Coopers Landing

July 6, Thursday – A quick stop at the grocery store for supplies and then took the 2-hour drive

to Coopers Landing, dry camping at a National Park campground for 3 nights and then moving

to Kenai Princess RV Park (all amenities for 2 nights). Craig met a couple from White Bear Lake

sitting next to the Kenai River. Hotdogs for dinner tonight, Craig cooked his over a nice

campfire. Being in the National Campground allows us much more privacy.

July 7, Friday – Took the Russian Falls hike in the morning, 5-mile round trip, uphill going in.

We saw a mother moose with two calves just off the trail, and she was munching on the tall,

sweet grass. At the falls we saw Sockeye Salmon trying to jump up the falls! There were

hundreds of them! The pool below the falls was so thick with Salmon they were touching one

another. We didn’t see them get over the falls, but the pools above also had Salmon so some

must have made it. Loooong hike back, I didn’t think I was going to make it! After our hike,

Craig took a walk down by the boardwalk where most of the fishing was going on and saw two

Grizzley Bears (we think female). They came down the ridge on the other side of the river and

stole a Salmon from a fisherman! The fisherman was freaking out because the grizzly bears

came up behind him! The bear then walked the edge of the river for a while, great photo

opportunity! Needed some Aleve when we got back to our site! We Went to bed early

exhausted! Craig also made friends with the elderly host who gave Craig some pointers on the

area. Very sweet.

July 8, Saturday – Slow morning recovering from yesterday’s hike. In the afternoon we went

across the Russian River ferry to fish for Sockeye. This was Craig’s first attempt at river fishing

for salmon and this river was flowing fast! We walked south of the ferry to get away from the

crowds and shallower river access. Not much to show for our efforts but we did learn a few

things and lost about 5 lures. No one around us caught anything, so maybe we didn’t do too

bad. It was a great site and good way to get some experience! I sat in a lawn chair on the

riverbank and did some reading, didn’t have right gear to fish…At one point I watched 4 eagles

just across the river fighting with the seagulls over a fish! On our walk back to the ferry it

became clear people fishing north of the ferry were having better luck, or maybe better

technique? After dinner we found a beautiful quiet spot to sit along the shore of the Kenai

River. Watched an eagle, a seagull and a magpie fighting over a salmon carcass, kept us

entertained for about 30 min.

 

Ankorage

 

July 2, Sunday – 2-hour drive from Glacier View to Anchorage. Ship Creek Campground is in a

very industrial section of town with a homeless tent camp just above us. We’ve booked 7

nights, but I think we need to leave much sooner than that! I reluctantly took a quick walk with

Craig through the abandoned empty lots next to our campground up to Ship Creek in hopes the

King Salmon run is still on. Saw a few people fishing but no King’s. Pizza dinner in Anchorage,

Craig has had a craving for about 2 weeks. Did a bit of shopping and headed back to trailer.

July 3, Monday – Slept in and had a nice big breakfast in the trailer. Went to a great brewery

called “49 th State Brewing Company” for dinner – great food and drinks, sat outside on second

level!

July 4, Tuesday - Craig took a nice long walk down to the creek outlet, starting to learn about

low/high tides. He Finally saw someone catch a 20lb king and another guy filleting one at the

station on the bridge. Seagulls were swarming looking for scraps!

July 5 th , Wednesday – We drove down to Coopers Landing (Russian River) on the Kenai

Peninsula to see the Sockeye (Red) Salmon run. We saw long lines of people fishing along the

river, apparently the run is still on! We also found a place to camp for the next 5 nights so we

can get out of Anchorage! Had lunch at the Sunrise Inn, very good food! The place is for sale

(6+ acers with a lodge, restaurant, RV park, gas station, …right across the street from the river).

Tons of people staying here and lots of fisherman! Yes, we are getting out of Anchorage!

Glacier View

 

June 29, Thursday – Drove 3 hours from Valdez to Glacier View Alaska. Dry camping for the

next 3 nights, hope we have enough water and battery. Drive was nice and roads were good.

More mountains and glaciers, I believe these glaciers are fed from the same ice field as the one

we saw in Valdez. The Ice sheet must be huge!

As we neared the campground on our drive to Glacier View, we finally saw an enormous moose

cross the road right in front of us!!! You need to be fast with the camera to get a picture. They

are large and graceful and quickly disappear into the woods. Campground is very rustic and

mostly empty; this is the most alone we have been since we left the house. We had a couple of

cocktails and Craig made a fire and had a cigar in celebration of the solitude!

June 30 Friday – Today we slept in and then drove back (east) up the Glen highway to get some

pictures of glaciers we saw driving in. We also need to find a dump station for when we leave.

We had a wonderful dinner at Sheep Mountain Lodge and setup a glacier helicopter tour for

tomorrow. Sooooo excited!!!

July 1, Saturday – It’s a beautiful sunny day! Breakfast at the campsite sitting outside in our pj’s

soaking up the sun (which is rare up here!) while looking across at a clear view of the

mountains! Craig was glassing for moose on the mountain ridge, and sure enough he spotted

one and watched it munching away! He calculated it was about 3 miles away and watched off

and on all day. At 2:00 pm we took off for our helicopter ride to the Matanuska Glacier! Our

pilot Thomas was also owner of the Sheep Mountain Lodge. Great guy! We were very

comfortable with him as our pilot. We flew up from the glacier toe about 14 miles and then

landed right next to a turquoise blue pool of water! We walked around a bit and filled up our

water bottle with glacier water which tasted pure and clean! I was so moved by the beauty of

the glacier and mountains that I shed a tear or two on the helicopter ride back. It was a

moment in time we will never forget!

Valdez

 

 

June 19, Monday – drove to Whitehorse YT from Skagway AK, a short 2-hour drive that turned

into 3.5 hours with a delay at Canadian customs. Hi-Country RV Park is nice, had a chance to get

3 loads of laundry done…met lots of people in the laundry area waiting to switch out loads!

June 20, Tuesday – Spent the day in Whitehorse getting some work done to the truck and

trailer. Oil and fuel filter change for the truck. Tires, bearing, breaks and axel straitening for the

trailer. Got supplies, also picked up a couple of sleeping bags for girls coming up here the later

in July. Long and expensive day but managed to get everything done.

June 21, Wednesday – 3-hour drive to Destruction Bay, Yukon T. Stopped at a really bad RV

park, probably should have kept driving but had a nice cocktail and hors d’oeuvres hour on the

shores of a beautiful Kluane lake. Feeling we are entering remote wilderness and need to start

paying attention for bears! 

June 22, Thursday – 4.5-hour drive to Tok, Ak that ended up taking 6.5. We are now on the

Alaskan Hwy, windy, wavey, rough, potholes, gravel and construction. We did see a mama

moose and her calf cross the road ahead of us, the calf was very small. We finally made the

Alaska mainland!!! Tok RV village is verry nice and would stay here again.

June 23, Friday – Drove 4.5 hours to Valdez Ak for 6 nights, going to start exploring from here

on some Alaskan roads… Sunny drive! Still, quite a bit of snow on the Thompson pass, this is

the snowiest place in AK with an average of 42 feet per year! Drive down to was beautiful,

glacial ice flows, lush green rain forest and lots and lots of beautiful waterfalls!

June 24, Saturday – Took a down day, cleaned up the trailer, planned the next few weeks and

watched some tv…

June 25, Sunday – Drove into Valdez. Pretty cute small town (like Skagway) but not as touristy.

This is a fishing town! There are no cruise ships coming and going every day. We found out that

it rains 70 inches per year here in Valdez and only has 132 sunny days! It was cold and rainy

today, so we spent some time in the museum and learned about the 1964 earthquake that

destroyed the town of Valdez and other parts of Alaska! We also learned about the 1989 oil

spill when the Exon Valdez ran ashore. Dinner at The Fat Mermaid.

June 26, Monday – Today, we are off to see the Columbia Glacier on a wildlife cruise aboard

the Lu-Lu Belle. Left the port of Valdez at 10:30am and returned at 8:30pm with about 35

people on board. Long and spectacular day! Captain of the ship was a very old sea dog (Mya)

and quite a storyteller. He introduced us to a lot of wildlife, sea otters (one with a pup snuggled

on her chest), sea lions, puffins (sea bird), eagles, humpback whales, Doll’s porpoise and harbor

seals. The seals have their pups on icebergs near the face of the glacier.

The Columbia glacier was about 3 hours out from the harbor and was between 125 and 250

feet tall and a couple of miles wide at the face. We started to see ice bergs about 4 miles out

and the captain managed to get us about ¼ mile from the face. We managed to see a few cafing

events (huge sections of ice falling into the sea). The cracking of the iceberg was earie, the

splash went almost as high as the face of the glacier and the waves rocked the boat. While it

was very cold (about 30 deg f) the compressed blue ice (or crystals) of the glacier were

beautiful!

We also saw the location where the Exon Valdez ran ashore which is a couple of miles out of

the marked shipping lanes. What an avoidable tragedy! The good news is most of the wildlife

has returned.

June 27, Tuesday – We continued to explore the high country above Valdez. Craig and I hiked to

the Worthington Glacier, about a mile up on a rocky trail with pretty waterfalls. I made it! We

also went to an outfitter in Valdez to buy some foul/rain weather gear, it’s been cool and rainy

here with highs in the 50’s.

June 28, Wednesday – Took a down day and hung out in the campground. Showers, laundry

and prep for travel tomorrow. It was a nice visit to Valdez; this place is definitely worth a visit.