Since our original plan failed to materialize, we decided to go to Meares Glacier with Stan Stephens Cruises. Not the intimate, whatever we want to do type of cruise, but we got lucky. The boat was a large catamaran that can hold 150 people. We were less than 40 with the crew included. 13 of the passengers were fifth graders out for a field trip. They were very excited to go and were fun to watch running around. We left the dock about 10am and the water was like glass. The sun was out and the temperature was perfect!
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| Puffins! |
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| An Otter on a berg |
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| Big Ice |
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| Seals on ice |
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| Meares Glacier |
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| Dressed like the Michelin Man! |
The Columbia Glacier is located closest to Valdez and is retreating at a rapid rate. It leaves behind lots of icebergs floating along. We were able to venture a little ways up the channel to see the big pieces of ice. The Meares Glacier is advancing at the same rate the Columbia is retreating. We traveled the Unakwik Inlet to see the 4 mile wide glacier. We got within 1/4 mile of the face and waited for it to calve. There was lots of loud rumbling sounding like thunder. While there were no big pieces crashing off, little bits broke off and floated away. We enjoyed the 40 degree temps all bundled up and watched the seals hop on and off the ice. Along the way we saw lots of otters, one a mother with a baby. We had lots of time since the seas were so calm so we took our time going back to Valdez. We saw a small Humpback whale and a pod of Dall's Porpoises played with the wake of the boat. There were Stellar Sea Lions on the rocks and buoy, and puffins (both Tufted and Horned).
We enjoyed the lunch of Chicken Alfredo, Rice and steamed green beans and a snack of hot soup on the way back. All in all it was a good day!
The next morning we woke up to lots of rain with no end in sight. We visited the Valdez Museum and watched a really good movie on the 1964 Good Friday Earthquake that destroyed the original town site. After the five minute quake, the town was destroyed. It was determined that the rebuilding should be done farther south on more stable soil. The new town site is well laid out and has an active harbor. The Alyeska Pipeline ends in Valdez after traveling 800 miles from Prudhoe Bay. The terminal is located across the bay.
The Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989 was devastating to Prince William Sound with many areas still trying to recover. It was indeed a very bad event. There are now several large ships in the area equipped for response to possible oil spills. Lets hope this never happens again.
We saw a break in the weather on Thursday morning, with more rain coming after. We cut our adventure short by 4 days and headed out. The gremlins hit us again when we tried to bring our passenger side slide outs in. They wouldn't budge. A call to Tiffin and they walked Eric through possible fixes. We finally got them in, hooked up the toad and the Beast was on the move!
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