Boat....cheap

Glennallen to Valdez, Ak

July 2, 2017

For sale:  Cheap

Now don't you just wonder what the story is behind this battered, broken, half of an aluminum canoe?  It was sitting along the water at our rest stop pull off.  Our guess: It got caught up in the melt and was carried downstream but didn't survive a rock or tree attack.  But I suppose it could be poor boatmanship😀

We had to climb about 2600 feet and navigate Thompson Pass before winding up at sea level in Valdez.  It had been drizzling most of the day and the clouds were pretty thick at that elevation.  It was a holiday weekend so the road construction crews had taken a break and the short gravel construction section was full of pot holes due to the rain, traffic and lack of grading care while the machinery sat idle.  It really is difficult to tell just how deep a water-filled pot hole is until you dip into it.  We lived to tell the tale but, let me say, everyone came up off their seats and slid forward when the front tires dropped into the 'well'.  Thankfully, we were navigating slowly!!

We were REALLY thankful to be traveling this section of the highway in July...especially when Momma explained to me what an avalanche is when I kept seeing signs:

along with the snow guide poles in the area that tell the story of how high the snow can actually accumulate in this area.  That's WAY too much snow for me even with my fur coat!

Just before Valdez, the Richardson Highway/A-4 takes on a gorgeous look thru the rock cut, past the Bridal and Horsetail Falls and of course...another glacier...Worthington Glacier.

And then you arrive at sea level complete with marina.  Welcome to Valdez.

What magnificent views everywhere you look.

This is the NEW Valdez, about 4 miles from the 'OLD' Valdez that got wiped out from the 1964 earthquake and resulting tsumani.  Due to the unstable ground, about 50 buildings that survived the quake were relocated to the new town area over a 3 year period and the remaining structures were burned by the local firemen.  All that remains are a couple of foundations and a marker identifying the area as the original town location.  The 'Alaskan spirit' didn't drive the hardy residents away.  They dusted themselves off and rebuilt.

Hickory

......on the road again