Day 7 -- To Valdez

I stayed up until midnight last night, worked hard on the blog and was feeling caught up … until I let myself back into the room after everyone else was asleep and stumbled over a heap of clean laundry. I had forgotten that I still had to fold the clothes and and put them away in our bags. My sense of accomplishment took a sudden nose dive. Heavy sigh.

We left Copper Center and drove south toward Valdez. Ray and Joanie, the friends we met in McCarthy, had raved about this section of the Richardson Highway; driving it was one of the highlights of their monthlong tour of the state. My Lonely Planet guidebook proclaims this stretch of road “one of Alaska’s most spectacular drives … a paradise of snowy summits, panoramic passes and gorgeous gorges.” We had been looking forward to taking our time today, breaking up the drive with photo-op stops and short hikes to scenic overlooks. 

Today, though, the mountains were swathed in low, wet clouds and the temperature dipped to the mid-50s. What we could see of the landscape through the mist and the drizzle was certainly stunning, but none of us was very interested in getting out and exploring.

We arrived in Valdez by lunchtime, pulled over and consulted the guide book about a place to eat. We happened to be parked directly in front of a Mexican restaurant, which we considered, and then rejected when we read that Lonely Planet describes the food as “serviceable.” Clare asked what that means, and we told her that someone who does a serviceable job gets it done, but without any flair or care to make it special.

As it turns out, our entire impression of Valdez is that it’s “serviceable.” With the completion of the Richardson Highway in 1899, Valdez became a gateway to the interior of Alaska and was established as an important shipping and supply port. But in 1964, an earthquake and subsequent tsunami destroyed a section of the city. Within three years, the town rebuilt itself on more stable ground, four miles away. 

So, essentially, the town of Valdez is a product of the mid-1960s. There are a lot of cars, a lot of parking lots, commercial fishing docks and a couple of big ship yards. Oh — and the wonderfully scenic Trans-Alaska Pipeline Terminal across the bay. Despite the (Absolutely. Stunning.) backdrop of lush green slopes and 7,000-ft snowcapped peaks, there’s nothing particularly remarkable or interesting about the town itself.

In preparing for this trip, I spent loads of time researching places to stay in Valdez. The nicest, cleanest, best-reviewed and most interesting place I could come up with was the Best Western. The place bills itself as “on the waterfront,” but this is the view out of our window. 

Clare hit the nail on the head when she asked, “Is this serviceable?” 

Still. We managed to fill an afternoon with interesting activities. Our first stop was the Valdez Museum, an earnest small-town museum brimming with interesting exhibits about native traditions, homesteaders, Alaska’s aviation pioneers, the Valdez earthquake, the Trans-Alaska Pipeline and the Exxon-Valdez oil spill. 

From there, we visited the Solomon Gulch fish hatchery, where we witnessed throngs of fish trying to head upstream from the bay. (The stream has been closed off to the salmon, so that they can be redirected into the hatchery.) We hoped to see a black bear or two come down from the mountains to feast on the fish, but no such luck. Instead, we saw seals, sea lions and sea otters hanging out in the bay. 

That frothy water is actually a surge of salmon heading upstream. 

A sea otter!

A couple of seals!

Back in town, we headed to the Maxine and Jesse Whitney Museum at the Prince William Sound Community College, an entirely engrossing gallery devoted to collections of Alaska wildlife and native artwork and craft. Starting in 1947 and continuing for more than 40 years, Maxine ran a gift shop in Fairbanks and traveled to native villages throughout the territory buying art and artifacts directly from artists. She gathered items she thought would interest tourists, including fossils, ivory figurines, moose-antler furniture and creative taxidermy. So some of the items in the collection are kitschy and showy, while others are rare and unique. Together, all of them tell a compelling story about native art and the influence that tourism has on it. 

Natalie entertained herself at the museum by taking selfies with all the stuffed wildlife.

We ran out of things to do after that, so we had dinner at a restaurant along the harbor and retired to our serviceable rooms. It will be an early morning tomorrow, when we catch the Alaska Marine Highway Ferry to Whittier.

The scenery in Valdez is definitely not "serviceable." It is simply spectacular.