Ending our Alaska Journey

End of our Alaska Journey..........heading towards Seattle on Saturday Sept 1st


Well we'd like to say we're bringing home a freezer full of salmon, BUT.... We'd be telling a lie..Just didn't work out the way we thought it would..We're not even bringing home the freezer!!! .Gene says he thinks the problem is, this year we bought a freezer BEFORE we came up, and in 2006 we bought a freezer AFTER we caught lots fish (bought it in the Kenai with Connie and Fred)...  The silvers are still on their way...starting to come in, getting closer anyway......but must have been the 'scouts' s arriving first...there were a few silvers caught on Tuesday, including the one I caught, and we were so hopeful.......  So went over everyday to our fishing spot an hour or so before high tide (since the fishing is best right around high tide.) I caught my Silver at exactly (HIGH tide)...   Gene has fished a lot more than I, and he came up with Zero! Even today FRIDAY, we made one more trip over to Allison Point..  The roadway was lined with cars, nearly bumper to bumper, fisherman lined the banks, and with binoculars we looked all around... NO ONE is catching anything.  The fish didn't do what everyone is used to them doing....  It may even be the end of September when they do come in, but we can't wait any longer.  Its time to move on.....
Here's a few pictures to share before we go. 



I did catch one, not a very big one, but at least I got one.....

...................... Gene got the honor of cleaning MY fish.....



Gene tried and tried.......

We spent some time down by the hatchery looking at the different kinds of Seagulls that were around...this next picture of one kind we've never seen before, after looking it up in my Wildlife book...its a a "Bonapart's gull".  Its a beautiful bird, a little smaller than most sea gulls...

.....One more Eagle picture.......

...and one more bear picture...

Strange looking mushrooms growing near our trailer... 

and ferns as well....Very pretty area we camped in for the last 6 weeks!

Our last attempt at fishing....on Friday with a whole bunch of others...

and .....some more.... 
Bye Bye Valdez 
We won't miss the horrible fishing.

 But we can't stay any longer, we have reservations at Lake Pleasant RV Park in Bothel Washington for Thursday Sept 6th for 7 days where we'll stay about a week, just enough for me to get in my 24 hrs the next week, then we'll head home. Should be home by Saturday the 15th of September (hopefully Friday), but that may be a stretch to do, if we were in the car we could, but truck and trailer somewhat slower...   

Now its time to put things away, go empty our tanks, and get ready to pull out tomorrow...Dinner out tonight..
Long road ahead.

Week of August 20-26

Well..... we are in our final week of our stay here in Valdez.  Still NO Silver Salmon, now we're thinking it probably won't get any better by the time we leave next weekend.  So many disappointed and patient, fishermen.  The hatchery is closed until the silvers show up..., they expected the silvers in by now.

This past Tuesday we left at 5 am from Valdez and headed for Anchorage for the 'Celebration of Life' for my 2nd cousin, Cathy Powell.  Wish our visit would have been under better circumstances.  She was a friend to many...as shown by the large turnout of friends.  It was a six hour drive to get there, we did have a little extra time to buy a few groceries before arriving at the celebration for Cathy, then a 6 hr drive back to Valdez, arriving home at 10:00 p.m. It was nice to get away from the rain here in Valdez for a day. On our drive we did spot  2 moose, and 1 baby moose, I wasn't quick enough to get a picture though. 

Here's a few pictures on our trip up to Anchorage.....

Views of the Alaskan pipeline that runs along the road, and under it, in some instances....





One of the places along the pipeline that goes underground.



Mount Sanford (taken in Glenallyn AK)  a HUGE mountain, usually covered in clouds.



This the Matanuska Glacier.

Now back to Valdez:

Since the weather didn't cooperate very well this week, we didn't take as many pictures this week, but I do have some photos to share with you anyway.(Some taken when we first arrived here 6 weeks ago.)

These signs are on the roadway along the road to Allison Point......

 

Then...there were times when additional 'NO STOPPING WITHIN 1500 FT' signs were posted so people wouldn't stop and harrass the bears...but do you think people obeyed the signs...Of course not.  Its at the point now, that when we go over to Allison Point we don't even stop to watch the bears..we drive right past.  But plenty of drivers are still stopping. I've seen enough bears...well...with one EXCEPTION... the Mama Grizzly and her 4 cubs that have eluded us...

 

 

This is a wood carving structure in downtown Valdez that is one of the '101 Things to Do or See in Valdez'.  Soooo here it is: and below it is a picture of the plaque that explains a little about the artist.

 

 

Another day, and another 'Trumpeter Swan'...they are so beautiful. We've only seen about 6 but I love them...(hate the seagulls...they are so noisey and annoying!)

 

 



We watch these cute little Sea Otters nearly everyday ...there are a lot of Sea Otter families here in Prince William Sound..and we watch them float on their backs and eat...then dive down and find something more to eat.....if  its clams that they are eating they lay the clams on their tummys and use a rock to crack the shells open so they can eat them. If its a salmon they are eating they use both paws to hold and eat it....they are just so cute.

And the Scenery around us is truely breathtaking...the view changes constantly because the clouds change constantly.



............. a seal in the water just beyond the 'Fireweed' flowers....



This is a view of the fish hatchery..in the rain.



Can you say.... FOG? (Thats Gene walking back toward me in the truck) but you can't even see the water just to the right..




This is the place where we get our ice cream treats...We've gone 3  times since arriving here July 16.



Can't get enough of the Beautiful Scenery.

 Thats if for this week...have a good week everybody.

Week of August 13th-19th

.......I want to start our blog off this week by saying we lost a member of our (Powell) family this week..  that rocked our world....My (2nd) cousin's wife, Cathy did not survive a boating accident  Monday,in Prince William Sound here in Alaska... when their 32 ft boat with their entire family on board hit a rock and sank.  Scott was able to rescue his 3 children, he was not able to locate Cathy, other boaters in the area and then the Coast Guard helped, they did find her and did CPR right away, but they were unable to save her.  Scott and Cathy and their children are residents of Anchorage.  We will be heading to Anchorage for her 'Celebration of Life' on Tuesday.  Such devastating news.. She was a remarkable mother to her 3 children, and she will be greatly missed by all who ever knew her.....


 Wow, this week went by so fast....

     The fishing situation has NOT changed......We haven't caught a Silver Salmon YET!  We did see a person cleaning one, so we know there a some silvers coming in, but very few.  I know the fishermen are here, more arrive everyday, the campground had a lot more campers than usual, but they were thinking they are going to catch Silvers.   NOPE...Still too early.  So the campers/fishermen have left (well some have)..we don't blame them, its been rainy most of the week, no salmon... Those Salmon just aren't following their instructions...they must have lapse of memory as to 'when' it is that they should be here.!!  We do think once we catch one, we'll catch several...we just have to be patient. Someone told us that the silvers are 22 miles out.... haha...we'll see.
    We went to the Valdez Museum on one of those rainy days this week... and spent a lot of time there looking at the pictures, reading stories and looking at artifacts and videos, of the 1964 Earthquake, the building of the Alyeska Oil Pipeline, and the story of the Exxon Valdez.  This town has a lot of history. We are working on a blog that we'll send out before we leave there (hopefully) with a ton of information and pictures about the history of Valdez.

................. taken inside the Valdez Museum, which we enjoyed a lot.



(Gene's photo looks more realistic than Mine(or maybe not)...  Mine was NOT taken in the museum...



 a little restaurant we had lunch in one day, 'The Fat Mermaid' (where my photo was taken above).... but it sure wasn't little, it had a big room off to the side that had a wall of neatly stacked firewood for the wood burning stove that sat in the corner. 

And this is the mural painted on the walls in the womens restroom inside the restaurant. 

These are 'Trumpeter Swans'...there were only 3 of them, but we watched them for quite a while because the pink salmon were swimming around them, the swans would nip at them, but we don't think they 'eat' salmon, but the salmon were certainly bugging them.

Gene and I walked the trail that parallels the highway in our campground... a couple of times this past week, must have been the only 2 days it didn't rain...heres a few photos...

ferns

paved walking/biking trail

 

This is the campground we are staying................................................................................................                          

......................the view as you turn from the Richardson Highway into our campground...you can see the truck and trailer just beyond the 'bath house'. (There are camp sites between our site and the bathhouse, you just can't tell by this photo...but so far no one has been assigned to them yet...thank goodness...I guess when they fill up, they'll put campers there as well. 

Beautiful view of Robe Lake just a very short drive from our campground

We've seen some fantastic sunsets..  (On Dry Days ..that is)...here's an example of one..this was taken around 10:30 at night.  The days are certainly getting shorter...there are only about 15 hrs of daylight now.  No more 'midnight' sun now that we're into August.

ONE more item to Add..... This afternoon (Sunday) we went across to Allison Point to see if anyone was catching fish, even tho it was still raining....  Gene decided to fish...I sat in the truck doing a 'Sudoku'...after about 15-20 minutes he was giving up, when a red pickup truck pulled up and the man and his wife started talking to Gene about how the fishing was...they talked quite awhile, then the man heard the doors lock on his truck, and he said...'we're locked out of the truck'.... he hadn't taken his keys out of the ignition and their 'DOG' locked their doors!!!  So funny... (I thought)  The lady thought she had an extra key in the tool box in the back of the truck, but she crawled all over and couldn't find them...  so Gene offered to take them to their camping trailer to get the extra key they keep in the trailer....The man didn't want to go and leave his dog alone in the locked truck.... haha, so we took the wife, we left him with our umbrella..it was pouring.... to their campground and to their trailer.  She got the key, we drove her back, they wanted to pay us, we refused of course, they said we'll give you some salmon then, since you haven't caught any yet..  (They've been here in Alaska since June, the salmon they have is what they caught on the Kenai River, during the Red Salmon run...)  We refused...Well about an hour or so after we got back to the trailer, and dried out...  They drove to our campground and brought us a bag of frozen salmon.  So Now we have some Salmon!!!  AND...they were from NEBRASKA!  Very nice couple, they've been coming to Alaska for 7 years in a row!

                    Until Next Week...................See ya!

Week of August 7 - 12th

The Silver Salmon haven't quite arrived yet, we hear they ARE coming. There are a couple of areas in Alaska where there are so few fish they have closed the fishing for now.  The fishermen fishing from boats have caught some further out in the 'narrows'.   Gene goes over and watches what the fishermen that are catching from the bank, ARE catching.  He goes almost everyday when I'm working, but they are snagging pink salmon, not catching them.  He is  waiting for the Silvers, as are a lot of people hanging around town.  Saturday was the Womens Silver Salmon Derby, we don't think by the amount of people we seen around the dock, that it was  much of a competition.  We did hear that only 2 of the boats that went out, had caught a silvers. We saw the white board by the 'weigh in' station by the harbour, that the person who was in first place at that time, had a silver that weighed 17 lbs.   We think once the silvers start coming in we 'should' catch lots of them, however, we're just not sure when that'll be.  We were about 3 weeks too early.  If we would have arrived around the middle of August it would have been a little better timing for the Silvers, since the Silver run is really late.  Oh well, how were we to know?? We've had a good time though, even tho we haven't caught any fish yet. 

 We drive over towards Allison Point every evening, in hopes of seeing that mama grizzly and her 4 cubs, but so far no grizzlies.  We've seen pictures of them though, one of the many photographers that hang around, showed us his pictures of them, and in one, the mama grizzly is standing .... great photos.  Hopefully we'll see them before we leave Valdez.  One evening we saw a bunch of black bears, at least 5, all in the same area, if they get too close to each other they chase each other off. Rather interesting to observe.
And we've seen oh so many eagles.  We find a good place to watch wildlife and just sit.  We have our binoculars and camera in hand where ever we go. 

An accident in town at the harbour on Friday afternoon, a boat slid off a boat trailer, and trapped a man under it, he was flown by air to an Anchorage area hospital. The boat was still there when we went by Saturday.  Here's a couple of pictures we took of it.  Sure hope the man will recover.

On Tuesday this week we finally got to go to the Solomon Gulch Fish Hatchery. We had tried once before, but it was blocked off with a sign that said it was closed due to bears in the area. 

 





But wow!! What an operation.  Here's how its done....

Returning back to where they were born, the Salmon swim up the 'Fish ladders' from Prince William sound....

once there, there they corraled into a larger holding tank.... see the gate at the end, that gatewill then be raised to allow a certain amount of salmon thru to begin this amazing process...

This is a type of fish wheel that as it turns scoops and deposits its load of salmon into the white plastic bins that once full, will be dumped onto 2 assembly lines, one line for the males and one for the females, where....



....the males and females are separated, then arranged side by side, for easier and quicker processing.  The workers harvest the females eggs and the sperm of the males.........

those eggs and sperm are put into 5 gal buckets and moved into another building.

AMAZING!!!!!

We took a hike up above the Civic Center and took some pictures of the view from the top of the town of Valdez and the Harbour.

See the big tanks across the bay thats oil in those...and the blue tanker there? Its one of  about 30 tankers a month that must come in for oil, there's not any additional storage. They now have 2 big rigs that are kept close by, one at Valdez Harbor and one further out near where the Exxon Valdez hit a sandbar and spilled its oil, that are strictly for oil cleanup, IF it should ever happen again.  because at the time of the Exxon Valdez incident they had no way to contain an oil spill, however since that time, they are VERY ready, should it happen again.  Thats all those 2 rigs are for.

Valdez Boat Harbour

At the top of the trail about the town of Valdez

    ..time for some eagles and bears...................

This is a great picture of an 'adolescent' eagle....they don't get their black and white feathers until 4 or 5 years of age.

This eagle was facing the wrong way, but thought it was so beautiful with wings spread out, it was an older adolescent, still had a few spots ...hard to see that in this picture..

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Gene and I took a drive Sunday to Worthington Glacier ...I'll have to get out my pictures from 5 years ago, and compare to see just how much of this glacier has receded.

And our drive thru Keystone Canyon...........................

Railroad Tunnel...........notice the sheer rock.. Its sooo beautiful in this canyon

Keystone Canyon has several gorgeous waterfalls...

Horsetail Falls



Bridal Veil Falls



Strange way this water falls...looks crooked



Then Sunday evening on our way back home, we drove by Allison point once again to see if any grizzlies were out....nope, but we found this bear crossing the road right in front of us...no one else around...(this was taken thru our dirty windshield.)  He had just gone down to the water and was on his way back across the street to eat his dinner in the bushes.

and he was a very  S L O W  eater.. because we waited patiently

 THEN..... he came back across the street after he was done,  looking for more dinner....right in front of our truck.

He was over the embankment near our truck, when I went to the edge and looked over ....he was RIGHT THERE!!  I hurried back inside the truck...then I took the rest of the shots within a close distance to the truck.

he noticed me looking.........




then back across the street...with his dinner in his mouth



Enjoy the pictures!!!

AND.....

P.S. WE FORGOT TO MENTION..... On Thursday August 9th at 8:43 A.M. Alaska Daylight Time,  Gene and I felt an Earthquake. It was a 4.9, the epi center was about 50 miles from Valdez. It lasted about 10-15 seconds. It shook our trailer. pretty good, I was talking to my mother on the phone at the time, she said , "its just a bear outside, shaking your trailer ,".......weird feeling.