The Awesomely Beautiful World of Glaciers and Icebergs...

We arrived in Valdez last Thursday and have had a great time in this village at the headwaters of Prince William Sound.

Valdez, also known as "Little Switzerland", is surrounded by five glaciers and the towering, snow-covered, Chugach mountains rising next to a beautiful blue sea. It all contributes to making it absolutely picturesque. The growth and settlement of Valdez was attributed to fur trading, salmon canning, and gold and copper mining. Throughout recent history it has certainly sustained its share of hardships. The residents are weary of Good Friday, and probably for good reason. In 1964 they were the closest locale to the devastating Alaska Earthquake which registered 9.2 on the Richter Scale and qualifies as the third strongest and single longest lasting earthquake in history. As a result of the devastation, the entire town was moved 4.5 miles to a safer location. Then good fortune appeared to shine on the residents of Valdez when, in the early 1970's, Valdez became the staging area for work on the lower portion of the Trans Alaska Pipeline. This enabled the Port of Valdez to be the terminus of the 799 mile pipeline which transports crude oil from Prudhoe Bay. Valdez harbor became the beginning of the marine shipping route. However, on March 24, 1989, AGAIN a Good Friday, the Exxon Valdez, an oil tanker owned by Exxon Corporation, ran aground in Prince William Sound. The tanker spilled an estimated 10.8 million gallons of crude oil which has been recorded as one of the largest spills in U.S. history and one of the largest ecological disasters. Fortunately, 19 years since, the area has recovered and is, once again, a truly gorgeous and pristine area.

On Sunday we took a cruise on the LuLu Belle to explore the Sound and view some of the glaciers and wildlife. We saw eagles, puffins, sea lions, seals, Dall porpoises and humpback whales. It was a great cruise and we've included some photos of the trip.

While here in Valdez we have also visited a couple museums, drove a scenic drive in Mineral Creek Canyon, viewed Bridal Falls, watched hundreds of salmon coming in to spawn and observed some bears eating salmon in the river.

Here is the link for this Post's photos. Enjoy and visit again as we are off to Glenallen tomorrow and exploration of Wrangell-St Elias national Park.

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0Sbs27hoxZMRc&notag=1

Take care and stay safe,

P&J