Bears, Moose, Eagles, Etc.

We arrived in Valdez just a few moments ago via the ferry from Whittier. It was a beautiful trip with snow-covered mountains along the way. We even saw a pair of orca whales from the boat. We've been lucky to have sunny weather which is unusually nice for this time of the year here apparently. Here's an update:

Saturday, May 19, 2007

We got breakfast where we stayed today. That's good, since breakfast here costs about $10. It makes the housing not seem so expensive to think of $20 of the cost going to breakfast!

We drove back along the highway we had already traveled so we could take a turnoff for Seward. We were in no rush, so we pulled off anytime there was something interesting to see. At our first turnoff, we were so lucky. We had stopped because we wanted to see the view of the nice mountains across the water. But as we stood on a bluff looking that way, I saw a bald eagle fly across just in front of us and pointed it out to Wes. Then a moment later, three more eagles flew by together. And a little after that, a fifth eagle flew past us. They were all going in the same direction. Everyone we have told about it has told us how lucky we were to see that.

We stopped at a small town with a Russian name and drove down to the beach where many people were digging for clams. It's a big thing here apparently. Whole families were out on the mudflats with their pails and shovels. Some went out on 3-wheelers or 4-wheelers. Others just walked. It looked like a messy process, but they apparently enjoy eating the results of it. On the hill above the beach was an old Russian Orthodox church. We drove up there and saw the outside of the building.

We continued to Soldotna and it's sister city of Kenai. It was noon, so we drove around looking for a place to eat. We came across another Russian church and stopped. There was a fully-dressed priest there with a dark red cylindrical-shaped hat, a floor-length robe, etc. He told us he was the retired priest there and showed us the chapel and told us about the history of the church and of the Russian Orthodox church in general in Alaska. He also explained about the Russian Orthodox cross which has three cross bars with the bottom bar being slanted. He had a great sense of humor and laughed as he told us about what the Bible tells and what they have guessed about the cross. We gave him a donation which made him very happy and found a gas station and a local place to eat. Then we were off again.

Our destination was Seward. It turned out to be one of our favorite towns so far. So much of this part of Alaska looks new due to reconstruction after the earthquake of the 1960s. But Seward, although greatly damaged then, still has the look of an old small town. It has a wonderful waterfront they have developed where the railroad tracks used to be. Now the tracks stop out on the edge of town. It has a lot of small churches and nice houses. We stayed in an old hotel called the Van Gilder.

We had two nights in Seward for two reasons. First, we knew we were arriving there late in the day and would want a day to explore the area. But second, the ferry we would need for coming to Valdez would not run until Monday. Saturday night, we picked up some lasagna at the Safeway and brought it back to the hotel where we were allowed to use the kitchen to prepare simple meals. We had it with some wine we had bought at Costco in Anchorage.

Sunday, May 20, 2007

We ate the continental breakfast at our hotel in the morning. Then we headed to the Exit Glacier just outside of Seward. It's one of the most convenient glaciers to reach in all of Alaska. And there are very nice rangers working there to answer the tourists' questions and to point out things to see.

Just as we arrived, a ranger was pointing out a mountain goat on the side of the mountain. We used my binoculars to locate it and talked to him about the area. He told us the reason that so many cars are banged up is that they just keep running into each other. We had speculated that maybe it was the result of moose attacks.

When we reached the glacier itself, there was a very nice female ranger there. We walked with her down a ways trying to find a place to ford a small stream to go to another area. The water was flowing just a bit too much, though. With her, we looked for bears, because there had been sightings that morning. I finally saw a black dot and it proved to be one. We watched it as it moved along. Then she told us that she needed to go back where the other tourists were. She said that people often throw rocks into the streams to make a way to go across and that she could not control what we did if her back was turned toward us so that she couldn't see. We took the hint and tried to make a stepping pathway across the stream, but it just was too much water which seems to maybe even be increasing as we kept trying. We had to give up.

We walked through the valley from the glacier on our way back to the car. The weather was so nice that it was warm. We rested and watched for birds. We saw a nice jay. And we saw another bird we did not know by name--black and white body with black head and the male having a red tuft on top of the head. We'll have to look that one up when we get back home.

In the afternoon, we walked along the waterfront and through the village to explore. We had a picnic lunch (sandwich, chips, drink) at a waterside picnic table. A cruise ship was in town, so there were other people wandering with us. That night, we cooked a pizza at the hotel kitchen for our dinner.

Monday, May 21, 2007

We were up early because of warnings about the ferry. It's not possible to go to Whittier where it leaves without a hassle. Until a few years ago, there was only a railway tunnel there. Now they have paved the base of the tunnel so that it can serve both cars and the railroad. That means that there are only 15 minutes per hour for cars to go through toward Whittier--every half hour to 45 minutes past the hour. And the ferry management had warned us to be there 3 hours prior to the arrival of the ferry. We set our alarm for 7 a.m. and left at 7:50. Our timing was perfect. We got to the tunnel just 10 minutes early and had no problem getting through. But then we realized once we reached Whittier that there was not reason to rush. We could have arrived for the ferry just 45 minutes early.

We used the extra time to explore the strange town, however. Most people live in one highrise apartment building. It has the city hall, a small store, the post office, etc., inside it. Besides that building, there are a few other buildings with tourist shops and restuarants, but that is about it. We watched a lady walk her pet raindeer from her home setting to her shop to attract tourists. We ate a sandwich and chips for lunch. Finally, we caught the ferry and came to Valdez.

Prince William Sound is a beautiful waterway. It was nice seeing it. There are glaciers that come into it. We saw one that is birthing icebergs from a distance. In general, it was just a nice smooth trip on a sunny day across the water with snowcapped mountains lining the route. Now we are in Valdez and have a day to explore the area here. Our B&B has bicycles we can borrow, so we will probably go out tomorrow on those. There are several nice hiking trails in the region.