Down to Valdez

It’s almost 500 road miles from Ninilchik to Valdez, and my plan is to boondock free all along the way. First, a stop in Wasilla, north of Fairbanks, just to re-supply, do laundry, etc. Not real exciting stuff, but part of the daily life up here. Once all that’s done, it’s time to head East on the Glenn highway.

I head out of Wasilla, and aim for a spot I‘ve stayed before: up in the mountains well East of Palmer, there’s a great little boondocking spot on a lake, and it’s quiet and free. Need I say more? The drive is scenic and entertaining, and my favorite spot is right where I remembered it. I wholeheartedly concur with the rock artist!

  

And now for some old business: Last time I passed this way, I tried to RV to the Matanuska glacier. It didn’t go well. This time, I’m prepared! I park the RV, unlimber the bike, and head down that steep gravel road again. Soon, I’m parked just a short hike from the glacier. How cool is that?

  

Walking out to the glacier, you have to traverse a large expanse of what looks like gravel. Actually, it’s solid ice, with lots of ground-up rock embedded in it! It’s what glaciers do, I guess. There are simple foot bridges across the really muddy spots.

     

Matanuska is one of the few glaciers in Alaska that you can literally walk right up to, and climb around on. It is an experience unlike anything I’ve ever done. It may look like snow, but it is hard ice, and the footing is not slippery, it’s actually pretty easy to climb around on.

     

The glacier has stripes in it! That’s gravel that’s become embedded in the glacier over eons, and it’s hard to believe that this whole huge icefield is moving. Yes, all glaciers slowly creep downhill, maybe only a few inches a year, but everything is constantly moving, just really really slowly.

  

Here are some random pix to give you a feel for the place.

        

What an amazing experience! I’m so glad I gave it another try. Heading East again, I get one of those amazing sunny Alaskan days. Beautiful! I love Alaska because around every bend in the road is another breathtaking view!

  

I’m looking for an old abandoned US forest service campground on the Little Nilchina river. It’s not easy to find, but if you do, it offers a place to park right along the river. I have the whole place to myself. And it’s free!

     

The amazing thing is: it’s only a few hundred yards from the highway, and the gentle roar of the river is the only sound you hear! I’m going to spend a couple nights here. Who wouldn’t when you can look out your door and see this!

I’d like to take a moment and proclaim that I won the beard growing contest. Many of the men in the Loosey Goosey bunch formed a pact to let their hair and beards grow the entire trip. I do believe that I’m the last one who hasn’t shaved or haircutted yet, so I win! LOL I might even make it all the way back to Texas with all this hair, and more.

OK, enough of that! Let’s go to Valdez. The drive down to Valdez is one of the prettiest in the state, unless it’s raining, which is pretty much all the time. Yeah, it’s wet, but I get a few pix anyway. Everywhere you look, there are waterfalls and glaciers.

        

I get down to Valdez, meet back up with Jan and Dave Wilson, and an amazing thing happens: the sun comes out! Eagles are flying, waterfalls are falling, and it’s just a beautiful day. I’ve learned to seize these opportunities, so we head down to the harbor to have a look.

     

A fishing boat is just in and hanging their fish, man, I hope we do as good when we go out on Monday! Look at all those silver salmon!

  

While puttering around the harbor, we have a look at what appears to be a great boondocking spot. So great in fact, that we move down there and join Gary and Stacy, who found the spot. Man, what a nice view!

  

It’s sunny and warm, so I hop on the bike and ride up through Mineral Creek canyon above town. It’s a blast! A little wet in spots, but what a ride. Waterfalls galore.

           

When I get back to our awesome parking spot, there’s an official car parked there, probably not a good thing…. yes, we are asked nicely to move. Damn! We all head up to the Valdez glacier, where there’s boondocking that’s acceptable to the city authorities. Too bad, so sad, but these things happen. I don’t let it spoil my day.

Oh, yeah, the fishing trip! That’s why we’re here. Jan and I have a halibut charter booked for Monday the 14th. So I drag my butt outa bed at OMG 0500, and we hustle down to the marina and are told the boat is broken. Well, that sux! I missed my highly essential beauty sleep for nothing! However, the charter company finds us a spot on on of their other boats for Thursday and cuts us a break on the fee. Hey, Loosey Goosey, no problem. We can hang. But wait, it gets better: On Wednesday, they call us and ask if we could please please go on Friday instead. That boat is still down and they’re scrambling to find ways to get folks out to fish. They offer us an amazing deal on the charter fee, and so now we’re going on Friday. This all turns out to be a good thing in the end, because the weather on Thursday really sucked.

Friday morning, we go fishing, and we hit the jackpot on weather. We go out 110 miles, that’s about 30+ miles out into the gulf of Alaska, and it is friggin sunny, and the water is glassy smooth. Seriously, this does not happen often! Dave, the captain says it’s the nicest day he’s seen all year!

     

We get into halibut right away, and some nice fish start coming in. I’m sure happy with mine! Yeah, it’s not a 100 pounder, but I’ll keep it!

     

After everyone has their halibut, we get into Rockfish and Ling Cod. We catch a mess of Yellow Eye and blacks. And the Lings! Have you ever seen fish like these? They’re frigging huge, and look like some kind of dinosaur. Good eating, too! One of mine’s so big I can’t get it up for a picture, so Blake gives me a hand.

  

All too soon, it’s time to head back. I won’t go into details of the 3+ hour return trip, and when we get almost back to the marina, we run out of gas. LOL. No problem, they boat some out to us and we make it back to the dock about 9:30. Check out our catch!

  

I had such a good time, Captain Dave was great, and Valdez Outfitters did right by us all the way, and then some. I just might try to go out again with them before I have to leave. I netted over 60 pounds of fillets on that trip. Yumm!

I’ll be staying here for at least another week, hoping to get into the silvers, which are just starting to come in. More on that next time!