Rev. 07/25/01
Alaska & beyond - continued 7/24
Dawson YT to Valdez
Bill and Shirley had changed plans because of family matter,
and I'd thought maybe I'd tag along to Whitehorse with them. But that
night, I made up my mind to visit Valdez -- after going all the way to Prudhoe
Bay, no trip to Alaska would be complete without going to where the pipeline
ends, Valdez.
Figuring I needed to start early, to miss the crowd for the Yukon River ferry -- hated to miss explaining my plans to Bill and Shirley and saying goodbye, but on the other hand didn't want to wake them. Decided, after waffling back and forth, to let them sleep. Shouldn't have worried. After driving the ten miles to the ferry -- no lineup at all.
But it was raining, and the further I went up on the Top
of the World Hwy the harder it rained. Up on top, the clouds would
part momentarily, showing ragged remnants across the mountains, then close
in again -- so thick, that in the fog it was brighter looking down hill than
looking up. Crossing the boarder into the US, it was a down pour --
a real gully washer. The Walker Fork was raging, running bank
to bank, and I had concerns about the road being washed out. Several
State Highway trucks passed me, think they were concerned too.
A pickup with a camper passed, go the other way, and I had to look twice at what I saw. It had a boat on top, turned up-side-down -- but then they had put the boat's trailer up-side-down on top of the boat, and tied everything down -- if it works?.
Finally made it to Tok. Bill and Shirley and I had planned
to stop at the Salmon Bake in Tok, so I did for lunch. Its an interesting
place. The food was pretty good, and plenty of it. I had Sockeye,
which the owner roasted over the coals. And if you eat there you can
stay in their RV park free. The park looked pretty good.
The owner and I talked about the road to Dawson, and he told me my concerns about getting washed out were valid -- happened several times this year. We talked about the drive up to Inuvik. He told me one of his dreams was to drive it in the winter, on the ice road. I had to admit I'd though about that too.
On the drive down to Valdez, the road passes a number of glaciers.
The Worthington Glacier is the most accessible. You can see it
very well from the road, and then walk up to the face of it. And I
actually walked on it -- should have taken my foot in the picture to give
it the correct perspective.
And again I ran into Robert Service's work -- "The Ballad of the Ice Worm Cocktail."
As you drive down to Valdez the road enters a very narrow canyon, maybe a hundred feet across. The river and the road must twist and turn to share that space. Suddenly, there is a large water fall on the left -- Bridal Veil Falls. And a hundred feet more there's another falls -- there are fall to left, falls to the right and fall above you.
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