NORTH TO ALASKA 2025 - DAY 32 - FISH HATCHERY, VALDEZ HARBOR AND HEADING NORTH AGAIN

We are in the Valdez area, over at Allison Point across from the town of Valdez.  This little campsite that stretches along the road is run by the army base next door, Fort Greeley. 

Although it was sunny the evening before, in the morning it was rainy and damp and foggy. We had plans to move on, so we packed up in the damp weather and got ready to head back towards town.

Even in the dreary cloudy rain covered skies, The terrain is still very beautiful and it's rugged landscape.

As we headed back towards town, we swung into the parking lot at the Solomon Gulch Fish Hatchery.  It is known for seeing sea lions and otters and an occasional bear.

But we were unlucky, all we saw were these crazy noisy seagulls. They were gathering for a local convention, and were quite vocal about their gathering.

The tide was out. This whole area that is open marshy muck had been covered with water the day before. 

So this is why the bears can walk around in the bay and grab the salmon heading up to the river. It's shallow for a long, long way out. Seeing it with the tide out makes sense now.

We drove it back into Valdez to run a couple errands and do a little touristy look around now that it wasn't raining.  We found available parking right in the harbor parking lot.  It was a quiet morning downtown and there was nobody around.

We stopped here at the Easy Freeze fish shop and charter service. We were met with a very friendly owner and his two adorable little dogs. They sell fresh fish, and we picked up a big slab of salmon and a slab of halibut. We have never tried halibut before, so this is going to be new to us. He even shared recipes with us and a website to go to for even more ideas on cooking the fish. We cut the salmon in half and cooked up one side of it that night, (totally melt in your mouth delicious!) but the rest of it I managed to get into the freezer along with the halibut.

Next door to the Easy Freeze is a Radio Shack. I kid you not, we saw three or four different towns with Radio Shack stores!! I suppose with so many people relying on various communication devices and having difficulty to access things being shipped up from the lower 48, these stores are still in business. A lot of the charter boats and fishermen rely on CB radios or walkie talkie systems. There really aren't any cell towers once you move beyond a certain point of any residential area. So unless you have a satellite system or Starlink, you need to rely on other forms of communication.

We were trying to solve my microphone problem for my GoPros. We tried a different one that also did not work. I did some research and it looks like I need to replace my other wireless mics with maybe a Rode system from Best Buy.  The clerk was very helpful and let me return the other microphone. And then he helped me find a hub device that allows me to use multiple items with my tablet from the one single C connection port that it only has on one side.  

So once we got our errands done, it was time to wander around the harbor a little bit.

We were greeted with this large sign...

As I had said, the tide was low. So all the boats are tied to floating piers. Everything is down low at this time but as the tide comes in everything rises up. Can you imagine it rising up to the tops of all those gray poles with the white tips? That's how high it comes!

There are large fishing nets that are piled up on some of the trawlers. These are the floats that help keep the edges of the nets up as they drag them along to snag fish.

  

I thought this boat was pretty attractive. I told Steve if I was going to own a boat, this is the boat I would own. I think it's because the colors match our house. lol

These boats are all in dry dock in the marina parking lot. I would imagine they are all either in for repairs or because they don't have a paid site for the summer at one of the docks? We walked around them a little bit, admiring all the different types and sizes and levels of maintenance and care on each one.

No, we are not going to get a boat. 

I told Steve that he is the Captain of the Winnebago View Ship and we sail the concrete seas...

We did look at this ledger board of the ongoing fishing derby. I can not imagine 140 lb halibut! They are a big flat fish that we are told are a real bugger to haul in. It's like trying to pull a piece of plywood through the water on a string! 

There weren't any fish being cleaned while we were there. But there is a big community fish cleaning area with stainless steel tracks and food grade nylon cutting boards. Overhead faucets make it easy to grab a hose and rinse what you're doing. Once you're done cleaning your fish, all the guts go down this channel onto a ramp that leads to the water. Not many of those guts reach the water... Because these guys hang out and watch for anything coming down the channel.

He wants to know why we aren't cleaning any fish???

We walked down closer by the boats. This is how steep the ramp is at low tide. At high tide it's almost level horizontally.

We had inquired about one of the wildlife watching cruises, Steve looked into the Lulu Bell. But he gets so seasick as soon as he's in a boat that it really would not be a fun adventure for him. He had to live on Dramamine when he took an Inland Passage Alaskan Cruise with his dad and brother some years back. Even going out on Lake Michigan makes his stomach start rolling. So we decided to just enjoy it from the shore.

It's amazing that a boat of this size can go out in those wild open seas and catch fish in the nets. I guess there are some TV shows on the Discovery Channel about these types of boats and the struggles they go through. What a way to make a living?

We headed out of Valdez with our freezer packed tight with our fish and a full tank of fuel and fresh water. It was time to get moving back up through the Keystone Canyon and Thompson Pass. 

We had considered hopping on a ferry from Valdez over to Whittier. But then we decided we wanted to go see McCarthy and the Kennicott Mine which were in the opposite direction. We will catch Whittier later when we get over to the Kenai Peninsula.

So back up through the Keystone Canyon we went. It was so nice to see the beautiful waterfalls again. This time coming from the opposite angle we could see things from a different view.

We wished it had been a sunnier day for photos, but it was pretty wet and windy and drizzly.  We only snapped a few from the window as we passed. We didn't even get out this time or walk around. We had done that on the way down a few days before.

We headed up up up in elevation and reached up into the beginnings of Thompson Pass.  Our ears were popping and we were starting to see snow everywhere. It was such a drastic change from the beautiful greenery and flowers we had in Valdez.

A few bits of blue sky poked through here and there as we got up into the pass.  Perhaps the day was not going to be rainy all of the while?

At the height of the pass, everything was blanketed in a thick layer of snow. The craggy rocks poking out had a purplish hue. There was no green to be seen...

It's like another world up there, like a space moonscape terrain. There's nothing identifiable in the way of trees or shrubs. Just rocks and snow.

I cannot imagine early explorers trudging through this and still finding a way to exist. I know modern mountain climbers have things like windproof tents and small compact heaters as well as heated vests and socks and mitts. But how did they do it in the old days?

As we moved further on through the past the sun was peeking out more and more. We were seeing a lot more that vivid blue sky. Perhaps the day was not a waste after all.

4 or 5 days earlier on our way down through the pass, we had first stopped at a little campground near Kenny Lake. It was called Squirrel Creek Rec site. We had driven through just to scope it out and see if maybe it would be a possibility on the way back. I had already picked out my favorite campsite in my heart, and had hoped it would be empty on our way back through. 

It was!

What a treat! This has become our absolutely most favorite campsite (so far) of our entire trip!

Stay tuned for the next blog to learn more. 

Here is the YouTube video that goes along with today's blog post: 

96 Miles traveled today

3,828 Miles traveled so far