Alaska Day 21, A Blue Theme

Day 21

 Friday June 22

     I knew I had to drive down to Valdez on this trip.  It’s far enough out of the way that I knew I needed two nights here.  But, what to do with the day?   It didn’t take a lot of digging to find my answer.  A day of kayaking among the icebergs.   I had hoped to do this in Juneau, but alas, no icebergs anymore.  Here in Valdez, they’re plentiful.

      With a few companies to choose from, I found myself on the website for Anadyra Adventures..   Based on the photos and a bunch of reviews, this was the one.  The half day tours run six hours start to finish.

     Everyone assembles in the company office at 9A.   They were expecting sixteen people.  Once everyone was in place and the paperwork signed, we went into the back and met the day’s guides.   They were two guys with the improbable named of Aiden and Cayden.  To ease confusion, they go by their nicknames, Goose and Bagel. 

      The first thing they do is get us properly outfitted.  This means heavy, waterproof rubber pants, boots and jacket.  Considering the forecast for heavy rain, I welcomed it.  They also supply you with a heavy, collapsible bag.  In it went our lunches, water and anything else we needed to take. Roll the top down a few times, connected the latches and you have a waterproof, buoyant bag. 

     These purple gloves attached to the kayak paddle to keep your hand dry.  It's glacial water and it's very cold.  

     From there we drove down to Glacier View Park, where you can no longer actually see the Valdez Glacier.  But, you can see plenty of icebergs.  Veronica and I were the only two singletons in the group and shared a kayak. She’s an environmental scientist based in Sacramento, California.  It turns out we made great partners for the day. 

     After a safety briefing on the shore, we boarded and started paddling out.  They split us into two groups and Bagel was our guide.  He explained some of the things he was taking us to see and that he was going to check them out first.  There were a few places we wanted to go, but he said they were unsafe.  We trusted him.  He’s been doing this for a long time.
    We found it cool just to be paddling near icebergs in general.   The first place he took us was an ice cave.  It’s basically a hollowed out place on the underside of the glacier.   One kayak at a time, we paddled in.  

     We paddle further and in between two long sections of ice.

    There was another notch in the glacier wall.  It was big enough to almost fit one kayak inside.  We took turns and encouraged the folks who were uncertain to paddle in.

      When we eventually came to a dead end, we paused, turned around and started paddling back out again.  This is when the rain began.  It was that super fine rain that you can’t see unless you stare at a dark background.   Considering the forecast, no one was complaining.

     It wasn’t all paddling.  We beached the kayaks and Bagel helped everyone out and onto the ice.   Just like Boot Glacier,  the toe end of the ice is covered in rocks.   Further back it was white ice.  We didn’t have nearly enough time to hike that far back.  The blue ice under the rocks just didn’t get old.

    A small crevasse in the glacier…

     The guides have been watching this slot in the glacier.  A few days ago it had widened enough to climb inside.  Once again, Bagel went first.  He stopped at a point just before the water underfoot started getting very deep.  We all climbed in to check it out.

     

    Once we were back in the kayaks, the rain returned.  It was still fairly light, but not the heaviness we were promised.  Once again, no complaints.

    Into another ice cave.

    Bagel took us around to another large iceberg.  This hole had recently developed underneath.   He paddled fairly close before declaring it unsafe.  Veronica and I both agreed we would have paddled through in a heartbeat, even though it looked like a low ceiling.  We told Bagel.  His response, "yeah, I know."

     We gathered around in the kayaks and Bagel explained why it’s unsafe, at which point the glacier gave out a loud groan.  This is why Veronica was such a great partner for the day.  Everyone else started paddling away.  It was her suggestion to paddle back for the shot through the opening.

    We rejoined the group and eventually worked our way back to the beach.  All things considered, our time on the water and glacier was a little over five hours.  Well worth it.  And the rain, well, the sun came out on the drive back into town. 

    After treating myself to a cold one at the Fat Mermaid, I just took my bigger camera back to the waterfront to shoot the clouds.  

       After taking a break back in the room to write some notes, I eventually worked my way back to the waterfront.   There was just something about those clouds.

       After moving the car for a change of venue, I saw this when pulling into the parking space.  It only lasted a couple of minutes and was gone.  

       While in Valdez, I met quite a few people who wouldn’t want to live anywhere else.  Some were summer seasonal and fell in love with the place.  A couple of them decided to see what a winter was like first, then decided to stay.  To each their own, but some facts about January in Valdez… Sunrise is 10A and sunset is 4P.   The average high temperature is twenty-eight degrees.  The average snowfall is sixty-eight inches.   

Coming Up,

Another day, another glacier