Monday, July 13, 2009

Alaska Trip - To Valdez and Back


From Valdez Trip



After a quick day to rest and get repacked, the whole crew headed 7 hours south of Fairbanks to Valdez. Yes, the Valdez, AK that is famous for the enormous oil spill but that was long ago (although effects are still evident) and it really is a picturesque setting.


We stopped all along the way, gorgeous vistas abound
From Valdez Trip


From Valdez Trip


From Valdez Trip


From Valdez Trip


From Valdez Trip



The next day we got up, headed back up towards Thompson pass and decided to hike the Goat Trail. While the name should have been an indication, we started up not realizing the difficulty of the trail. Very steep, very narrow and considerable exposure.


From Valdez Trip


From Valdez Trip


When there is a rope affixed to the trail, you now its steep
From Valdez Trip


Tough hiking, but good too
From Valdez Trip


In no way was this shot staged...
From Valdez Trip



After a couple miles, we turned around and made our way back down. We hopped in the car and went up to Thompson Pass, stopping briefly at Blueberry Lake before heading over to hike up to a glacier and then grab some lunch.


Bald eagles soaring above Blueberry Lake
From Valdez Trip


The family in front of an enormous glacier
From Valdez Trip


Signature Big Arms
From Valdez Trip


You can get an idea how big the glacier is from this shot. We are near the dirty section on the left about 1/4 way up.
From Valdez Trip



We opted for naps after that and then headed to some friends of Justin & Linda's for a grill out. Happened to be that the owner of the house we went to for dinner would be our boat captain on our wildlife and glacier tour the next day. Tons of pics from that to come.

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