Bridal Veil Falls, near Valdez
Mountains, Thompson's Pass, near Valdez
Worthington Glacier, Girls Mountain, near Valdez
Lunch while waiting for roadworks, near Chitina
Reflections on lake #2, Wrangell St Elias NP, Alaska, 10 Aug 2014
Root Glacier from footbridge #2, McCarthy, Alaska, 10 Aug 2014
Root Glacier from footbridge #1, McCarthy, Alaska, 10 Aug 2014
Reception area, Ma Johnsons, McCarthy
It was with a sense of regret that we said farewell to Ma Johnson’s Hotel and headed off from McCarthy. The weather was near perfect and the blue sky had barely a cloud in sight making the spectacular Wrangell Mountains sparkle in the early morning sun.
Once back to the pedestrian bridge we reloaded the bus and commenced the 100 km rough road drive back to Chitina to rejoin the Edgerton Highway. Despite it being Sunday, several roadwork crews were in operation so the journey was made considerably longer due to two 30 minute delays while the road was blocked.
Near Tosina we turned left onto the Richardson Highway and started heading south for Valdez. This was to be a 150 km trip through the Chugach Mountains region where the scenery was unbelievably beautiful with numerous glaciers close to the road. On a number of occasions we had fleeting glimpses of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline which brings crude oil from the Arctic down to Valdez. In some places the pipeline is above ground and along the vast distance it travels there are a good number of pumping stations two of which we passed close to the road.
The largest glacier we saw was the Worthington Glacier which flows steeply down the icy peak of the 1840 m Girls Mountain. The glacier has a series of fingers that extend to within a few hundred metres of the road so close up viewing was made easy although none of us had time to venture up the ‘challenging’ ridge trail to the glacier’s lateral moraine.
Seven kilometres south of Worthington Glacier we came to the Thomson Pass, Alaska’s snowiest spot. From the height of the marker poles on the side of the road used to guide the snow ploughs, the depth of snow may well get to be 3 m in places! Our day was one of sunshine, blue skies and no wind and yet from the numerous glaciers that practically encroached on the road, one could tell that winter-time here must be fantastically cold and require great stength of character to endure these extremes.
A little further south, the road entered Keystone Canyon with the fast flowing Lowe River having carved a deep ravine through the cliffs. This is a popular rafting area and several groups were seen making their way down the river that is icy and silty grey due to its origin as melt-water from the many glaciers upstream.
We finally arrived in the port town of Valdez and wandered around the waterfront that was packed with fishing craft and pleasure boats. After getting information from the visitors’ centre about possible activities for tomorrow we shopped for provisions and set up camp in a small camp-site very near the water’s edge.
Within an hour or so of setting up camp the weather changed and soon it was drizzling. We were warned that Valdez is very wet but let’s hope tomorrow’s weather allows us to explore the town in comfort!