Cernek.org Blog

Valdez, Alaska, is in a very special part of the world. Looking at the Google Satellite map, it is possible to see why we are seeing the sights that we are seeing. The glaciers are on all of these mountains all around us.

View Larger Map“>Click to see a topo map of southeast Alaska

We arrive on Friday, June 24, and we are not leaving until Tuesday, June 28. It is time to kick back and enjoy what we came to see.

The RV Park we have happened upon is very close to Prince William Sound. Be it right or wrong, they feed the bald eagles each evening about 6:00 p.m. There are about 11 to 15 eagles that show up for the feeding.

It is an excellent opportunity for us to watch the eagles up close and personal. They are sitting in the trees. The chattering that they are doing is a very unusual noise. The discussions among the eagles are going on all over the park.

I’m sure the eagles can tell quite easily which is male and which is female. It is not so easy for those of us who are watching them. We do know that they mate for life although they will quickly take a new mate should something happen to their original choice. Mating outside of the marriage does occur.

Bald eagles do not get their distinctive coloring until maturity at four to five years. The brown color makes them closely resemble a golden eagle when seen in the distance.

Watching this landing is a treat. This isn’t something we get to see up close very often. The gear is down with full flaps!

The touchdown is as graceful as any pilot could wish for.

Tuck in the wings and landing complete.

These eagles are flying free right over our heads!

My camera is getting a workout. In some cases it is just point and shoot and hope for the best.

Look at that wingspan!

We are currently above 61 degrees north latitude. Ed has set up our internet dish to see if we can receive the internet. It is becoming apparent that it is not going to work. We need a larger dish to capture the signal this far north of the equator. He is not happy with that answer.

We still have the eagles flying overhead. This is a really big deal! I love this!

This immature eagle has landed looking for a piece of fish that may have escaped one of the older eagles.

Aha! He found a piece of fish!

Up early and out for a walk by the sound. This morning the reflections on the water are too good to pass by without  a picture.

We have had a chance to rest a bit after the drive from Tok. Today we are out to explore the town — the new town and the old town.

The stampeders in the 1898 Gold Rush to the Klondike had a huge challenge facing them once they arrived at Valdez. The only path to the gold fields was up and over the Valdez Glacier. As the sign says, “Most gold rushers were unprepared for the grueling climb.”

We find out some more about how the gold rush impacted this town.

Very little is left of the original town site. We are looking at a few pier pilings. Were we to poke around in the weeds, we might find a few more ruins, but time has pretty much erased all signs that the town was once situated here.

The terminus of the Alaska Pipeline that originates in Prudhoe Bay, 800 miles north, ends in Valdez. The tank farm has the capacity to hold all of the oil in the pipeline. Should the valve be closed in Purdhoe, the pipeline could be emptied into these tanks. Should an earthquake break the pipeline, as soon as the pressure dropped in the line, automatic shutoff valves would close along all of the pipeline experiencing the decrease in pressure. The oil from the pipeline can be routed into the tanks or directly onto an oil tanker in the harbor.

The views are great in all directions.

In 1964 there was a 9.2 magnitude earthquake at 5:36 p.m. on March 24, Good Friday. On the first day 11 aftershocks were recorded with a magnitude of 6.0 or greater. As devastating as the earthquake was, it was the tsunami that destroyed the town. The wave finished off what the earthquake left standing.

Old Valdez was built right on the water. The land was sandy and not solid for the foundations of buildings. It was determined after the total devastation that the New Valdez needed to be tucked back away from the water and built on much more solid ground. That is, in fact, what happened.

In reading the various accounts about this earthquake, those who lived through it would never forget the experience. It has been described by some as “the end of the world.”

We have seen robins all through Canada and in large numbers here in Alaska. This big, fat guy was flitting across the foundation of the old post office.

The next thing on our agenda is to drive back to Worthington Glacier. On the way we go past the old incomplete railroad tunnel. The last line says it all. “A gun battle was fought and the tunnel was never finished.”

A lot of work was done to get this tunnel cut through as far as it was cut. Since it was hand cut, someone had to be disappointed that it was never finished.

To get to Worthington Glacier, we have to get up and over Thompson Pass. It is a long, steep climb from this side. It is easy to see why wagons would have had a difficult time traversing this area in adverse weather or even in good weather with a heavy load.

Who would have been out there to steal the gold anyway? With it covered in snow it would have been impossible to even know it was there.

I’m glad that it is summer and the weather is good. One lady we heard talking about the pass said it can be very scary to come through it in a snow storm. Whiteouts are not uncommon.

We have arrived at the Worthington Glacier.

It is heartening to read that this glacier may not disappear.

We have been seeing U-shaped valleys with the V-shaped gorges carrying water off the mountain.

Who knew “erratic” was a noun? It is easy to understand the term. We have seen huge rocks that are in the wrong place and make no sense. Now we know why!

A mini-ice age is an interesting prediction. Would that counter the global warming?

Glaciers are important to our survival on this planet for so many reasons.

Here is the disclaimer. We are leaving the viewing area and heading down the trail. We are actually responsible for our own behavior. OMG!

This pond wasn’t here that long ago. Today it is fairly large and very gray as is the land in the moraine.

Large volumes of water are flowing down the very gray, bleak landscape in several places.

We can hike up to the glacier and even onto the ice. There is nothing here that tells us we cannot do that or fences to keep us out. That one fact alone makes Alaska different. Of course, going onto the ice means we would need to be prepared for crevasse rescue!

We don’t have our hikers on. The path is a bit steep with some loose stuff to slip on. It is also a bit further up to the glacier ice than we are ready to go this late in the afternoon. And apparently we can’t sue anybody if we slip. Being responsible makes it almost worth doing, doesn’t it?

Wendy and Roberta, it would make a pretty impressive Friday hike!

I am still having a hard time realizing we are actually in Alaska. Walking up this close to old ice is part of what it is all about. Alaska is everything I thought it would be, but it is bigger and better somehow.

Wow!

I love the color of the “blue ice.” I is a perfect shade of blue.

It is time to head home. We have to travel back over Thompson Pass. The road drops away fairly steeply for a long distance. The tall poles are there to guide the snow plows to keep them on the road. According to the lady that was saying the pass can be scary, the poles are lifesavers. There are places on this road where going over the edge would be a deadly mistake. Alaska in winter has to be a whole other world.

The view in the pass today  is pretty awesome. It is impossible to capture all this magnificence in a photograph. I don’t think I would ever get to a point where I could take these views for granted. The days they are obscured by clouds would make the days like today all that more special.

Tomorrow we go on a cruise of Prince William Sound. Life is good!

 

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 5th, 2011 at 22:09 and is filed under North by Northwest. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.