Day 42 -- Worthington Glacier and Valdez

Travel   From: Palmer, AK   To: Valdez, AK   Distance: 261 mi (420 km)   Travel time w/brks: 8 hr 25   Distance since start: 8,745 mi (14,062 km)

Tuesday 8/1/2006

After we had eaten breakfast we talked about visiting a Musk-Ox farm just outside of Palmer, along the way. It was not hard to find. After we had parked by the farm and walked into the visitors building, we learned that they charged for the tour, that it would cost us about $40 as a family for a 45 minute tour in the rain and that the most recent tour had just started. We did not feel too inclined to take the tour for that price, in the rain, and also get delayed in going to Valdez. So we just hit the road again. The infamous mega-dips had returned to the road. Both the truck and trailer bounced up and down each time we hit one. I was trying to avoid them, but sometimes they were very sudden. Some of them in the area were so bad that the front end of the truck became get airborne! We stopped for lunch along the way.

Lilli is enjoying a rest stop along the way from Palmer to Valdez

While we were parked, another Airstreamer from an Oregon unit pulled in for a brief pit stop. They mentioned that they had been to International in Salem, OR, and that they had then started their journey up. He was going to fish in Valdez until his freezer was full. He had a boat on the back of his pickup and a 70s ~25ft trailer in tow. We wished them a pleasant journey and then we continued towards Valdez. Along the way towards Valdez you go through some nice mountains before coming into town. Isabella talked about needing a pit stop and we ended up picking a rest area about 30 miles before town. This turned out to be a nice stop just before the Worthington Glacier.

Parked at a pullout with the Worthington Glacier in view

Shortly after our rest stop was a road that led up to the glacier area itself. We decided to take a detour up to that area since we were not in a super hurry to get to the campground. Erik and I hiked up along a moraine ridge on the left side of the glacier to get a better view. We had hoped it would lead us to a point closer to the ice, but it just kept going up and up. So we eventually turned around and hiked back down to the trail where Lilli, Isabella and Karl were.

Looking back from the moraine trail to the parking area with our Airstream

Erik is viewing the glacier from the moraine ridge (created by the glacier thousands of years ago, when it was much bigger)

After we hiked down, we found the others. Karl, of course, could not keep his hands of muck. He had even found an area in the semi-dry muck that very well could suck him in and he stood proudly on it and flexed his feet. I immediately ordered him off that.

Worthington Glacier: where goth teens can 'melt in'

A crevasse has started to open in the glacier

Isabella spots a marmet living by the glacier

Karl wants to carve his name in thousand year old ice. What are the odds it will stay put?

Erik poses by the glacier; look at all the rocks it is dragging with it

After this refreshing break we headed towards the campground in Valdez. We were already at above 2,000ft. Before heading down, we had to go through a low pass of about 2,700ft. After that we went on a slow descent that lasted some 8 miles. We ran with the engine break for quite a long stretch. It was then level for a while before we got into town. There are only two campgrounds in town and both have quite small gravel sites, with trailers packed. We were not too unhappy, since the views were nice. I asked for a fire pit and they delivered one to the site. It looked a bit funny and on closer inspection it appeared to be the guts of a washing machine. Quite clever, since this meant it had lots of little air holes in it. I did some cleaning of the trailer and noticed that the dirt we had picked up on the trailer on our way into Seward had lots of tar in it. That explains why it would not come off easily. I also noticed that one more rivet had popped by the rear storage compartment. It started to look like real body/frame separation. We probably have to get this looked at when we get to the Airstream factory. We watched a movie and ate dinner. Erik tried to get a fire going but the rain wanted to put it out. After the movie and dinner, we went to bed.

Campground   Name: ?, AK   Our hookups: 30amp, water, sewer, cable   WiFi: Yes   GSM service: Yes   TV Channels: Yes   Cost: $40/night including extra fee for kids   Reservation mode: Phone

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All Pictures (c) 2006 Hamnqvist, Background features grooves in a glacier.