Valdez To Tok

Our original plans on Saturday morning were to drive directly to Tok from Glennallen and enjoy the beautiful fall colors on a warm sunny September day. However, when we got to the front desk to check out, we mentioned our plans to the staff, Eric and Elizabeth, and they highly recommended that if we had the time we should take the drive south to Valdez, see all those sights on what they said was one of the prettiest drives in Alaska and then, retrace our steps and go on to Tok.  Made sense to us, so off we went.....The two and one half hour trip one way took us about 5 hours. We stopped to take pictures of the Copper River Valley and watershed, mountains, glaciers and more. John and I stopped at the bottom of Worthington Glacier and could not resist the hike to its base. It did  not have a formal trail but the numerous foot paths of those before us made the route easy to follow. It was a bit of an effort for a flatlander but  not any real problem.  (John indicated he was prepared to attempt CPR should it have been required....)

It seems you keep running into the same people along the way that you have met before: the Argentinian group  being hosted by a small Alaska delegation  as well as a nice couple from the Boston area (who followed us on to Valdez since they were running low on gas.)

Arriving at Valdez John pulled off to an over view of a small creek. It was loaded with salmon. Some were still running up stream to spawn while others had completed their cycle of life...  . It's sad to  see these beautiful fish die along the streams but it becomes the feast for the eagles, bears, wolves and many other animals that depend on this nourishment before winter. The number of these salmon was overwhelming. We continued on and even saw salmon swarming in the boat harbor. That's a lot of salmon.
The city was very nice with a harbor for the Alaskan Ferries to port. In addition,  this marks  the end of the pipeline so this is where the crude oil leaves on tankers to their various destinations. Lots of places have shut down for the season. The ones remaining open are short staffed and the daily flucuations of business cause some disruptions. This is the time of year generally that the weather chases tourists away leaving only the heartiest or the hunters.
We could not help but stop at a roadside gift/craft shop on the way back to Glenallen and Tok. It could have been a mistake because many things were interesting and needed new homes. I found some treasures there and so did John. The lady B.J. Dragseth was an interesting lady with some artistic talent, business acumen and local historical perspective.
Pippen Lake Gifts at mile 83 Richardson Highway, AK.

Gary Baxter (left from Freedom Indiana) % Elmer Sawyer (local, right)

A couple of local guys has stopped by to help do some things for her and come to find out "Gabby"(on the left) has left Freedom, Indiana just this year for good to live on his land in Alaska. (He had departed Indiana with the message to his wife to sell their property and business and when she'd accomplished all that she could join him ......)  He really was an interesting ol' cuss.  The other guy Jim was local and lived year round and had stories of  snow in Valdez. He told of one snow that came down at the rate of a foot a hour for 12 hours. Now thats a lot of snow! The roads and city becomes a maze of tunnels without view of where you are and where your want to go. After we finished talking and admiring "BJ's" out house decorated with lace curtains, time for a bathroom break and then we finally headed on up the road to Tok....Saw  a few moose along the way, drove carefully to avoid those who might be in the road, and finally arrived in Tok at around 8:00pm.

Michigan Landscaper from Ann Arbor "Enchanted Designs" Bags REALLY big moose 58" rack

    Found a motel to stay in, that was pretty decent, although it took two trys, and then headed over to "Fast Eddy's" Restaurant to grab a quick bite to eat.  Tom met a fellow landscaper from Ann Arbor, MI in the men's room who told him how he had bagged a magnificent, 58 plus" bull moose in the final hours of a 12 day raft trip.  He was ecstatic and rightly so.  We all went outside to admire the rack and then went back in to eat dinner and crash for the night.  Tomorrow we would be heading out of Alaska and into Yukon Territory, our destination being Whitehorse....."Nighty-night"