Valdez; Ferry to Whittier

July 8 to 9, 2022

Doug and I had a quiet day in Valdez on Friday, July 8; Dee and Cheryl left for Anchorage and we planned to take the ferry and meet them in Whittier. The Valdez visitor center was very tolerant of my time blogging on their free Wi-Fi.

We parked Sylvee in the Visitor Center parking area overnight and were first in line for the ferry early Saturday morning.

Although we had been told the pink salmon only beginning to come it, the fishing fleet was allowed to go out for a limited time to clean out the harbor of fish there at the time. All of the salmon coming in to the harbor are there to spawn, after which they will die. The plan to is catch all the fish possible before they die and end up on the shore creating unpleasant sights and smells. We sailed out of Valdez Harbor through the colorful fleet, setting their nets.

Dee and Cheryl met us at the Alaska Wildlife Park, where we saw black and grizzly bears and wood bison.

After visiting the critters we drove to Hope, Alaska, on Turnagain Arm. There were no campsites, so we boondocked in the parking lot at Hope School, where Dee cooked a fine steak dinner.