8-10-2013 What’s in Valdez

The rain continued throughout the night, which made for great sleeping. We set course in the morning to see what Valdez had waiting for us. Many of you may not know that the original city of Valdez was destroyed during the 1964 earthquake. The city was relocated 4 miles south from the original site. If you have time you may want to do a little research on the Alaskan Earthquake of 1964. It was one of the most powerful earthquakes to ever happen in our life time.

Sharon had an itinerary set for us to see the most important landmarks in Valdez.  While we were there, the State Fishing tournament for women was being held. It’s called The Sisterhood of the Silver Salmon Fishing Derby. So the town was fully occupied. All of the RV sites were completely full. We were lucky to find a site for the weekend.

First stop- the post office.  It was even hard to find in the rain.

Our second stop was the magnificent water falls just before you enter Valdez. We had seen them coming into town, but decided to go back and see if it was raining any less this time.   It was raining profusely but that did not deter us from composing the pictures that most represented the beautiful site. There are two falls the Bridal Veil Falls and the Horsetails falls. They are a site to behold.

Bridal Veil Falls

Horsetail Falls

After viewing the falls we headed to the Solomon Gulch Fish Hatchery. Again, what a sight! There are salmon everywhere. They have developed this restricted water way so the fish cannot make their way up the river. The fish have this inherent compulsion to return to their birthplace spawning grounds. There are hundreds of thousands of salmon. Once the hatchery has achieved goal of retrieving the eggs they will release (this year 230 million) they close the gates. The remaining fish will continue to try to gain access to the river but will not and will die trying. 

See the salmon swimming up stream?

there were sooooooo many!!

The next stop was the original site of the town of Valdez. There is not much left. Many of the original building were moved to the secondary site, and they are still in use today.

There is a Peter Toth Indian Carving near the center of town.  We have included the plaque that describes the work of Peter Toth and the information about this particular carving.

Then it was off to the Valdez Museum.  Another really well done museum.  They utilized the space so well and described the early days during the gold rush days in the late 1800’s. They also covered the devastating disaster of the Exxon Valdez. If you recall back in 1989 on Good Friday, just like the earthquake in 1964, the Exxon Valdez ran aground in Prince William Sound and spilled nearly 35 million gallons of crude oil. They are very protective of the ecosystem that is supported by the Sound. The recovery has been slow, but progress is still being made and the aquatic life is making a comeback.

Prism light from the lighthouse.

We then went to the Peter Pan Processing Plant and bought some smoked Salmon. We had some for appetizers tonight, it was delicious.

The rain continued again throughout the night. Bob did take liberty and washed the motorhome taking advantage of the rain.  He scrubbed off the dirt and God did the rinsing.

Valdez small boat harbor taken from Solomon Gulch.