Blogs from Valdez, Alaska, United States, North America

Ever wonder what a weir is? It's a man made waterfall. This one is the Bear Creek Weir in Palmer, AK. It's used by the fish hatchery to count the number and type of salmon going upstream. If you look closely you can see the salmon swimming below the weir. The mountainous pictures are of Valdez - right where the oil comes from. It's a little town of 3,000 set beside these huge mountains and glaciers. The colorful fleet of power boats are primarily personal use. Hearty folk, they are, who calling it fun, boot and suit up to spend a day fishing in 2' seas and worse, freezing water and 59 degree, drizzling weather. A few of our group have tried their hand and are taking home over sixty pounds of salmon. For the healthcare ... read more

Bonjour à tous, Encore une super journée, que ce soit au niveau du temps, comme des paysages qui nous ont été offerts tout au long de la route. Avant, un petit mot sur mon compagnon de voyage. Pier n'aime pas dormir les fenêtres fermées, si non il étouffe, même dans une chambre de 30m2, n'aimes pas dormir les rideaux tirés. Mais quand vous dormez sur le bord de l'Alaska highway, qui est une route assez fréquentée, par les camions qui s'arrêtent sur le parking, par les motards qui traversent l'Alaska dont pas mal de Harley, que la nuit tombe à 23h30, et le jour revient vers 3h30, je laisse à votre imagination: la nuit. Mais par contre il dort très bien dans une cabine de bateau de 4m2, avec un hublot complètement étanche. Va comprendre ?. ... read more

Ready and on the road by 7:50 this morning. Beaver Creek was a great stop, especially with "Buckshot Betty's" two driveways down. Will miss Canada as our dollar is so strong there. We had pretty much a 25% discount on everything we purchased. In addition to that it is a beautiful country, and we really enjoyed traveling through it. After passing through the Canadian border there were bunnies everywhere! Not sure why, but I guess the wolves haven't discovered that they're there. The road between the Canadian and US Border crossing continues with the washboard conditions...fun. I am beginning to feel like I am in a covered wagon on the first crossing. Certainly not an area where you want to be putting on your make-up! The "Minnie Winnie" seems to be holding up well. No issues ... read more

My road trip is over now, but I had such a great time. And one of the best parts of it was meeting other “road trippers”, but of a different kind: touring cyclists! I now realize that most people doing Alaska to Tierra del Fuego (or Alaska to anywhere else) are leaving Prudhoe Bay early June, and depending on their speed and route, they seem to all end up around Tok or the Canadian border at this time of the year. So as I was driving back, I met a few of them, and of course, I got really excited and stopped almost each time to see where they were doing, if they needed anything or just to chat with “real touring cyclists”! I was amazed by how light most of them are traveling, and also ... read more

Pour moi Valdez c' était en Amérique du sud. On peut avoir des lacunes. Merci Apres réflexion, il m' ai revenu a l' esprit que c' était bien en Alaska, quand en 1989 le tanker l' Exon Valdez avait fait naufrage et déversé dans la mer, plusieurs millions de litres de pétrole, et pollué des centaines de kms de côte. Nous avons maintenant 10 h de décalage, et 4 avec le Québec. Comme hier au soir, je n' avais ni tv, ni internet, au lit a 20h30, sous un grand soleil. Il faudrait que je m' organise autrement, car le soleil brille, ici la nuit. Apres un peu de lecture dodo a 9h. Le matin je pette le feu tôt. J' attend 6h30, l' ouverture du bar pour prendre un café. A 7 je démarre. Le ... read more