Monday, August 19th-Guess Where?


Yes, we drove down to Valdez for the day! A LOT of things about today were different. I’ll try to list them all:
  • It was 34 degrees here when we woke up this morning but the high was 59
  • We saw a large moose cow standing on the shoulder
  • Even with two dumpsters, the view of the mountains at lunch was beautiful
  • The security around Valdez Harbor is VERY tight. This has to do with Valdez being the Southern terminus of the Alaska Pipeline. Remember the Exxon Valdez? Here’s a pic of the security measures around the harbor and port. You will have to enlarge the map of the three zones but you’ll get it when you look closely at the map.

By the way, Valdez was chosen as the Southern end and storage/loading facility because it’s the Southernmost ice-free port in Alaska. I’ve mentioned the 9.2 Great Alaska Earthquake in 1964. Well, Valdez was another one of those entire cities that has to be moved to a new location as a result of the earthquake!

  • Here are the icebergs in the Valdez Glacier just out of town:

One more pic of the Salmon Hatchery in Valdez Harbor. The number of Silver Salmon trying to enter the fish ladders was astounding! I’d never seen as many fish in the wild in one place!


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