Valdez to the Worthington Glacier - Spawning Salmon

Posted by Fin on 27 August 2009

We arrived into a Valdez late in the evening after the 5 hour ferry cruise from Whittier across the Prince William Sound. The whole town immersed in thick cloud and drizzle and was not particularly inviting at all. We could see vague outlines of oil tankers moored up alongside the oil refinery in the distance but it was to far away to see properly. We camped alongside a tour group Trek America - it was good to chat to new people and hear from the English guys in the group that informed  us that England had won the Ashes and beaten the Aussies - I realised how out of touch I had been not knowing this really important moment in sporting history!

The next day we set off along the road - we couldn't see the pipeline as it is buried under ground for the final 65miles of its journey from Prudhoe Bay to the terminals at Valdez. Within minutes of leaving the town we came to a small look out over a little river. To our amazement we found hundreds of pink salmon spawning on shallow gravel beds right infront of our eyes. Gulls were picking off the eggs as they were laid, like it was some sort of pinball game. The gulls also fed on the rotting fish which perished having returned to the place from where they started their lives, to spawn. I had only ever seen this on TV so it was fantastic to see it in broad day light 10 feet away. It would have been so easy to go and pick one of these fish up with our bare hands they were so close - sitting ducks for the predators. Reluctantly we left the spawning fish and got on our way - for days everyone had told us about Thompson Pass, the steep 6 mile 7% climb out of Valdez - we knew it was coming and there was no way to avoid it. To my surprise it was at least 20 miles until we started the big climb. Until this point there was the most amazing scenery, including Keystone Canyon, Horseshoe Falls and Bridal Falls. Literally massive 300 foot waterfalls on either side of the road as you cycled through the canyon - it was wonderful.

We finally hit the pass - half way up two young motor bikers passed us. They stopped 2 miles further up the mountain to say hello. Apparently they thought we were 'awesome dudes' and that they were 'so proud of us guys'. I think Alex and I both surprised ourselves with how easily we climbed the mountain over a relatively short period of time. I think the Dalton Highway had been pretty effective training as there will be little on the rest of our trip to rival the passes there. At the top of Thompson Pass we were rewarded with an awe inspiring view of Worthington Glacier, emerging from the clouds every few minutes. Early gold miners and trappers had summitted this pass with horses and carts - it beggers belief as to how this was done. Alex and I were so close to the glacier we were able to walk up onto it and watch the ice melting beneath us. It was a fantastic site. We then had a great downhill where we tried a new filming technique with the camera strapped to the back of the bike recording as we whizzed down the mountain. After about twenty miles we found a free campsite with covered picnic tables where we met Shirley, a solo cycle tourer from San Fransisco. We were the only people there so we shared dinner and stories - Shirley had been cycle touring for many years during vacation times and put our minds to rest about black bears and the Cassiar Highway in B.C which she had previously cycled. The next morning we woke to rain so Alex and I decided to lie in until it stopped. At 10am the rain still hadn't stopped so we packed up and got on our way along the Richardson Highway following the perimeter of the Wrangell St.Elias National Park. We were heading north for 300 miles to Tok, the only way to get round the largest National Park in North America to eventually enter Canada and go south from there on.

29 comments. Tags: Glacier, fin. Location: Beaver Creek, Canada