VALDEZ

 

Chuck got his eye appointment taken care of and we were “on the road again”.  Headed  to Valdez, to get some fishing in.  We have never been to this area and decided that we would never get the chance again.  Even though it caused us to back track a hundred miles it was totally worth it.  We actually thought about stopping at Cooper River and join in a little combat fishing, but realized that we were past that age.  We did this the very first time we came to Alaska in ‘72, and my dad was a great teacher.  In this area you are allowed to snag  salmon, BUT they must be hooked in the mouth. Mission impossible, how fast can you get that hook in the mouth after landing it is the name of the game.  They fish very close and when one get hooked they “holler fish on” and everyone tries to get their lines out of the way. 

The first day out we saw a big bull moose, no pic.  Little horns only, early.

Seemed like we had mountains on one side or the other.  Stopped for lunch and our view was overlooking a half dozen lakes.

We spent the night at a pull out along the road, along with  a few other RV’ers.  Chris and others had left the day before us and were in the area, but they were planning to spend the day at a lake near by, and we decided to go on in to Valdez.  The scenery from there on is was some of the most beautiful I’ve ever seen.

The mountains, the snow, around every turn it just got more and more breathtaking.  And then we came to the pass and all the waterfalls running into the river that was flowing right by the road. 

Pictures can not begin to show the splendor, but they will have to do.

We plan on staying here for a week, it is a very small fishing village, not commercialized in the least.  Not sure if Chuck will be going out on any fishing charters.  They have changed the rules again on halibut, you now are allowed a big one and one weighing no more than 10 pounds.  They say the hard part is getting the little one.  Ten pounds is almost the head and tail.  Today we seen a moose and calf, again no picture.  They don’t seem to want to hang around and pose, camera shy, evidently.  Hopefully the next post will contain pictures of a huge halibut!  To heck with the little one.