Wayne’s trip to Valdez, Alaska

Sunday, August 21st Wayne boarded a plane to Anchorage, Alaska from Austin, Texas.  He met his brother, Leslie, there and the two of them spent the night.  On Monday they rented a car and drove to Valdez.    They stopped along the way to take pictures of a glacier.  One was from the top
 
and one from the road below.

They also stopped to take pictures of some waterfalls.  Here is Leslie taking a picture.

And here is a better view of the waterfall.

Here is a different waterfall along the way.

On arrival in Valdez, they met up with George and Sandra, friends from Anchorage.  George and Sandra had brought their RV and boat down for the week to take Wayne and Leslie out fishing.
On Tuesday, Wayne and Leslie met up with George  to go out in George’s boat to fish for salmon.  Wayne took some pictures of an eagle on the shore eating a fish

and of a waterfall from the boat. 
 
It was a poor fishing day and after losing more fish than they caught, they came back in.
They did a little sightseeing to pass the time.
 
Wednesday proved to be a much better day.  They caught 10 fish.  Here is Leslie trying to hold up the stringer.

And here they are in the wheelbarrow that you take them up to the cleaning stations in. 

Wayne and Leslie took Thursday off and went to the Earthquake Museum and out to the area where the fish hatchery is.  They were lucky enough to see a bear eating a salmon.
 
One of the unique things about this area is that the hatchery is located next to this waterfall.

The water from the waterfall flows through the hatchery and then out into the river and the bay.  When fish enter the river trying to go back to their birthplace they obviously encounter obstacles.
Nets are placed along the river to block the flow of most of the fish.  The ones that go around go into the hatchery to breed.   The others die in the net.
 
Wayne also saw this eagle in a tree.
 
Wayne and Leslie also went to the viewing pond nearer to Valdez.  When we were there three years ago there weren’t any fish in the pond but there were this time.

This is Leslie at the viewing area.

Friday they went out fishing again.     They had company in this seal that decided to join them.

This is a glacier that you can see from the water.

Here it is from a distance.

While on the water they saw the fast ferry to Whittier.

The seal was competing with the fishermen for fish and he was successful some of the time.  He took this one away from the woman who had caught it.

This was Friday’s catch.

They fished again on Saturday.  After they got back Wayne took a picture of some of the many rabbits that were wandering around Valdez.

Sunday was the last day they fished with George.  The only picture taken was of the beautiful scenery.

Monday they went out early on a halibut fishing trip.  Wayne caught a 30 lb halibut and a 40” ling cod.  Leslie caught a 45 lb halibut pictured here. Oops, I goofed.  It was 70 lbs.

Tuesday they were up bright and early to catch the slow ferry to Whittier.  After they arrived they drove to this waiting area.  The cars, etc. wait here to enter the tunnel that is the shortcut to Anchorage.
 
The tunnel is a train tunnel and every hour they open it for 15 minutes for vehicular traffic.

They turned in the rental car and waited to board their respective flights.  Leslie took back 125 lbs of fish on his flight to Denver and Wayne had his shipped since he had a long layover in Houston.
Both had a wonderful time and we will be eating fish for a long time.  Thanks again to George and Sandra for their wonderful hospitality.