Monday, May 23, 2016

Valdez - 2nd Time Around!


     The next morning we ate a quick breakfast in the camper and drove over to visit Worthington Glacier. After that we traveled over Thompson Pass to Blueberry Lake SRS campground. This campground is one of our favorite campgrounds in Alaska. That being said, it is very popular and full most of the time. We got there by 9am and parked near the entrance and watched for someone to leave. After about 15 minutes 2 motorcycles left and we quickly moved to their vacated site. There was a motorhome on the site that we had previously stayed at that was getting ready to leave so we moved to that one when they departed. We stayed here 3 nights.



Joyce found these Salmon berries at our campsite

     The next morning we drove into Valdez about 25 miles away. Along the way you drive thru the Keystone Canyon which contains 2 nice waterfalls; Bridal veil falls and Horse tail falls. There also is a tunnel that was only partially completed. It was to be built for the railroad and was never finished after gun battles interrupted progress. There were 9 companies competing for this short cut to move copper from the Kennicott mines.

Unfinished RR tunnel


Horse tail falls

Bridal Veil falls

      This time when we went to Valdez we wanted to make time to stop by the old townsite which is about 4 miles before you get to the current town. Much of the original town was destroyed by a tidal wave during the huge earthquake in 1964.

     


Looking up the bay from the old townsite

     We also went to visit the USFS visitor center in town. They are on a stream that has salmon swimming upstream to the base of a small waterfall. Inside you can even view the salmon from underwater cameras. A very nice place to visit.

Salmon working their way upstream to spawn



Crystal clear water at the base of the waterfalls


We enjoyed this sign inside the visitor center

     Will at Blueberry Lake campground Joyce went blueberry picking and after an hour or so had huge bowl full. She made a wonderful blueberry cobbler for us to enjoy. Yum Yum!





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