7/24 – 7/25
Spent most of the time salmon fishing and loaded the freezer with about 30 lbs of scrumptious fish. Walked around Valdez; it has changed quite a bit since 2003, it’s more touristy, crowded and noisy. Hiked the Dock Point Trail and drove along Dayville Rd; saw a black bear with 3 cubs scrounging for salmon on the shore.
7/23
Hiked to the Matanuska glacier; it’s amazing how dirty and messy glaciers really due to the huge amounts of ground rock which covers everything at the base in a muddy coat . Continued on Glenn Hwy (Rt 1) and onto Richardson Hwy (Rt 4) to Valdez.
The scenery is spectacular, especially from Thompson Pass and the Worthington Glacier to Valdez . Camped at Bear Paw RV Park in Valdez
7/22
Another gray, cool day; started towards Valdez along the Glenn Hwy (Rt 1). Detoured onto a side road to Seventeenmile Lake, a rather pretty and isolated lake where I enjoyed fishing for grayling, caught and released several small ones. Stopped at Matanuska Glacier SRA and hiked a short distance to a viewing stand to see the Glacier, a pretty sight. Decided to camp at the State Recreation Area campground, very small (9 sites) but nicely set up.
7/21
A rather overcast day but good for going to Flatop Mountain and hiking a trail or two. Many of the spruce trees are quite misshapened by the fierce winds that sometimes buffet the mountain and look like beautifully grotesque caricatures from a nightmare. Afterwards we walked through the Anchorage Botanical Gardens, a different type of beauty and very nice.
