Valdez held some surprises

Recorded July 2 2009

Arriving in Valdez was exciting but the town itself was not. We found out later that the entire town was wiped out in 1964 by the 9.2 Good Friday Earthquake that rocked Alaska continually for more then 4 minutes. The original Valdez was built on in a flat area deep in the bay which turned out to be the moraine of a nearby glacier. The entire town sank. Not a building survived.

We picked the Sea Otter RV Park because it was the closest to the water of Prince William Sound so we were on the waterfront for our stay. It was a delight. The sea birds, the light on the water, the mountains across the water and directly in front of us was the pipeline facility where tankers would quietly depart in the night. We did enjoy the solitude of this little place. The park was next to several fish canning companies that were in full production. We bought King & Copper River salmon and were later able to glean insight about the work at the cannery from a young woman that Lind met on our Lulu Bell Cruise. Tammy is a teacher who for 17 years has come to Valdez to work her summer in the cannery. They work 12 hour days 7 days a week during the salmon season. Lots of overtime!

The second day of our adventure include a trip on the Lulu Bell to cruise the Prince William Sound and Columbia Bay and beyond into the evening. We boarded at 2:00 PM and were first acquainted with Fred the Captain and for 20 some years, the owner/operator of the Lulu Bell about a 60’-70’ motor craft that carries 50 or so comfortably. Fred has a very nice ship, not new but a classic style to it with teak finishes & oriental rugs too. He employs 2 hands, young girls who work as crew & as galley maids. Off we went. We were schooled on all things Valdez, oil tanker, ballast water & the history there of with lots about the new duel hulled tankers plus the smaller ‘Alaskan Tanker’ designed for only 1 million gallons of crud. Fred nearly busted Lulu Bell’s bough as he drove her right into a cave so we all could see 2 horned puffins’s nesting overhead in the rocks. These are beautiful local birds we had seen while in the aquarium in Seward. Next it was sea lions, hundred’s of them, which Alaskan’s do not like because they eat too many salmon. We were lucky to see a commercial fishing boat that was hauling in its catch. The search for Whale was fruitless, which have not yet been spotted this season. We saw a couple porpoise bounding under the bough but the best was yet to come!

As we approached the Columbia Bay the first clue was one big old trailer sized ice berg goes floating by. Then there were a few then many in the distance. In a matter of about 15 minutes we were in a field of small then large ice bergs. Fred keeps going…and going…until first in an instant the temperature drops 15 degrees & we all race for an extra jacket & gloves. Then it’s not just little car sized bergs but big as a house. As he points out “That’s the part on top of the water!” Everyone is on deck peering over the side a Lulu Bell is gently shoving these monsters out of our way. Oh did I forget to mention that the reason for this push forward is to get a closer look at the largest glacier in the world. Well yes the Columbia glacier is ahead of us and though it is still off in the distance it is impressive. Fred called it a 400 mile fjord that extends over a mile down into the water. Well he got us as close as he could as the now giant ice bergs were then all stacked against earth but believe me no one was complaining. We were still a few miles from Columbia. It was 37 degrees, windy and electrifying. You got to see the pictures on Facebook!

On the 30th of June we left Valdez for our next big adventure into the largest national park in the USA! Wrangell- St. Elias here we come.