Anchorage to Valdez

Posted by Alex on 26 August 2009

Setting off from Ron and Barbs place on Friday morning, we got as far as the end of the drive before Fins chain snapped again; another false start. Twenty minutes and a new chain link later we were back on the road heading South East along the Turnagain Arm of the Cook Inlet. The ferry to Valdez departing from  Whittier was departing at 2h45, giving us approximately 4hrs to cover the 50 miles between Anchorage and Whittier. The road was flat and the wind was in our favour. The views were absolutely stunning, cycling along the highway, 100 feet from the sea, steep snow capped mountains jutting out of the water on the other side of the inlet. About 20 miles in, my rear tire went flat; 20 minutes later, having removed a rather large metal shard from my tire, we were back on the road, in a bit of a hurry this time, as we also had to allow time to get a ride through a 2 mile tunnel in which bikes were not allowed, due to the single lane was already shared alternately by car traffic and the train. We still found time however to enjoy the stunning views along the way.

Having successfully arrived in Whittier and bought our ferry tickets, we could finally relax and board the Aurora that would take us between the islands of Prince William Sound to Valdez. The sun was out and the temperature was perfect for being outside. It was going to be a fantastic trip.

Pulling out of Whittier’s port, the glacier sprawling above the town came into full view, glinting in the afternoon sun. We slowly left Whittier behind and navigated the channels between the small inhabited islands of the sound. The beauty of traveling by slow boat is that the view is constantly changing, each valley and mountain slowly coming into view and revealing magnificent sights and then disappearing again to give way to another stunning view. As we proceeded East, the mountains slowly grew in size and grandeur, climbing straight out of the water several thousand feet into the sky. Each mountain carried its own glacier, wrapped around its side like a large white snake making its way to the sea. Three hours into the trip, with already two memory cards full of photos, the first floating ice started to appear in the waters around the ferry, small table sized blocks at first dotted around the channel, but quickly giving way to larger, car sized blocks, carved into amazing shapes by the water lapping at them tirelessly. Knowing that the Columbia Glacier was a few bays away, these small icebergs only increased our excitement about seeing the huge glacier that was producing all this ice. Half an hour later, we came round a small peninsula, painfully slowly, and the Columbia glacier came into view,  a huge wall of ice, several miles long spilling into the sea with a clutter of floating ice blocks filling the bay in front of it. From our initial position, we could only see a few miles of the glacier, disappearing between two huge peaks. A few minutes later, another huge tongue of ice was revealed, several miles to the East climbing a thousand feet over a pass and again disappearing, leaving us to imagine the enormous ice field that must spread out above it. Another filled memory card and the weather started closing in with fog and drizzle, making the floating ice and steep forest covered hills take on a completely different appearance. The mood had definitely changed. A cold wind started biting and the deck was soon cleared of people, leaving us alone on the bow of the ship to enjoy the experience for a little while longer. Then it was time for a hot drink.

It wasn’t long before a large splash in the water two hundred yards from the ferry had us all outside, leaning off the edge of the boat. A single glimpse of an Orcas’ dorsal fin was to be all that we would see…

By the time we arrived in Valdez, the weather had positively deteriorated, a cold, penetrating rain was now falling, making us extremely thankful that the campsite was only a few hundred yards from the ferry terminal.
We had arrived in Valdez…

20 comments. Tags: alex. Location: Tok, USA