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Published: June 18th 2009
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The ferry got us to Valdez at 8:30 sharp. The campground and our cabin was just a couple minutes drive from the dock. That night we just crashed after I took a quick walk around the city.
At 8:00 the next morning, we were at the offices of Anadyr Adventures for the much anticipated kayak expedition. Our guide Kate, who hails from Wisconsin, got us outfitted along with 3 other would-be paddlers: Doug, from Rochester, NY, Junalee, from Anchorage and Les, a 52-year old hitchhiker from Edmonton, AB.
After a quick briefing on safety procedures, we hauled our gear to the dock and loaded it onto a water taxi that also was carrying the 3 double kayaks we would be using. The boat took us on a 1.5 hour trip up the Prince William Sound to our launch area. The highlight of the cruise was spotting a pair of sea lions who had made themselves at home on a navigational buoy. The water taxi beached itself and we unloaded the gear and kayaks. We found ourselves in a little inlet surrounded by nothing but mountains and ice.
Once we got into the water, we paddled a short distance
before a field of floating icebergs revealed itself to us. We were greated by a sea otter lounging on one of them grooming her little one. We paddled for a few hours amongst the icebergs, going right up to them and touching the ancient ice. They all broke off of a giant glacier known as the Columbia glacier that was visible in the distance. Every so often you could hear a cracking sound as one of the icebergers would calve. That is an actual term that describes chunks of ice breaking off icebergs and glaciers - look it up!
The sun was out on this day, and when its rays hit the bergs, made for a beautiful show of blue and silver light. A few eagles soared overhead and seals were watching us from a safe distance away, occasionally swimming closer to us to catch a glimpse of the weird creatures in boats. Surreal.
We paddled away from the iceberg field and onto a beach for a snack and a quick hike up a hill that offered spectacular views of the area and the glacier. I had a very nice chat with Doug, who it turns out has
travelled extensively. He had just returned from Nepal.
After our break, we paddled up a small river for a few hours, and eventually met with the water taxi and loaded up for the trip back to Valdez. Just an amazing day!
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