Alaska – Canada Travels 2014, Matanuska Glacier, Worthington Glacier and Valdez, August 2nd to August 4th.

Having a picnic at Matanuska Glacier.

We leave Palmer on the Glennallen Highway and head for Valdez. On the way we see signs for Glacier Park. This is a private business that charges $15 per person to hike onto Matanuska Glacier. What an experience.

Raven wants to know what's for lunch.

We drive a few miles down a gravel road to a picnic area near the toe of the glacier.

 Matanuska Glacier.

Walking on the ice. Gravel carried by the glacier helps us keep our footing.

When we walk onto the ice we stay mainly on a thin layer of gravel that has been carried along by the glacier and keeps us from slipping. This gravel is on top of about 200 meters of ice.

Ice sculpture.

The beauty of the ice.

Water flows

Looking into a blue crevasse that rock have fallen into.

We watch ice climbers on the glacier.

The sound of flowing water is everywhere. It flows in channels and crevasses and into pools at the toe of the glacier before flowing on to become the Matanuska River.

Hiking on the glacier.

Glacier Park also gives guided tours and you get crampons to walk further out onto the ice. We didn’t go on a tour but it would be well worth the price. We overheard a guide talking to her group and she had a lot of interesting things to say about the dynamics of the glacier. If you rent crampons you can walk more freely over the ice.

Hiking to the toe of  Worthington Glacier.

I touch the weeping face of the glacier.

Water pours down the rock from beneath the glacier. It's melting.

Worthington Glacier is on our way to Valdez. It spills in a frozen flow down a craggy slot in the mountain to hang above the valley floor. We walk up to it, touch its weeping face and gather cold dripping water in our hands. The glacier is melting. Water pours over the rock face from unseen places above us. It flows into the lake then into the river on to the sea. all that fresh water going to the ocean.

I leave my heart at the toe of the glacier.

Bridal Veil Falls in Keystone Canyon.

Horsetail Falls in Keystone Canyon.

ff the glacier-carved mountain as the ice melts away. So much water pouring into rivers and into the sea. The lakes below didn't exist in 1959 but now the glacier has receded far up the canyon leaving a gray debris field. I find a rock heart in what's left beThe road to Valdez passes through the narrows of Keystone Canyon, which is adorned with several beautiful falls.

Valdez.

Valdez Harbor.

 

We arrive in Valdez, AK. Love these little port towns. Love seeing boats on the water, waterfalls and sea gulls.

Sea Gulls at the Salmon run.

Here's a pic of gulls bobbing on the stream flowing out of the fish hatchery as the water churns with salmon. The salmon run has been good this year and they gather here in great numbers at their home waters. It’s the end of their amazing lifecycle and the gulls take advantage of the free lunch.

The Fireweed is in full bloom.

A fisherman canoes peacefully by our campsite on Allison Point.

We camp at Allison Point, a small city campground across the bay from Valdez. We can hear the multitudes of salmon rising to the surface along the shore. The campground is only a parking lot but the mountain views are nice and we can hear the gulls and watch boats.

Valdez Harbor.

Watching the tide come in.

Looking across the bay to Valdez from our campsite. Beautiful view.

These are scenes of the Valdez docks and harbor. We spent two days here and it was continuous rain and fog. We decide to leave the coast and head for the Denali Highway.

More glaciers can be seen along the Richardson Highway.

As we drive back up the Richardson Highway from Valdez to Glennallen we can see Mount Drum in the Wrangell Mountains.

Mount Drum in the Wrangell Mountains with it's head in the clouds.

Our next destination is Tangle Lakes along the Denali Highway.

An artistic sidewalk post at Valdez Harbor.

See you down the road.

Jackie

A Stellers Jay visits us at our Allison Point camping site.

 

Alaska – Canada Travels 2014, Palmer and Independence Mine at Hatcher Pass, July 28th to August 1st.

Palmer is an unpretentious, comfortable, homey community north of Anchorage. It has a long agricultural history and record-sized vegetable are grown here.

Palmer, where giant veggies come from. No other town would boast a sculpture of giant veggies.

Flowers at the Palmer Botanical Garden.

The drive to the Independence Mine follows the beautiful Little Sustina River.

From Palmer we take the Hatcher Pass road to the Independence Mine Historical Site. A visitor center documents the history of the mine with interesting photographs. The former gold mine is perched in a glacial bowl high above timber line with dramatic views. The State of Alaska has done an admirable job at preserving the buildings and mining operation. There are trails with interpretive signs that explained a lot about the operation. It’s well worth the visit and the fun of photographing the structures.

Independence Mine.

The preserved buildings are being repainted the original white.

 

The ore train.

The mine tunnel.

 

Some things can't be saved.

The old ore train tracks.

The mine above the timberline is ringed by mountain peaks.

Administrative buildings.

A look inside a supervisors apartment.

Looking through a window to the past.

The building were originally white with red trim. Someday they'll all be repainted.

We camped at the forest service Government Peak Campground at the base of the climb to the mine and rode our bikes back up to the mine the next day. This was a ride suggested by sprinter owners we’d met. It was very steep most of the way, a popular ride with the locals and a good bucket list ride if you’re in shape. As always the ride down was worth the climb.

The Purple Moose Expresso in Palmer. Love the roof.

 

Tomorrow we’ll be on our way to Valdez.

See you down the road.

Jackie

Alaska – Canada Travels 2014, Seward and Exit Glacier, July 23rd to 27th.

Hundreds of bright red salmon swim up Crescent Creek to their spawning beds.

On our way to Seward we stay the night at a forest service campground at Crescent Creek, were we saw our first salmon run. It's really exciting and a thing of beauty to see them coming up the river in waves of brilliant color beneath the ripples of the water. No fishing is allowed here in these protected salmon beds.

Our camp site along the bay at Seward.

In Seward we got a beach-front site at the city campground where we can watch the boats and tides come and go. Otters play or float on the waves just off shore and dive for clams, which seems to be their main activity.tivity. I've no idea what else they do. Ah, the life of an otter. Seward is a nice town with a busy tourism industry but still quiet and easy going. What a wonderful thing to live by the sea.

Downtown Seward is a delightful and picturesque place to visit.

One of many murals on Sewards buildings.

Otters play in the bay near our camp site.

We watch the tide come and go. A favorite pass time for those of us who don't live by the sea.

Cormorants roost on the pilings. 

We see our first big cruise ship.

A mural of a Raven legend.

Our first hike to a glacier.

Exit Glacier is an awesome sight as it flows out of the ice field above.

Today we hiked to Exit Glacier above Seward. The trail goes to several viewpoints looking down on the glacier. This was one of our bucket list items.

Beautiful scenery on our hike to the glacier.

Spring flowers are in bloom beside the glacier.

Along the trail we find ripening Salmon Berries and Watermelon Berries, drops of sweet goodness that taste a little like melon. Aren't they pretty?

Watermelon Berries.

As we sit at our table in the evening we watch a cruise ship back out of the dock, turn around, and hardly make a sound as it picked up speed and headed out to sea. What a beautiful thing.

A cruise ship backs out of the harbor, turns around . . .

. . . and heads out to sea.

A rainbow across the bay on our last day in Seward.

The sun comes out and we get a beautiful view from our camp site.

We leave Seward and the Kenai Peninsula and head back to Anchorage.

Exit Glacier and spring flowers.

Until next time.

Jackie