2006 Aug 07 to 13

2006-08-07 Monday

Palmer to Valdez    -   250 miles; 6 hour

Woke up early and pulled out of CG before eight o'clock. Fueled in Palmer and then at 08:10 started the drive down the Glenn Highway toward Glenallen, 140 miles to the east.

The Glenn Highway is in very good shape and winds its way through a very, very scenic area. The first part is about 65 miles along the Matanuska River to Sheep Mountain.

During a nature break a glimpse back revealed this fantastic view of the  Lion's Head Mountain.

There was very little traffic on the Glenn towards Glenallen and not much more in the opposite direction. I guesstimate that there was between 3 and 5 miles separation between cars or small (1-3) clusters of cars. By 10:00 the overcast was breaking up and the rest of the way into Valdez was just beautiful.

Annotated Photo album of trip is here.

Arrived at the Sea Otter CG and took a spot right at the mouth of the harbor entrance for 3 nights.

Dave & Connie, who I had visited with in Seward, had warned on the Escapees forum, that they encountered low voltage problems in the CG. I choose Sea Otter anyway, because of its scenic beauty, and if there would have been electric problems, I could have used my generator(s).

A check with the DVM showed me, that at least on my pole, the voltage was good, even under load, so no problemo.

After de-hitching I brought out the lounge chair and for two hours did an "Otis Redding."

You are probably asking what is "doing an Otis Redding"?

You can hear the song here www.otisredding.com, the lyrics are below and I enjoyed every minute of the two hours "wasting time".

Sitting in the morning sun
I'll be sitting when the evening comes
Watching the ships roll in
And I watch 'em roll away again

[Refrain]
Sitting on the dock of the bay
Watching the tide roll away
I'm just sitting on the dock of the bay
Wasting time

I left my home in Georgia
Headed for the 'Frisco bay
'Cause I had nothin to live for
And look like nothing's gonna come my way

So I'm just...
[Refrain]

Look like nothing's gonna change
Everything still remains the same
I can't do what ten people tell me to do
So I guess I'll remain the same

Sittin here resting my bones
And this loneliness won't leave me alone
It's two thousand miles I roamed
Just to make this dock my home

Now, I'm just...

While you listen to the song you may want to look at the pictures in this album.

2008-08-08 Tuesday

Sea Otter CG  -  Valdez, AK  - Stan Stephens Meares Glacier Day-Cruise

I woke up at 06:30 and the sun was already shining brightly with just a few clouds around to make it interesting.

I had initially reserved my cruise for Wednesday, but on a hunch (despite the weather forecast prognosticating a better day tomorrow) I phoned Stan Stephens and switched over to today's cruise.

This turned out to be an astute decision.

No, I cannot tell a lie, I was not astute, just extremely lucky.

A perfect day in every respect.

As my friends had told me, the longer Stan Stephens cruise is the one.

The weather was perfect, 70+ F. Chris, the captain did everything he could do, to make this a most memorable day for his passengers. The crew was just nice as can be. The vessel was the Valdez Spirit, a 82 foot catamaran with Lugger Diesels and propellers, not water jets. Turning 1600 rpm, the twin Luggers are giving 20.4 knots.

Alas, not all of nature played ball, so we could not check off all the animals on the list.

But this to be expected, Prince Williams Sound is not run by the Disney Corporation, it is all real, not make believe, and the Orcas and Whales were just playing somewhere else on the immense stretches of the Prince Williams Sound.

An annotated photo album of the trip is here.

2006-08-09 Wednesday

Sea Otter CG, Valdez

Boy oh boy, now I could sing with Tony Bennett:

What a difference a day made
Twenty-four little hours
Brought the sun and the flowers
Where there used to be rain

Only it is the other way around, glorious sunshine yesterday, dreary and drizzly, low hanging clouds today. Glad I had yesterday.

Lots of web work, sorting through a couple hundred photos.

No sunshine at all today.

2006-08-10 Thursday

Valdez

Totally socked in this morning. Could not see more than 100 feet, probably even less.

It cleared just a little by 10:00 and I drove to the Alyeska Marine terminal side of the bay. Access since 9/11 is nixed, but the marsh around the Lowe river and the flats at the end of the bay looked real eerie in the wafting fog.

Saw a sign for the old cemetery and drove a mile on a small dirt road to visit. The fog created the appropriate background. I expected any moment to hear the howl of the Hound of the Baskervilles.

No hound in the cemetery, but, you guessed it, there was a German, well, actually it was the grave marker of a German that died in Valdez and is buried here

But they also have one Japanese Gentleman here.

The spirit of one of the Pioneers buried here was given a presence in the
body of a Bird-of-prey sitting on a tree skeleton and watching me.

 I went back to town and again there was this orange contraption, the Rotel bus. A melange of a bus and a morgue, filled with Germans.

While driving around the harbor back to the CG, I saw these Kayakers gliding between the water and the fog.

The day would not be complete without typical Alaskan picture postcard view.

2006-08-11 Friday

Valdez to Kenny Lake Mercantile and RV Park  -

Woke up to a weather wise miserable outlook. Steady rain, heavy at times, fog like yesterday's made me leave this nice town for higher grounds, hoping it would be less wet there. Left CG at 09:40 and after the construction site outside Valdez I had the Richardson Highway to myself and set the cruise at 2000 rpm.

At mile 83, I took a right on the Edgerton Highway (10) towards McCarthy. Picked the CG out of the bible and as usual, the description is accurate.

Kenny Lake Mercantile and RV Park is a road house with a certain charm. The Diner seats eight comfortably and the home made pies are to die for. They even still have rhubarb pie.

Plus I have WiFi connectivity. What else does a full timer need?

Overcast, but no rain. Tomorrow I will bobtail it to McCarthy.

2006-08-12 Saturday

Kenny Lake - Day Trip to McCarthy/Kennecott - 176 miles roundtrip; 8 hours

It was raining this morning, but the forecast for tomorrow is even worse, so I choose to do the Kennecott trip today.

Left CG after breakfast at 09:00. It is 28 paved miles to Chitina on the Copper River and then 60 miles of gravel on the old Kennecott Rail Road right-of-way to parking lot at the footbridge across the Kennicott River.

From Chitina to Kennecott Mill the road is all inside the Wrangell-Saint Elias National Park and Preserve. The largest Park in the U.S. National Park system, it is more than six times the size of Yellowstone NP. It is also one of the least visited.

From there it is less than a mile to McCartney and from there it is 4.5 miles, again on the RR tracks up to Kennecott Mill Town.

Photo album of trip is here

A very interesting and rewarding trip,

and,

I did not see even one Princess Cruise Line bus, nor a Holland-America bus.

2006-08-13 Sunday

Kenny Lake to Hart D Ranch, Slana, AK     -  115 miles; 3.5 hours

Left late @ 11:30 as I had only a bit over 100 miles planned. Fueled in Glenallen and then at Gulkana took the much deprecated Tok Cutoff of the Glenn Highway.

I was not surprised, when ten minutes after I stopped at a scenic overlook of the mighty Copper River, a Rotel bus pulled into the turn out.

This is the view which many German tourist will have in their Photo Albums.

I wanted to drive the other road into the Wrangell-Saint Elias NP, the Nebesna road.

In the Church's book the description of the Hart D CG was intriguing and I choose it as my base for two days. As usual, the Churches are right on.

Mrs. Mary Frances DeHart, the owner, is a delightful example of a self-reliant Alaskan. Mrs. DeHart runs the spotless and unusual premises by herself with a firm and friendly hand. There is a small three room Hotel operation, the rooms are exquisitely decorated, like a fine New England B&B. Mrs. DeHart is an artist and many of her bronze sculptures grace the hotel portion of the CG.

Mrs. DeHart is also the Post Mistress of Slana, AK ZIP 99586, the Post Office is on her land. I serves people who may be living more than 60 miles from the PO.

Her husband Don DeHart (1912-1977) was a well-known guide and conservationist.

The layout of the CG and its facilities show the love and effort that went into creating it. The power plant of two slow turning one-lunger diesels of 15Kw each, show how much thought and care went into this operation.

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