Yes it was almost 6 weeks ago that I was in Valdez, but I’ve been busy. Now that winter approaches and I’m hunkering down in Fairbanks, I’ll have time to do some catch up posts and Valdez was too awesome a destination not to get its own post.
Valdez has it all, scenic beauty, an amazing boat harbor, bears and of course you get to see where the Alaska Pipeline ends 800 miles from Prudhoe Bay. It survived a major earthquake in 1964, well sort of, the old town site was destroyed and they had to move the city but it was completely rebuilt and is currently a thriving port, fishing village, tourist destination and oil town. I absolutely loved it!
Valdez Boat Harbor
These beautiful rabbits were running around all over the place
Industrial Valdez
The beautiful boat harbor again with Valdez’s amazing peaks in the background!
The very end of the Alaska Pipeline. Crude oil is being pumped into the tanker to be transported to a refinery in the lower 48
How is it possible for an oil tanker to look this beautiful? Might have something to do with the background!
Man and nature surviving together
This was the port at the old town site. They’ve left some of the equipment as a reminder of North America’s worst earthquake, 9.2 on the Richter scale
Ha! You didn’t actually think I’d forget about the bears did you? Not unless you haven’t been paying attention the last 18 months 🙂