A little of everything

The two bears with Mount McKinley in the backgound - we will share better pics of the mountain later




View of Independence Mine - an abandoned important mining operation located in the Hatcher Pass (Glenn Highway). This also the headwaters of the Sutsina River where I hooked my first king salmon but could not landed after 5 minutes struggling with my 5w rod (too light for this over 12 pound fish)
Visited the Musk Ox Farm on our way to Palmer











Camped at the most incredible place called Blueberry Lake Recreation Area. It sits at the bottom of a plateau surrounded by these beautiful mountains. Camped for 3 days at two different sites. The first one by the lake (where, by the way, I caught 8 graylings). The second site was at the start of a trail leading to the plateau with a 360 degree view of the surrounding peaks.









You can barely see Daria at the site of the second day
Interesting looking duck at the Blueberry Lake (Barrow's Goldeneye) - One day he was fooling around with a female and sort of causing trouble with my fishing!








The drive from Blueberry Lake to Valdez is breathtaking - watch the local "cowboy" with his pistol!













The city of Valdez (still remembered from the oil spill by the Exxon Valdez in 1989) was named in 1790 by a Spanish explorer (how about that!). Today is a central point of the oil industry as the trans-Alaska pipeline that starts 800 miles in Prudhoe Bay ends at the marine terminal at Port Valdez. The fishing industry is also another major source of their economy, both commercial and sport. Halibut fishing is really big.






Daria will follow with more details - I think we are plaaning to come back soon!!