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Prince William Sound
This map shows the route we took on the LuLu Belle. If you look closely, you will also see Bligh Reef where the Exxon Valdez Oil spill occurred.They are not kidding. You must have blackout drapes here to sleep if you are not used to sleeping in the daylight. The sun sets at 11:38 P.M. and rises again at 4a.m. The positive thing about this is that you have plenty of time to do whatever you wish as it is not dark. Of course in the winter months, it is dark almost all day.
The roads into Tok and out of Tok were deplorable! The road freezes here up to 20 feet below the surface and causes frost heaves causing the road to rise up in different spots along the highway making the roads very uneven, somewhat like the track of a roller coaster, but not as steep. There are many sections of the highway that are gravel where they are trying to repair the roads. We did encounter some damage to our automobile when passing trucks and other vehicles that did not slow down for the gravel sections on the roadway. We have several dings and a crack in the windshield of the motorhome. The fog lights on the car were broken completely out.
However, the beauty here is well worth the drive. We left
Tok and ventured down to the oil town of Valdez, Alaska. (pronounced Val - Deez) This was a beautiful drive and well worth it. Don't let anyone tell you NOT to go to Valdez. This is one of the most beautiful spots in Alaska. The drive down the Richardson Hiway was well worth the trip.
Surrounded by mountains, this deepwater port, at the head of a long dramatic fjord, first developed with the 1898 gold rush and an ill-fated attempt to establish an alternative route to the gold fields from here. Later, the port and the Richardson Highway, which connected Valdez to the rest of the state, served a key role in supplying materials during World War II. On Good Friday, March 27, 1964, all of that was erased when North America's greatest recorded earthquake occurred under Miners Lake, west of town off a northern Fjord of Prince William Sound. It set off an underwater landslide that caused a huge wave to sweep over the waterfront and kill 32 people. The town was completely destroyed. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers moved the town, rebuilding a drab replacement in a safer location that slowly filled with nondescript modern buildings.
The construction of the Trans- Alaska Pipeline, completed in 1977, brought a new economic boom to Valdez and enduring economic prosperity as tankers came to fill with the oil. Then, on March 24, 1989, on Good Friday, years after the earthquake, the tanker Exxon Valdez, on its way south, hit the clearly marked Bligh Reef, causing the largest and most environmentally costly oil spill ever in North American history. It was determined that the Exxon Valdez made a gross navigational error as it was off course by several miles. The spill cleanup added another economic boom. Twenty years later, most of the wildlife populations have recovered, but some have not. Visible signs of the spill are hard to find. This was an accident they said could not happen. The captain was downstairs doing his paperwork, the third mate was in charge and hit the Bligh Reef. There is a large tower there today to mark the spot where this occurred so that hopefully, it will never happen again. Pilot Captains are here today to bring ships in and out of the harbor. $$$$$$ !! After the Valdez accident, the government now requires the pilots board the ships 10 miles
further out to sea than they used to. This doubled the number of the pilot crews needed as the trip now takes longer than 8 hours, and each crew can only be on duty for an 8 hour shift. $$$$$$ !! The new regulations require two large tug boats to follow the tankers to the pilot boarding area , again over an 8 hour trip. In addition, a scavenge boat is required to be on site near the reef 24/7 just in case. $$$$$$$ Very expensive for the oil company. When the tankers are returning to Valdez empty, they are full of water so that the tankers will float properly in the water. They are so large that without the weight of the water inside the tanker, the tanker would turn over on it's side and sink. There are storage tanks at the bottom of the port area so that the water can be pumped out of the tanker and into the storage tanks before being loaded with oil. The Alaska Pipeline runs 800 miles from Prudhoe Bay in the North to Valdez in the south. It traverses through mountains, under highways, and above ground to reach it's destination. At
Bill at the top of the Boat
He just had to go to the top. Actually you can see so much more up there. any given time there is over 2,000,000 barrels of oil in the pipeline. It is controlled from an electronic headquarters and can be shut down in sections at any given time if the need should arise. Thousands of people came from around the world to work on the pipeline and it is amazing what they accomplished and they did it on schedule.
Today, Valdez is a middle American town, driven by industry but turning to the vast resources of Prince William Sound for outdoor recreation. In town you can tour two small museums and learn about the earthquake which someone filming the dock area just happened to catch on a video. It is the only recorded live film on record of the actual earthquake which measured over 9 on the Richter scale. You can tour the harbour and the Sound on one of several boats offering tours in the area. Don't come to Valdez to see the town, come to see the gorgeous surroundings, the Sound and the drive down into town on the Richardson Highway. Because Valdez lies at the end of a funnel of steep mountains that catches moisture off the ocean, the weather here tends to
The Marker on Bligh Reef
This tower marks the spot where the Exxon Valdez ran aground spilling millions of barrels of oil into the water. be overcast and rainy in the summer and extremely snowy in the winter months.
Our weather here, however has been sunny in the afternoons. We rode the yacht "LuLu Belle" out into the Sound with Captain Fred Rodolf narrating our voyage. Captain Fred constructed this boat himself and it is beautiful. The yacht is in a class by herself, with her plush atmosphere of teak, mahogany and oriental rugs. He is the most knowledgeable Captain in the area with over 6,000 hours on the sea. He is a great storyteller and has been doing this for over 30 years.
We went within 8 miles of the Columbia Glacier, as close as one can get due to the icebergs in the water. The Columbia glacier is the second-largest tidewater glacier in North America. It has an underground river under the glacier which causes pieces of the glacier to fall off into the sea as the glacier moves forward toward the ocean. To get there one passes through the long Fjord of Port Valdez where you can see the oil stored in the 18 storage tanks along the sound at the terminal of the TransAlaska Oil Pipe Line. We had
Setting the nets
This is a fishing vessel at Valdez. The smaller boat is setting one end of the net. When it encircles the larger boat, the men onboard reel in the nets and capture the fish. They are paid the same if they catch hundreds of fish or if they catch one fish. They are hired by the canneries to fish these waters daily. a bird's eye view of the loading piers, where over a million barrels of oil leave Valdez each day for the refineries in the lower 48 states. This is an enormous facility. Each tank covers over one acre in size and you could fit a large ship inside without touching any of the edges of the tank. Each tank holds 510,000 barrels of oil. When all the tanks are full to capacity, the oil would NOT supply the U.S.A. with enough oil to get through ONE day.
On our trip with Captain Fred we saw many species of birds, including bald eagles. We also saw four humpback whales, Stellar seal lions, otters, Alaskan Seals, and Dall porpoises diving and playing in the wake of the boat. We tried to get pictures of them but they are so fast it is nearly impossible to film them. The cruise lasts normally 5-7 hours. We were out 8-1/2 hours and it was still daylight when we returned at 10:30p.m. Captain Fred said we were out so long because he likes to take his time so that everyone can see and photograph the wildlife and scenery.
On July 3rd, several of our
group caught so many fish, we had a wonderful fish fry, with halibut and salmon cooked many different ways. It was wonderful. July 4th, a champagne brunch of course!
Not many people in the world have a chance to experience this rare natural beauty in a timeless environment and we were so fortunate to enjoy it. Do not come to Alaska without seeing Valdez. It is spectacularly beautiful! Be sure to take the cruise on the LuLu Belle, it is well worth the time and money. It costs onlly $95 per person. Food and drinks are served on board and restrooms are always available. You may also take your own food and drinks on board, except for red wine. A real bargain at twice the price !
Happy 4th of July everyone! God Bless America!
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