“Alaska is a place that constantly reminds you of just how small you are in the grand scheme of things. It’s a humbling experience.” – Outside Magazine (July 1996 issue)
It’s still as true today as it was back in 1996. Thompson Pass on the approach to Valdez is one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever driven, the snow-capped mountain peaks, the glaciers, the waterfalls, the greenery, the river flows… around every bend is another breath-taking scene of God’s handiwork. You’ll have to imagine the grandeur, as it is beyond my photographic abilities.
Solomon Gulch
The Solomon Gulch Hatchery releases annually about 250 million pink salmon fry and 1.8 million coho salmon smolt in a process known as ‘ocean ranching.’ The Hatchery is open to the public in summer with self-guided tours. We went to watch the massive sea lions eating the salmon. We were even able to spot a few black bears and listen to the loud squawking of the sea gulls angry at the sea lions for getting some of their catch!
Glacier Ice Caves
We hired a local outfitter, Alaska Guide Co. Wilderness Adventures, to take us on a canoeing expedition in the Valdez Glacier Lake to see up close the Valdez Glacier and go into several glacier ice caves. Our guides, Zach & Alec, did a fantastic job allowing us to explore up close the icebergs and ice caves. Many thanks to Zach, Jenny and their crew for a great (but cold 🥶) day of new experiences!
Stats, More Photos, Next Stops, Other
Sharing some Stats …
~ We’ve spent 34 days seeing the highlights of Alaska, with 4 more nights in Skagway to go
~ We’ve driven on 9 of the 12 major roads in Alaska
~ We’ve spent 74 days on the road, since beginning our trip
~ We’ve stayed in only 9 campgrounds in Alaska, with 1 to go
~ We’ve stayed in 24 campgrounds in total this far on the trip
~ We’ve boondocked 3 nights, with 1 to go. (Mark & I decided we could have done more boondocking for the awesome scenery spots.)
~ We’ve stayed in one “lodge” near the Artic Circle
~ We’ve used 900 gallons of diesel in Jack thus far
~ We’ve logged 6,435 miles on Jack since beginning the trip
~ We’ve used 63 gallons of gas in Cheeto on this trip
~ We’ve logged 1200 miles on Cheeto on this trip
~ Let us know what other stats you’d like us to share in the comment section
Posting a few more Pics of our time in Valdez
Notice the changing of leaves in the bottom right photo. It is definitely ‘fall’ now in Alaska. Top left photo – we visited Wrangell-St. Elias National Park, which is the largest National Park (6 times larger than Yellowstone). Valdez Brewery was dog friendly, so Timber visited it with us. The pink ‘house’ in the third photo, top row was a restaurant called ‘The Fat Mermaid.’ They had delicious, steamed shrimp! As we were walking the docks, a chartered fishing trip were showcasing their catch. Nice!
Continuing the Journey
From Valdez, we head back up to Tok, then back on the Alaska Highway for a boondock night and then a few nights in Whitehorse (Yukon Territory) before our last Alaskan stop in Skagway. After that, we begin making our way back through Canada to the Washington border. I’ll post a new map in the next blog.
Masters of RVing Adventures 
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