across the bay.

It didn’t take long for a black bear to come down the hill, run across the road, and then climb down the rocks to the water. Three fishermen scattered quickly.  The bear had a fish in his mouth within seconds of getting to the water.

The bear continued down the shoreline, running at times in the water, as fish jumped around him. And then I noticed a couple of guys further down the shore, well past the trails that lead up to the road.

The bear made his way closer and closer to them. I was really worried that the bear would be aggressive with them. When the bear was within about 40 feet of them, the man standing closest to the hill threw his hands up in the air (making himself big) and yelled “Go away bear!” Fortunately, the bear listened. He stopped, looked at the men, and then turned and ran up the hill into the bushes and trees.

This is a little too close for comfort:

The next morning, Steve left early for a silver salmon fishing charter, and I slept in. The rain was still falling, and there wasn’t any sign of it stopping. I took Sedona out for a short walk along the marsh, and then retreated to the camper where it was warm and dry.

Steve got back early, as he had caught his limit (six). Finally, fish! He was quite happy with his haul, and busied himself with his food saver machine and salmon fillets.  We BBQ’d for dinner (fillet Mignon, which melted in my mouth), Steve re-packed the truck, and we settled in for our last night in Valdez. I was ready to go home.

Wouldn’t you know that we left Valdez under sunny skies? Oh well… at least we had an enjoyable drive home.

We stopped at Thompson Pass since we could actually see the gorgeous landscape. It’s not unusual to find heavy fog or clouds at such a high elevation, and I just had to shoot a pano:

I took this information about Thompson Pass from Wikipedia:

Thompson Pass is a 2,805 foot-high (855 meter-high) gap in the Chugach Mountains northeast of Valdez, Alaska. It is the snowiest place in Alaska, recording 551.5 inches (1,401 cm) of snow per year on average. In the winter of 1952–1953, 974.5 inches (2,475 cm) of snow fell—the most ever recorded in one season at one location in Alaska. The pass also holds the Alaska record for the most snow in a single day: 62 inches (160 cm) fell on December 29, 1955.

I can’t even imagine that amount of snow!

We saw several patches of tundra that are already turning red, and quite a few pockets of birch and aspen are wearing their autumn colors already. It’s a little depressing that summer is coming to an end already, but I do love the autumn colors and how they transform the landscape. Here are a few more photos I took on the way home:

Gulkana Glacier:

Driving the Richardson Highway:

I love driving the Richardson. The landscape is incredible:

It is so good to get home!

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EARLY MORNING SUNRISE

This morning, Steve woke me when he came home from work. He didn’t do it on purpose, and I did try to fall back to sleep, to no avail. So there I was, before 6am, getting the coffee started and rubbing the sleep from my eyes.

All the blinds were closed, but I saw an orange glow coming through them. What a pleasant surprise to be greeted by this:

The morning is very chilly, and they just started issuing frost warnings. Looks like it’s time to cover the tomato plants if we want to salvage the green tomatoes hanging on them. And my sunflowers haven’t bloomed yet, and I don’t want them to die when they’re so close to opening!

Fortunately, the afternoon still warms up into the 60s, and even 70s. Summer’s not over yet, but autumn is creeping in and taking over the morning and evening hours.  This makes for some glorious sleeping. There’s nothing like 40F night air coming in an open window, while you snuggle down under a warm blanket. I love it.

“My sorrow, when she’s here with me,
thinks these dark days of autumn rain
are beautiful as days can be;
she loves the bare, the withered tree;
she walks the sodden pasture lane.”
~ Robert Frost ~

Until next time…