The Beautiful Town of Valdez, Alaska

Gakona, Alaska
Lake Paxson BLM

We spent 2024 in Alaksa, and I will be jumping back and forth to include the rest of our time there but also not get behind in our 2025 travels.

After leaving our nice boondocking site on Swampbuggy Lake on the Denali Highway, we drove back to Hwy 4, then south.

Us on the left.  Rick & Angie on the right.

We took a two night stop to wait out the rain storm.  Paxson Lake is a very nice campground with walking trails down to the lake.  We found plenty of sites to choose from at $7.50 per night with our senior discount.  Water, dump and good Verizon.

We walked a lot of the trails and found a couple of geocaches between the bouts of rain.

It was still raining the morning we left but it was supposed to be clear by time we arrive in Valdez. We were a little bummed as we knew we were back into the mountains but could not see them due to the low clouds.  Every now and then we'd get a peak.

This part of the Richardson Hwy is so pretty.  But the best is yet to come!

Driving along the Tanana River.

There are many waterfalls and pull-outs along the way to view them. 

 

As we enter the Thompson Pass we stopped in to see the Worthington Glacier.  We hoped to hike on it a bit but the snow was still very deep.  Most of the parking lot was not plowed and heavy snowmelt left a small lake in the area making it difficult to walk through.  The walkways had too much snow on them too.  It was a beautiful sight anyway.

As we climb Thompson Pass you can see how much snow is still here in mid-June.  As we approach the top of the pass we had some heavy fog.

Thompson Pass is a 2600 foot high gap in the Chugach Mountains. It has the snowiest snow station in Alaska.  Over 500 inches a year. The pipeline comes through here terminating at Valdez which was completed in 1977.

Coming down the other side the clouds lift and we notice how very green it is.

Twenty two miles to the city center.

 

Railroad Tunnel which was never finished after a feud broke out in 1906.

 

There are many waterfalls in this steep gorge.  We all thought it reminded us of Hilo, Hawaii.

Valdez, Alaska

Bear Paw 2 RV Park

This is one of the very few private parks we stayed at in Alaska.  We chose this one as it is right in the town, on the Port of Valdez.  It was $60 a night for full hook-ups.  There are only a few campgrounds here and this one backs up right to the marina.  Like other private parks, its what we call, parking-lot style.  You're pretty close to each other.  But they have to make all their money in a few short months so most are like this.

What a great view we had.  This park is spotless and well kept.  There is laundry and showers as well as a community room.  There are only maybe 25 sites here.  We can walk to town, the marina and the docks.  We spent our five nights here sightseeing as well as plenty of downtime just sitting in our chairs watching all the boats come and go.

The magnificent Chugach Mountains and Cordova Peak line this very pretty port town.  It was one of our favorites.

Walking and enjoying the sunshine in town and the boats.

Cute, little Book Library.

There are not many places to eat in this small town of about 3500.  The potato had some good food though.

We tried to get some Alaska King Crab but it is only caught in winter.  If you get it in a restaurant any other time, it is frozen.  It is not any cheaper here either!  We also could not find any fresh crab.

We will be taking a great boat trip on the LuLu Belle later in the week.  There were flowers planted all over town.  They are grown in huge greenhouses and are everywhere once the weather is not freezing.  I don't think you'll find any town that isn't covered in flowers in Alaska.

 

There are two breweries.  Our first was Valdez Brewing.  The beer was good and we had some nibbles of food.  

I liked the artwork so much I bought a small painting of this caribou by a local artist.  I had the perfect spot in the camper for it.

The Halibut and fries were good.  This was our first fresh halibut here.  Later we would come to see that there aren't many restaurants in these smaller towns and you usually get a choice between halibut, burgers, chicken fingers or pizza.  It got kind of boring as the trip went on.  In the larger cities of Fairbanks and Anchorage you could find much more variety.  If you find anything else, it's probably Thai.  Who knew?

We spent a lot of time relaxing at Rick's firepit, watching the boats.

The Fat Mermaid Restaurant is another we tried in town.  Rick and Angie being good sports.

We walked for miles all around town.  There are a couple of parks, museums, docks and another brewery.

While Steve and Angie sampled the beer, Rick and I discovered Spruce Tips.  They make soda and other drinks with them.  It's sort of like 7-up with a strangely delightful light pine taste.

The small museum was well done and had a nice variety of artifacts.  This Fresnel lens from a nearby lighthouse,

Parkas made from bear guts and seal skins.

I remember learning about the Good Friday Earthquake which happened in 1964 but didn't know how devastating it was. Glacial silt that formed the city's foundation led to a massive underwater landslide causing the shoreline to break off and fall into the sea.  Sort of like the bay of San Francisco in 1906 quake.  This caused a tsunami to form which washed out the dock killing 32 people.  The town was rebuilt four miles upland on more stable ground.

I think we all remember the Exxon Valdez disaster.  We learned so much about this town.  It's also Alaska's only ice-free port which is why the pipeline ends here so oil can be shipped year-round.

Watching the cruise ships come and go along with the smaller ferries was a good time as they'd transport passengers into the marina from these smaller boats.  If you look you can see several of them hanging off the cruise ship about mid level.

On one walk this tree caught our interest and we walked over to look at it.  It was funny to see a little bear down in the bottom of the hollowed out trunk.

Next up is our fabulous cruise on the Lu-Lu Belle where we visit icebergs and glaciers and see whales and lots of other sea creatures.  One of our highlights of our Alaska Trip!