With Lisa's new job starting soon, we took our last chance for a summery weekend away together. After work Friday, we drove the 360 miles from Fairbanks to Valdez, half of which I hadn't been down before, but Lise had during the Fireweed 400 bike race. We 'rambo-camped' on the side of the road just before Valdez. As well as saving money, I had the entertainment of a very realistic dream of waking up to find the car jacked up over the tent and the wheels stolen.
wtf? In Valdez, we rented a double sea kayak and took a water taxi out to Sawmill Bay, just beyond the Valdez Narrows, which separate Port Valdez from Valdez arm and the rest of Prince William Sound. The folks at Pangaea Kayaks were really great.
The tide timings were perfect, and we worked our way along the coast towards Shoup Bay, seeing a lot of jumping fish, a bald eagle or two and plenty of sea birds. It was certainly a different gig to Able Tasman in NZ - cold rain, cold water and definitely no swimming! Lise was rugged right up, but wet and a little uncomfortable fot a while (she may use stronger terms..). Not super relaxing in that regard, but great to be out there together taking in the animals and environment and just hanging out. Right at Shoup Bay we saw three sea otters lolling around and checking us out as we paddled closer. Very cool!
Shoup bay was a real highlight. The upper bay was formed by a side-arm of Shoup glacier which, although receding, still calves into the bay, feeding it with bergy bits and very cold water. The upper bay is offset from the lower bay, which is open to the sound, and this results in high tidal flows through the narrow channel connecting them. We arrived right on high tide, rode in on a nice little flow for about 200m, and were spat out past another sea otter towards a noisy rookery of kitty-wakes. These birds were being studied by a group from Earthwatch and Fish and Game, as apparently they act as a good indicator of the overall health of the Valdez area ecosystem. We joined the research crew and a few other paddlers in the 'campground' of small sites nestled between alders. With dead salmon lying about the lower bay think: bear country!
We cooked up and stashed all tasty and aromatic things in our bear barrel away from the tent before crashing out. The next morning's entertainment came from my overactive brain turning the kitty-wakes squaks into a loud-hailer announcement of their being a bear in camp and for everyone to meet at the researcher's shack. It took Lise a while to convince me it was just my hyperactive imagination again!
Day two, we paddled up closer to the glacier, checked out some seals, and rode an exciting little wave train out the channel to the lower bay. I wouldn't have run it by myself in a single, but felt comfortable in our double kayak, especially with Lisa's river experience. Fun! The paddle back to Valdez took in some cool cliffs, more wildlife and really thick fog crossing the shallow river flat towards the end. As we were back early than we'd first thought, with the misty wet weather and not much to do in Valdez the next morning, we decided to drive on home. We took a short stop at Worthington Glacier to get a picture for my friend Chris Worthington. Sorry to say Chris, it is receding despite the substantial snow fall in this area. By midnight we were home in bed, with the tent drying out, bear barrel clean and only the squirrels to dream about.
More pics here: valdez-sea-kayaking
