You know that the five guys spent the night in Glennallen, Alaska last night. What you don't know is that Glennallen is a very small town. According to the 2010 census, the population is 483. Glennallen is more of a jumping off spot for folks that are interested in visiting the largest national park in the United States - Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve. Glennallen is also classified as an isolated town. Back in the day (WWII to the early 70's) it was actually kind of a bustling place. In more recent years newly constructed highways and roads have cut the town off from traffic that otherwise would have passed right through the town.
There aren't very many restaurants located in Glennallen. The ones that are there didn't open early enough to break the fast of the five adventurers. They wanted to be up early and on the road by 7:00 a.m. What's the big hurry? They had a 120 mile ride to the town of Valdez this morning. There's only one way in, and of course, one way back out of Valdez. That meant they had to cover 240 miles before continuing on to the town of Tok, where they planned on spending the night. So, they left hungry and in need of that eye opening coffee. Breakfast would be eaten in Valdez.
The Wrangell Mountain Range is on the left and also ahead. There was a mixture of some smaller mountains on the guy's right side most of the trip to Valdez. The Alaskan Pipeline was there too. The pipeline is over 800 miles long and stretches from Valdez to Prudhoe Bay. The guys were towards the north end of that pipeline several days ago when they traveled to the Arctic Circle.
Remember yesterday's tutorial about the Wrangell Mountains? Me either, let's review. The Wrangell Mountains are a high range of mountains located in eastern Alaska. They include 12 of the 40 plus Alaskan peaks that measure over 13,000 feet in elevation.
The thirteeners are: South Peak (13,654 ft), Atna Peaks (13,860 feet), Regal Mountain (13,845 feet), Mount Jarvis (13,421 feet), North Peak (13,025 feet), Parka Peak - at this height you probably need to wear a parka (13,280 feet), and Mount Zanetti (13,009 feet).
The really impressive sixteeners include: Mount Blackburn (16,390 feet), East Summit (16,286 feet), and Mount Sanford (16,237 feet). Whew, those towering piles of hardened volcanic magma sure have a way of making you feel pretty small and insignificant.
Two thirds of the way down to Valdez the fellas entered the Keystone Canyon. The tall sheer rock walls contain many waterfalls.
The guys stopped to take a look at the Bridal Veil Falls.
Ron standing in front of the Horse Tail Falls.
While traveling down Richardson Highways towards Valdez this glacier became visible.
That is the Worthington Glacier.
Valdez! Morning's quest - check! Source of coffee and breakfast - double check!
There were two separate Moose sightings on today's trip. The guys saw this little lady in the morning while making their way down to Valdez. They weren't so lucky as to get a photograph of the second moose of the day. To make up for that, this gal is posted twice!
And, she's outta here.
Valdez is the largest port in the Prince William Sound. The port is located at the southern portion of the Trans-Alaskan Pipeline System.
The oil tanker famous for the second largest oil spill in U.S. history, the Exxon Valdez which was then operated by Exxon, ran into the Bligh Reef in the Prince William Sound. (The tanker had six different names in her life time.) This oil spill occurred on March 24, 1989. The commonly accepted estimate of the total gallons of oil spilled in the accident was 11 million US gallons. Historically the spill was the 54th largest spill in the world. It has been reported that no oil made it into the port at Valdez. The Bligh Reef, the site of the spill, is 25 miles south of Valdez.
Every year that passes Prince William Sound continues to improve. Today, marine life flourishes, as does waterfowl, bottom fish and salmon runs.
Docked vessel in the Port of Valdez
After breakfast the guys were ready to head north out of Valdez. Fred wonders where everybody went?
Fred supervises the inspection process.
Once the group was out of the town of Valdez, back through the Keystone Canyon they stopped for gas. Luckily, David noticed something strange on Joe's bike. Further inspection revealed that the inner lip on the rear drive sprocket had broken off from the rest of the sprocket.
Fred jumps in to help make the necessary repairs.
Ron, Freddie and David quickly went to work on Joe's bike. They were able to adjust the wheel angle in order to make the belt run on the other side of the sprocket. Joe worked the phone. He called Edmonton Harley to locate p arts. The guys are 1,400 miles from Edmonton. They are hoping that Joe will be able to ride the bike there. They all will be keeping an eye on the situation.
Heading towards Tok.
The guys have noticed that a change in the terrain is becoming evident. The mountains are decreasing in size. There are larger areas of trees.
