Today was a simple day. Wake up, drive to Valdez, see a couple of things and then relax for the evening. That doesn't sound very exciting, but actually this simple day had its highlights.
We (Tank, Eeyore and me) were up around 6:00AM and out the door by 6:30AM. I decided not to have breakfast until later in the morning, and I filled the gas tank last night, so we were off and running immediately. The Explorer said it was 56 degrees while sitting next to the hotel all night, but once we got out onto the highway, the car registered 46 degrees. That, I believe, because it was pretty cool.
I decided to visit Valdez, primarily because of its place in history, meaning the Exxon oil spill in Prince William Sound. To get to Valdez, I left Anchorage using Highway 1 headed east, and then at Glennallen, I used Highway 4 to go south to Valdez.
Boy, let me tell you, that the highway from just northeast of Anchorage, headed east through an area called Chickaloon, is some pretty nasty road. A section is torn up for major-major road reconstruction, but the rest of it is in its old condition, which isn't saying much. Very treacherous road, with up and down hills, narrow or no shoulders, and even at high altitudes, there was no guard rail. I considered it a very tense road to drive on.
Midway on Highway 1 to Glennallen, the road tended to level out and widen, so I was quite relieved by that. I still ran into small areas of gravel or construction but nothing like the Chickaloon area.
At one point during this twisting and turning drive, I passed a road house that had a clever sign outside. It said "stop or both of us will starve". There is not much population out in the country, and about all you see in between towns are things like roadhouses, which sell gas and maybe offer something to eat. Very few are what I would call 'modern', but rather they display a 'just getting by' kind of image.
I had another kind of scare on today's drive too. At one point, a car came at me, at what I would call a fairly high rate of speed, driving on the shoulder on my side of the road. I braked until I figured out what was going on. Apparently, it was the local mailman, doing his route "against the grain", so to speak. I wonder what the mortality rate is for that kind of job?
It was about 200 miles from Anchorage to Gleenallen, so I was more than ready for breakfast or brunch of something. I had a good meal and then turned off Highway 1 and onto Highway 4, headed south to Valdez. What lay ahead was the best part of the trip.
Alaska has many lakes, many rivers, many glaciers, many mountains.... no, make that MOUNTAINS. This is Alaska and things are bigger here! I took a quick check of my maps and there are many mountains around here that are in the 8000-12000 foot range. A visitor can be awe struck.
I stopped to look at and photograph some waterfalls, and a couple of glaciers. I was going to hike to one, but finally decided against it. The mountains are so big here that it distorts your perspective a bit. I decided the hike would be five miles round trip by the time I was done, and didn't feel up to it.
The Alaskan Pipeline terminates at Valdez, after moving oil through four foot diameter pipes for 800 miles from Prudhoe Bay on the north coast of Alaska. Just about half of the pipe is above ground and half is buried. Here in the south, the pipe is above ground. There were several points along the highway where travelers can pull off and walk up for a close look at the huge pipeline.
I learned two things with my stop to observe the pipeline. First, the pipes are insulated, not to protect the oil that's being pumped but rather to prevent the oil, warmed by the friction of movement, from thawing the permafrost and making the soil unstable. Isn't that weird?
I have seen all kinds of pictures and video of the pipeline, but it's not like seeing it 'for real'. The pipes which are above ground are held up by an "H" like structure, with the four foot diameter pipe just laying on the crossbar. This is done to allow the pipe to move laterally, if weather conditions cause contraction or expansion of the pipeline materials. Very interesting!
I drove on the south side of Prince William Sound to visit the Pipeline Terminal, but what you discover is that there are no public tours, just private or commercial tours. Nuts! So, I just took 35mm pictures and shot some video. I seem to have a problem with my video camera because it's not moving tape smoothly using a brand new tape. I 'see' this when I try to extract a picture to put on my web site - it blurs. I'll have to figure that one out. No picture today.
(Note: On the next day, I tried a different 8mm tape cassette and the blurring during transfer from video to digital did not occur. I feel like I'm at some Alaskan Outpost.)
I checked into my Valdez hotel, visited the Valdez Museum, went to the bank, drove around town, hiked up to a high vista for more pictures of Prince William Sound. I took a boat tour yesterday, so I wasn't thinking of another one today. It's just as well, because not only did I see glaciers yesterday, but on the drive here, I have seen several more. So, why spend another $75 to see more glaciers?
Today turned out to be a nice, sunny day, but I keep reminding myself that this probably looks considerably different in January. It's pretty obvious that buildings are built for Alaskan winters. And speaking of buildings, when I drove by the Valdez Airport, I saw "mancamp" apartments. They looked like army barracks, but what I think they are, are very economical rooms, with meals, for temporary labor that comes to town every now and then.
My hotel is a bit of a building 'joke' too. I can't prove it, but what it seems to be is a set of manufactured homes, bolted together. Not a posh place by any means. Ah, but it's only for one night. Talk with you later.....