Alaska – Valdez - Day 4 5 6 – State 18 of 49 on our RV Adventure

If you are a first-time reader, welcome to Lora and Erics RV Adventure Blog. You can read about us at http://www.LoraandEricsRVAdventure.com. We started in December 2017 with a goal to complete 49 states before heading home to North Carolina.

We had an exciting day yesterday on Stan Stephens Glacier & Wildlife Cruise. Unfortunately, we were unable to sight any whales or orcas. We may take another tour when we visit Seward, Alaska if the weather is good.

We are getting a steady rain. The temperature is in the low 40°s F in the morning. We have no plans today.

The next day the rain is scattered, and we decide to venture out locally. We first drive out to Solomon Gulch Fish Hatchery. When the pink salmon return from late June to early August, they swarm on the hatchery in a blizzard of fish. The hatchery releases more than 200 million pink salmon and 2 million coho salmon each year. There is no stream for the salmon to return to, so they try to get back into the hatchery, crowding together in a solid sea of fighting muscle. Seals and birds come in to feed, and you can stand on shore and watch and smell the spectacle.

We arrive in a light rain. We see seals and seal lions off shore. The mountains across the Sound are layered with patches of snow and clouds.

The entrance has a single sea lion, rather large, waiting for salmon to arrive.

We cannot spot any salmon swimming in the water. One regular observer says the salmon run this year is very small. We can eventually capture the sea lion ripping a salmon in its jaws. Seagulls are in the water waiting for scraps.

Two more sea lions show up on the other side of the banks. We stay for about an hour before we move on.

We drive to Valdez Museum. The museum is a small heritage museum with exhibits on the history of Valdez. They are composed of two sites. The second site is dedicated to the 1964 Good Friday Earthquake. The first museum has partial exhibits of a local bar closed after the earthquake, a gold miners camps, fire pump, and stories on the building of the Richardson Highway. They also have a special section dedicated to the Exxon Valdez disaster.

The second museum in is an older building near the Ferry entrance. The open building has some vehicles and artifacts recovered from the 1964 Good Friday Earthquake. The old town is miniaturized to scale in several glass cases. There are videos from survivors of the earthquake describing the day of the quake and the aftermath. The videos are very touching as a mother describes losing her children and parents, along with living with nightmares years later.

After the museum we drive back toward King Canyon to Crooked Creek Information Site of Chugach National Forest. There is an information site and waterfall in the back. The site is known for its bear spotting. There is an eraser board documenting the bear sighting with day and time. None have been seen in a couple of days, Go figure.

We stop at Safeway and stock up on food and alcohol. I will top off the tank in the morning after I return the cable box at the main office.

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