Valdez to Tok

Posted by Alex on 1 September 2009

Arriving in Valdez late on a rainy evening, we were extremely happy to find that a new friend that we had made on the ferry ride had an available spot in their camping allotment. This spared us the need to hunt for a camping spot late at night. It rained all night, but by nine the next morning, after we had packed our soggy tents, the sun slowly started to break through the low lying cloud and mist. From here, we were to head North through the Keystone Canyon and over the Thompson Pass to enter the mountains. 

Cycling out of town we crossed a small creek to find hundreds of Salmon tirelessly trying to wriggle their way up the river to spawn and then die a rather undignified death, being slowly washed back down whence they had come. In this semi urban setting, it was not to be bears feeding on this free buffet, but rather flocks of gulls, seemingly favouring the eyes and the gills of the dozens of dead fish, as well as the thousands of freshly laid eggs carpeting the riverbed. This somewhat macabre spectacle photographed and filmed, we set off out of town towards the hills to the North. The mist was now rising and dissolving faster, still clinging reluctantly to the sides of the mountains and nestling in the riverbeds, but the view was opening up before us. It wasn’t long before we found ourselves entering a valley and the hills on either side closed in on us to finally become steep escarpments forming the Keystone Canyon. Rounding the first bend in the canyon, a bright scar of gushing white water came into view dropping 200 feet from the cliff edge into the river beside us, bouncing off the wall to form five curtains of water. It was the aptly name Bridal Veil Falls. Another short ride and the canyon opened up into a large glacial valley with a low ceiling of clouds allowing us only to imagine the size of the mountains around us, of which we could only see the first 1000 feet. The road stretched out in front of us for miles as it slowly made its way up the valley. Thompson Pass was at the end of it, 2600 feet higher up. It was a slow, grueling climb, passing in and out of cloud, but after about an hour and a half of constant climbing, the road leveled off in the clouds, not even rewarding us with a view; or so we thought.

The top of the pass seemed as good a place as any other to take a small breather and relish the thought of the downhill ahead of us. As we were pondering the meaning this, the clouds parted temporarily giving a glimpse of a huge tongue of ice plastered to the side of one of the summits that had, until then been shroud in fog. Waiting for another peak at the glacier, the clouds lifted for a little longer and we were able to discover a whole new world of towering mountains all around us; it was as if the fog was waiting fo us to get to the top before revealing the view. We started descending down the other side of the pass between these giants on what was to be a stunning ride. A mile down the road, another larger glacier, the Worthington Glacier came into view and a small road lead to its base. We could not pass up this opportunity to get so close to one of these colossal ice monsters. A short walk to the base lead us practically onto the ice of the glacier and allowed us to get up close to the gushing torrent of sediment laden water coming out from under the glacier. It is amazing to think of so much water melting off the glacier constantly. Talking to the Park ranger, we found out that the Worthington Glacier is in effect retreating, but is however thickening further up on the ice field, by a staggering 28 feet a year. I am not quite sure what the final verdict is therefore regarding the life expectancy of the glacier; only time will tell. Having been told by the same ranger that a nice campground was located some 20 miles down the valley, we set off hoping that it would be all downhill and that we would make it there before dark. The ride was stunning, the clouds had retreated for the day and the summits were bathed in the red evening light, the last traces last winters snow clinging to their sides. 

The next day, the clouds were back where they had started the previous day, low and delivering a fine, penetrating drizzle, perfect weather for a puncture, so that is what I did. Changing my tire on the side of the road, I found out that even Kevlar coated tires are no match for a well angled piece of glass. Lesson learned. I would no longer carelessly ride over glass, thinking that I had indestructible tires. The road leveled out and the valley opened up gradually until the mountains formed a large arena around us. A full days ride got us out of this arena and onto a plateau, following the large Copper river. The next two days of riding were to be spent in open plains with the outlines of the Wrangell St Elias mountain ranges hidden behind the clouds in the distance. 

Arriving in Tok on the end of the fourth day, we indulged on the luxury of a real campsite, with hot showers and internet and the most amazing burger we had eaten so far, a double patty cheese burger on homemade bread and bigger than your head, at Fast Eddies. It was worth the wait.

11 comments. Tags: glaciers, alex. Location: Whitehorse, Canada, USA