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Smokey Mountain National Park, Newfound Gap

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Friday, July 20, 2012

The Sun Came Out & OMG (Valdez, AK)

 

Just a note.  Some of the pictures in the blogs were taken by Ann.  They are too numerous to list.  Just to let everyone know Ann took them with her little Nikon Coolpix.  Thanks Ann, job well done!

Warning!!  This blog is long and contains many pictures.  If you get bored,  you can scroll through them fast.  If you do, I will know who you are and I will be watching you in the future.  So proceed at your own risk.

The trip down the Richardson Highway to Valdez was amazing.  It rained most of the way but the views were still unbelievable. 

On way Valdez (1 of 38)On way Valdez (4 of 38)On way Valdez (17 of 38)On way Valdez (21 of 38)On way Valdez (23 of 38)

Of coarse this is all over Alaska.  CONSRUCTION,

On way Valdez (25 of 38)

We finally arrived in Valdez and setup camp in an RV park right in the center of town, not that the town is that big.  It proceeded to rain through the night.  This morning the clouds finally broke and the Sun came out.

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This place has got to be the most beautiful place on Earth.  The pictures do not let you see the scope of the area.  The mountains are all around us, 360 degrees, with the deep blue of the sky and the low hanging clouds, the green of the mountains combined with the snow covered peaks. Mother Nature had a good time here.  Too bad Exxon had to spoil it.

We then took a walk around the fishing and small boat harbor.

The next day we took a boat tour of Prince William Sound.  It coved the harbor, wildlife and the Columbia Glacier.

Leaving the slip the boat passed the Oil docks, where the oil tankers are loaded.  Things have changed since that day in 1986 when the Exxon Valdez ran aground.  They now have a full time oil response team and all tankers are escorted by two Tugs.   Since 9-11 there is a “No Fly Zone” around the oil tanker docks.  The Coast Guard monitors all boats in the sound.

Valdez blog (15 of 41)

This is a picture of a Barley storage facility that was built by the town to store the Barley that was grown locally before shipping it to the lower 48.   They spent millions to build it. Only to find the local farmers could not grow enough Barley to fill it.  It has never been used.

Barley Blog (1 of 1)

Fishing in Prince William Sound.  There are many fishing boats in the mouth of Prince William Sound.

Valdez blog (19 of 41)

This is a picture of a fishing boat setting out his net.   They let out the net while turning in a circle. Then a small skiff keeps pulling the boat sideways as the boat pulls in the net.  This prevents the boat from moving into its own net when the net is pull back aboard.  Hopefully, with fish in the net.

Valdez blog (20 of 41)

Next the wildlife.

Sea Otters

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Sea Lions resting on a buoy.

Valdez blog (16 of 41)

Hump Back Whale.  What we could see of them

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A family of Mountain Goats (someone please tell Ann I need a bigger lens).

Prince William Sound (1 of 6)

Columbia Glacier.

This is one we pulled out of the sea. She’s a keeper.

Valdez blog (2 of 41)

Notice the saying on the T shirt.  Ann picked it up in a great museum in Valdez (Ann said the designer had her in mind when designing this  shirt!)

Next we leave Valdez back up the Richardson Highway to Tok, then back into Canada, back down to Alaska and Haines. So stay tuned.

Life is good on the Roan Road…

1 comment:

  1. 1. Can you see Russia from there?
    2. Send salmon.
    3. Have a great time!!
    Evan

    ReplyDelete