Happy Canada Day and Happy Anniversary to friends and neighbours Basil and Becky!!! :-)
Not sure how the rest of you spent your Canada Day but we will never forget ours! We started our day by saying good bye to the great campground we found about 10 minutes out of town. It is getting a “great” rating because not only was it quiet with huge private sites but it also offered the best free hot showers we’ve seen to date!
We were ready and waiting at the harbour for our 10:30 check in with Captain Fred aboard the Lu-Lu Belle for our glacier and wildlife cruise. We set sail on the trip of a lifetime at 11:00 a.m. and didn’t return to dock until 9:00 p.m. Yep....that’s right....we were out there on a non-stop adventure for a full 10 hours! There were 25 of us on the boat and a crew of 3 (Fred, Mikaela, and Katie). There was loads of room for everyone and we were able to go anywhere inside and out that we wanted. At one point Lynda was even up in the wheelhouse driving the boat with Captain Fred!
Captain Fred has been doing this every day (during the summer season) for the past 40 years and it is easy to see that it is a labour of love for him. He is a natural story teller and a master of the seas. There was one point on our journey where he literally drove into a tiny cave...a cave that our boat barely fit into! He just wiggled us in and around a corner and then there was a little more wiggling and we went a little further around the corner....neither of us could believe it! And when it came time...he just backed us out the same way that we went in.
The scenery was unbelievable. The weather was perfect. The seas were calm and the boat was more than comfortable. In fact this boat is actually beautiful. It is more than 60 feet long and has been reconfigured from a gorgeous private yacht to a tourist facility without forfeiting any of the luxury. Teak trimming and Persian rugs throughout. As well, it was spotless....not a stray fingerprint in sight.
Throughout the day we saw dozens of sea lions lining the shores and playing on the many ice bergs that bobbed all around the fjords and inlets. Also on those icebergs and in the water were many dozens of sea otters doing their thing. There were puffins huddled in groups floating on the surface of the icy water and there were other sea birds flying around overhead. They were all fun to watch but it got really exciting when we spotted our first pod of Killer Whales (orcas). Captain Fred turned the boat in their direction and within minutes we were right in their midst. Just as we were in the middle of that first pod another pod was sighted off the back so between the two groups we were able to watch about a dozen of them up close for a good half hour.
Not too much longer after we’d said good bye to the orcas Mikaela spied a couple of humpbacks off our stern so around we turned and in no time we were up close and personal with the humpbacks too. They came up and went down and came up and went down and we were able to appreciate their size and the gentle way they move through the water. A couple of times we were lucky enough to get to have the “tail shot” that humpbacks are famous for. There was a mom and her baby and the mom gave us a couple of good showings early on in our visit. We spent at least a half hour with the humpbacks too. It was turning out to be an even better than expected day!
Much as we hated to move on it was time to check out the glacier to see what kind of a show she would give us. While we chowed down on a bowl of seafood chowder in a sourdough bread bowl Fred stepped on the gas and took us in the direction of the Columbia glacier....the star of the show. This glacier is receding and so the chance of seeing it calve was better than other glaciers that aren’t receding. The Columbia may be receding but she is still massive. The face of it that we got close to is more than 2 miles across and 300 feet high.
When I say “we got close to” what do you think I mean? If you think we got close enough to touch it...you’re wrong! Who’d want to get that close?! Especially knowing that we were hoping to see it calve! But if you said you thought we might get to within 1/4 mile of the face of it you’d be exactly right! And trust me....that is plenty close enough!!! From the time we got into the thick ice we had to go another 9 1/2 miles to get to within 1/4 mile of the face. I cannot begin to describe how amazing this experience was. We were zig zagging our way through ice bergs of all sizes and eventually once we were into the pack ice (little ice bergs that all touch one another so it is kind of like solid ice but it’s not solid because they’re all separate chunks) we were simply plowing our way forward in the direction of the glacier’s face. All around us the ice was making popping sounds and the sun was warm in spite of the 32 degrees Fahrenheit (0 Celsius) temperature that it was outside. Fred wasn’t able to tell us the water temperature as his thermometer didn’t go low enough to be able to read it! Honestly, the day could not have been more beautiful! Once we’d made it in to within 1/4 mile from the face Fred announced that we could just get comfortable as we’d be there for an hour waiting to see if she did anything exciting for us. Within about 1/2 hour of our arrival she started the show with a small chunk breaking off and falling into the water below. Before we left we got to see a massive piece come off the face, fall into the water below, bob back up, tip over, and bob back up again. But all of these chunks falling off is just half of the story because what happens after they fall off is the other half. That chunk of ice is so huge it actually displaces enough water in the ocean to create an undulating wave that looks and feels like an earthquake is happening. The waves rolled under the pack ice making it look as though the solid ice was undulating....it was incredible to see and to feel!
Eventually the time had come for us to bid the Columbia farewell. Honestly though, the images of this experience will be forever burned into both of our memory banks as this was a once in a lifetime kind of thing!
On our way back to the harbour we made much better time and everyone was feeling the exhaustion that follows so much excitement. But....our luck continued and en route back to the harbour in Valdez we got to see a mountain goat high up on the side of one of the mountain faces! What a day!!!
Just before settling back into the slip at the harbour Fred told us a little about the 18 massive oil tanks that are set up on the hill adjacent to the city. Most of you will remember the Exon Valdez oil spill from several years ago...it was a horrible event but Fred was proud to say that evidence of the excellent job done on clean up is proven by the wildlife we saw today. He said especially the sea otters...they won’t go anywhere that isn’t clean and there were lots of otters in attendance! Valdez is the terminus of the Alaska pipeline that starts in Prudoe Bay in the far north of the state. Much of the pipeline runs above ground for the entire length of Alaska. These 18 tanks are where the oil is stored awaiting further transportation. Each of those 18 tanks covers 1 acre of land and each holds 220 million gallons (I think it was). Valdez, as a result is a very tax rich little city and that revenue shows up in their huge convention centre and services that residents enjoy.
When we climbed back up the ramp from the water to the road we were still flying high. This was a day we’d never forget!
We hopped in the RV and hit the road for points north as we were planning to make it at least part way up the Richardson highway tonight. We had no idea when we started out from Valdez tonight just how many ooohs and aaaahs we’d be uttering along the way or how many times we’d have to stop the car just so we could really appreciate what we were seeing.
One such stop was in a place called the Keystone Canyon that was a deep and sharp cut through the mountains. There were waterfalls coming down around us on all sides....it was magical! One of those waterfalls was called Bridal Veil Falls and that one was my favourite for sure....it was all almost too much!
By the time we’d come out the other side of Keystone Canyon and had been overwhelmed by the majesty and the beauty of the mountains that surrounded us we were sure nothing else could even come close to touching the impressive stuff we’d seen this day. But we were wrong! We could see that we were heading in the direction of a big storm....the skies were dark as night and the clouds were ominous. Before we knew it we were right in the middle of it with the windshield wipers working overtime. Just as I was beginning to think that it might be time to find a place to pull over for the night a sliver of bright light began to show in the distance at the top of a mountain. That sliver started to grow and in no time it began to turn red...the brightest red and the boldest white came pouring in through that crack in the clouds at the top of that mountain. Pretty soon the wet roads were bathed in red light and the top of the mountains looked like they were on fire. It was about this time that we realized we had driven through the storm and were coming out the other side (much like a tunnel) and into the midnight sun because yes....it was almost midnight!
What a day....what a night..... We’ll never forget this amazing party that Mother Nature threw for us this Canada Day!
Till tomorrow...
L & L
