Our drive into Valdez w
as stunning.
T
he 10 day weather forecast has shown rain every day, but the sun was shining and the sky was bright blue. We hiked out to Worthington Glacier and it was pretty, but we really have become glacier snobs. Wouldn't this rock be beautiful in Barb's yard? Unfortunately, it was nearly as large as the Jeep. Next we came over the summit and into Keystone Canyon
where there
are more than 20 waterfalls in 3 miles. Our favorites were Bridal Veil & Horsetail. As we've said before, we know to take advantage of sunny days here, so we settled into Bear Paw RV Park and headed out to see the sights. It took about 5 minutes to drive all the streets in town and then we headed toward the Alaska Pipeline Terminal area. They used to conduct tours here, but not any longer. We did, however, see an interesting movie about building the pipeline while we were in town. We drove up to the signs te
lling us we could go n
o further and mentioning the FBI and snapped a couple pictures. The salmon hatchery is listed as an attraction but it is not well marked. We stopped a couple times to watch the salmon swimming upstream. It was on the 4th pass that we finally found the "entrance" to the hatchery and fish ladder. Now, before you think we are losing our minds, no one else seemed to know about it so we made a point of publicizing it on return visits! It was mind boggling to see thousands upon thousands of salmon fighting the
ir w
ay up the stream and fish ladder, all so they could spawn and die. Depressing too. We spotted otters and seals in the bay, filling up on the easy prey. The otters would catch the salmon and strip the skin off them, like bears do. Seagulls waited patiently(?) for the scraps. The seals would bite the salmon in half and spit out part of it. Again, the seagulls were happy to grab what was left. The seagulls also hung out on the side of the stream to peck at the fish that were too exhausted to continue. Barb thinks the circle of life is tough to watch but also that fish are creepy looking, so it was more fascinating than upsetting! We also watched people fish and probably c
o
uld have
written out a few tickets for improper practices. Oh well, the salmon were "dead fish swimming" so what's the real harm? (Note to self, prepare for environment
alist backlash) Valdez Glacier is up in the mountains, but icebergs are in the lake below it. One was an especially pretty blue color. We found out later that kayak trips around the icebergs were offered, but it was raining by then. Now we have another reason to come back! We hiked to
the top of the hi
ll and were rewarded by an amazing view of the lake and mountains. "Man Camp" - Barb is wondering why she didn't know about such a place when she was single. Dennis is no doubt rolling his eyes. Between the pipeline terminal and fishing boats, there is a lot of dorm-type housing here. On a hot tip from friends Chuck & Cindy, we moved to the harbo
r extension of the RV park as soon as space 12 was available. This is the only space where we could nose in and still have full hookups. The view of the harbor, bay and pipeline terminal out all our windows was spectacular. It's good to know smart people! Valdez is surrounded by fantastic, jagged coastal mountains that reflect in the calm bay. It is truly breathtaking! As promised, the rain finally moved in. We really can't say that we mind since it's a light rain that sounds so good on the roof of the RV and it's over 110 degrees at home. The misty mountains are also quite pretty. We read books and monitored the harbor tr
af
fic. The fishing boats work day and night. We were treated to a celebrity sighting on our last full day here, when the Kodiak from "Deadliest Catch" appeared. It is used as a salmon tendering boat during the summer. From what we can tell, this means the smaller boats offload to it and
it eventually delivers them into the processor in town. Taco Tuesday in Alaska = halibut (from Dennis) tacos - yum!
as stunning. 
T
he 10 day weather forecast has shown rain every day, but the sun was shining and the sky was bright blue. We hiked out to Worthington Glacier and it was pretty, but we really have become glacier snobs. Wouldn't this rock be beautiful in Barb's yard? Unfortunately, it was nearly as large as the Jeep. Next we came over the summit and into Keystone Canyon 
where there
are more than 20 waterfalls in 3 miles. Our favorites were Bridal Veil & Horsetail. As we've said before, we know to take advantage of sunny days here, so we settled into Bear Paw RV Park and headed out to see the sights. It took about 5 minutes to drive all the streets in town and then we headed toward the Alaska Pipeline Terminal area. They used to conduct tours here, but not any longer. We did, however, see an interesting movie about building the pipeline while we were in town. We drove up to the signs te
lling us we could go n
o further and mentioning the FBI and snapped a couple pictures. The salmon hatchery is listed as an attraction but it is not well marked. We stopped a couple times to watch the salmon swimming upstream. It was on the 4th pass that we finally found the "entrance" to the hatchery and fish ladder. Now, before you think we are losing our minds, no one else seemed to know about it so we made a point of publicizing it on return visits! It was mind boggling to see thousands upon thousands of salmon fighting the
ir w
ay up the stream and fish ladder, all so they could spawn and die. Depressing too. We spotted otters and seals in the bay, filling up on the easy prey. The otters would catch the salmon and strip the skin off them, like bears do. Seagulls waited patiently(?) for the scraps. The seals would bite the salmon in half and spit out part of it. Again, the seagulls were happy to grab what was left. The seagulls also hung out on the side of the stream to peck at the fish that were too exhausted to continue. Barb thinks the circle of life is tough to watch but also that fish are creepy looking, so it was more fascinating than upsetting! We also watched people fish and probably c
o
uld have 
written out a few tickets for improper practices. Oh well, the salmon were "dead fish swimming" so what's the real harm? (Note to self, prepare for environment
alist backlash) Valdez Glacier is up in the mountains, but icebergs are in the lake below it. One was an especially pretty blue color. We found out later that kayak trips around the icebergs were offered, but it was raining by then. Now we have another reason to come back! We hiked to 
the top of the hi
ll and were rewarded by an amazing view of the lake and mountains. "Man Camp" - Barb is wondering why she didn't know about such a place when she was single. Dennis is no doubt rolling his eyes. Between the pipeline terminal and fishing boats, there is a lot of dorm-type housing here. On a hot tip from friends Chuck & Cindy, we moved to the harbo
r extension of the RV park as soon as space 12 was available. This is the only space where we could nose in and still have full hookups. The view of the harbor, bay and pipeline terminal out all our windows was spectacular. It's good to know smart people! Valdez is surrounded by fantastic, jagged coastal mountains that reflect in the calm bay. It is truly breathtaking! As promised, the rain finally moved in. We really can't say that we mind since it's a light rain that sounds so good on the roof of the RV and it's over 110 degrees at home. The misty mountains are also quite pretty. We read books and monitored the harbor tr
af
fic. The fishing boats work day and night. We were treated to a celebrity sighting on our last full day here, when the Kodiak from "Deadliest Catch" appeared. It is used as a salmon tendering boat during the summer. From what we can tell, this means the smaller boats offload to it and
it eventually delivers them into the processor in town. Taco Tuesday in Alaska = halibut (from Dennis) tacos - yum!
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