Valdez to Seward June 22 - 26

June 22
We drove south along Highway 4 toward Valdez. The road was amazingly beautiful with high, snow-covered mountains crowding in on both sides of the highway.

 Highway 4 to Valdez

We found a pull-out and walked down the highway to a good overlook where we could take a panoramic picture. A nearby trucker hopped out of his cab and hustled over to us. He told us that minutes before three grizzly bears had crossed the road where we were standing. We had neglected to carry our bear spray for this quick roadside photo op but would not make that mistake again.

 Mountain alongside Highway 4

At the Worthington Glacier, we stopped and took the short hike to the base of the snow pack.
18) Common Redpoll  19) Wilson's Warbler 20 Black-billed Magpie

The magpie was poking about on top of our RV. Often ravens and magpies learn to pry open the plastic caps on top of RVs so it's best to shoo them away.

Worthington Glacier 

Shortly before Valdez we stopped at Bridal Veil Falls and had lunch beside this misty waterfall.

 Bridal Veil Falls

Valdez Harbour 

On arriving in Valdez, we drove to the docks and looked out over Prince William Sound. Across the sound, you could see the south terminus of the oil pipeline from Prudo Bay.

21) Glacous-winged Gull 

 22) Fox Sparrow

June 23
We started with an early morning hike along Nineral Creek Trail. Grizzly bear sightings were frequent here and I shared this news enthusiastically with Emma. That was a mistake.
My vision of photographing grizzlies was quickly dashed as Emma insisted on a less dangerous hike, preferably in the centre of Valdez.

We settled on a short walk up a hillside in the centre of town. No grizzly photos for me today, however,  the beauty of the verdant mountain slopes crowned by an icing of snow soon lifted my spirits.

 Horsetail Falls

By late morning, we were driving out of Valdez on route to Anchorage. Our first stop was at Horseshoe Falls. It took a little imagination but I thought the name appropriately described this waterfall.

It was a cloudy overcast day that got quite foggy at the top of Thompson Pass. Visibility at the summit was down to 10 metres so we were happy to descend the highway and return to the Visitor Centre at Wrangell-St. Elias National Park.  Lunch and an afternoon nap refreshed us and we headed west along Glenn Highway.

 Glenn Highway to Anchorage

The extensive mountain range south of the highway was an ongoing panorama of beauty.

 Sheep Mountain

Nearby Sheep Mountain stood out prominently as the light reflected the gold and copper hues of the minerals. This mountain was beautiful but, sad to say, no sheep were observed on this occasion.

 Matanuska River

At dusk, we stopped for the night at the Malamuska Glacier Campground. We spent a quiet night in our secluded 10-site campground  and went to sleep to the patter of rain drops gently falling on our roof. This was welcome news as it meant no mosquitoes were flying about.

 Matanuska Glacier

June 24
We started the day with a hearty aerobic hike that took us beside the Malamuska River and up to a nice overlook of the Matanuska Glacier.

There were several overlooks of the river valley as we wound our way down the Glenn Highway to Anchorage. At noon, we stopped at Alpine Historic Park. This site was the location where the US Navy built a coal plant to fuel its fleet. However, before the coal plant was operational the navy switched from burning coal to using oil in their boilers. The coal plant was never completed but the historic buildings remain.

 Moose near Anchorage

As we entered the outskirts of Anchorage we briefly saw two moose grazing in an open meadow.
When we stopped the RV for photos they beat a hasty retreat.

 Exit stage left

Downtown Anchorage was an interesting place to walk around. The buildings were only a few storeys high and build like cement bunkers. This architectural style was likely dictated by the frequent and strong earthquakes experienced here.

 Anchorage Historic City Hall

The 24 hour summer sunlight made for excellent growing conditions. Flower gardens and hanging baskets were plentiful and beautiful.

 Visitor Centre in Anchorage

Flower gardens and hanging baskets were everywhere in Anchorage 

By 6:00 p.m., we were in our Golden Nugget RV Park located in East Anchorage.

June 25

In the late morning, we drove across Anchorage to Earthquake Park. A few small sculptures and displays highlighted the past earthquake activity around Anchorage.

 Potter Marsh near Anchorage

At 7:00 p.m., we went to Potter's Marsh and jointed an evening birding tour. One would not expect a birding tour to start so late in the day. However, this was Alaska in June so no problem with the light.

 22) Arctic Tern

 23) Lesser Canada Goose

 28) Greater Yellowlegs

 Common RedPoll

By 10:00 p.m., we were back in our Anchorage campground.

June 26
The destination today was the city of Seward on the southern coast of Alaska. The highway south followed the coast along Turnagain Arm. The tide was out and you could see sandbars stretching far into the inlet.

 Turnagain Arm

Rounding the edge of the sound we headed inland to Turnagain Pass. The summit was clothed in shades of green as the flora of the valley flowed up the sides of the surrounding mountains.

 Turnagain Pass

Late in the afternoon, we arrived at Exit Glacier in Kenai Fjords National Park. We took the short hiking trail to the edge of the glacier.

Exit Glacier

The weeks of wonderful hikes were catching up with us and I had to shuffle down the trail. Somewhere along the way I had injured my right foot and was hard pressed to keep up with Emma. 
It was good to know that our next adventure would be a quiet boat cruise along the Kenai Fjords.