Valdez -

There was so much we had heard about Valdez and thought it was worth a visit.It was well known in the beginning for all the wrong reasons. The community was destroyed  in 1964 from an earthquake that measured 9.2 on the ritcher scale. The original Valdez  was built on unstable ground so the town was relocated and rebuilt 4 mile further down on the bay.  

Also in 1989 a tanker struck Bligh reef approximately 25 miles outside of Valdez causing the largest Oil spill in North American History.  Both these events happened on Good Friday 25 years apart.  While in Valdez we went to see the movie on how these events shaped the community that exists today . The only real reminder of these events is the lack of historical buildings within the town.   

The trans Alaskan pipeway runs 800 mile from Prudoe Bay in the Artic ocean and ends at the marine terminal in Valdez where it is gravity fed into oil tankers and shipped out through Prince William Sound. The ideal location for transport as it is the most ice free port and offers the shortest link for seabourne cargo to Alaksa .

Prince William sound is also important for the commercial fishing industry and its beauty is showed off  to the many that visit it each year. We tried out some of the local Halibat and Salmon for tea and were 6 additonal visitors who took a 9 ½ hour day tour to visit the sound. Over the 125 miles we travelled we saw Glaciers, Icebergs, Snow capped mountains, cliff faces, waterfalls and rock formations . There were Sea Lions, Whales, Sea otters, Bears, Mountain Goats and a variety of birds. The catamaran was modern, very comfortable and our captain Chris shared lots of information on the amazing glaciers, exciting wildlife and history.

The tour slogan .....   “Prince William Sound”  - A sound you will never forget.
We would have to agree.   It was one very special day!                           

Bald Eagle



Boulder Bay



Boulder Bay



Kayaking

 



Colony of Sea lions on Glacier Island

 


Colony of Sea Otters

  



Face Rock ...

  



Frozen Glacier Ice         



 Glacier Ice floating with the tide



Glacier Ice breaking away







Spruce Pines and Kittawans in flight



Glacier Ice Break



Humpback Whale




Sea porpoises

 

Columbia Ice  



Iceberg



Iceberg



Iceberg




Iceberg

 



Iceberg

 

  



Icebergs

 


Icebergs



 

Lunch on the boat





Marble Murrelets

 

Ocars



Meares Glacier



 




Ocars tail



ocars

 



Rock Formations

 


Yep! can never be serious!



Sea lion on a rock

Low tide and  clear water reflections



Sea lions swimming



Sea Otter on ice  





Sea lions on ice



a black bear



Valdez boat harbour

 


Valdez fishing

 


Valdez Spirit Our cruise boat

 


Our cruise boat

 


Meares  Glacier Formation





Waterfall



Trans Alaskan Pipeline port



Wells Bay



Waterfall



Prince William Sound




Mountain goat with kid