Another perfect day,

 We left the Keystone Inn in Valdez around 11am. The hotel was built as a staging center and housing for Exxon after the Valdez oil spill in 1989.  We headed out for a late lunch and ended up at No Name Pizza  in the middle of town. We started talking to a local guy who works at a oil spill response center. He ended up paying for our pizza just for being out -of-towners. Great guy. The three others showed up and we all had lunch together and discussed the days plans. Kevin and I decided to head out early and look for some good photo spots. The other three went in  search of some dirt to ride in. Kevin found the Valdez glacier, fought off the bugs and moved on.  We could only drive back on the one road that we came in on, so we knew what to look for. We got to the top of the Thompson Pass and I decided to get adventurous and take a tiny dirt trail out to the edge of a cliff. The road was very rocky and bumpy with some mud puddles. The feeling of freedom I had was very refreshing. I rode out to a cliff that dropped about 2000 feet. I was alone and it felt nice.  I rode back over to Kevin after a few minutes and we took some more photos. We got back on the paved road and carried on the go see Worthington Glacier. I was able to hike up to the end of the icy cliff and stick my head inside. It really is impressive how much earth is changed from such a slow moving chunk of ice. Truly amazing.

We carried on and didn't have far to go until our campsite. We pulled in and the other guys were there waiting. The bugs here are numerous and huge. Now we are all sitting in the bar with our computers out and extension cords strung all over the place. We made ourselves at home.

                                   Low clouds in Valdez









                                   My freedom trail
                                   Worthington Glacier
                                                Ice water




                                   Home sweet home

Wow what a day! We left our campsite in Palmer this morning and stopped for a quick breakfast. At the Noisy Goose restaurant. Nice place with good eggs benedict. After eating we got gas and air then hit the road. We headed north east to a small town named Glenallen. We met up with the other three guys at a small restaurant on the side of the road. We were finished eating when they showed up so we decided to push on and try catching the good light as we passed over Thompson Pass on the way to Valdez. After about ten miles the ride became more beautiful than ever. More snow covered mountains popped up as we climbed into the hills. We passed the Trans-Alaskan Pipeline a couple of times only getting a peak. As we climbed into the Thompson pass at almost 2800 feet, the temperature dropped from 68, to 44 degrees. We stopped at the highest point to snap some photos before heading down into Keystone Canyon. The canyon was full of huge waterfalls and really high cliff walls on both sides of the road. We would stop at a nice water fall to take a photo, put gloves back on remount and then drive around the corner and see another. We would get off again and repeat several times. At one point we stopped to see an old railroad tunnel cut into the mountain that was never finished. The road flattened out when we entered Valdez showing the sea with an overcast sky and mountian backdrop. We rode to the end of the main street and found a funny looking metal hotel that had a nice room with three beds for us. We are about to go to the Mexican restaurant for dinner. Mexican two night in a row might be a mistake but I only live once. Enjoy the pictures. Curty
                                   Horse Friends


                                   Glacier in the distance
                                   Way too many RV'ers in this region.


                                   Contrasting rock color





                                   Lots of "Lupine" around here in summer




                                   Quizno at 2700 feet