Monday, July 22, 2013 (Travel to Allison Point Campground, Valdez, AK)

I think our decision to spend the last couple of days in Tok was a good one...it was cool, cloudy and on Saturday it rained most of the day.  So, it was a good chance to get some work done and by this morning, the sunshine had come out...a great day to travel!

It was 9:25 a.m. as we pulled out of Tundra RV Park and taking Highway 1, known as the Tok Cutoff, we headed west.  Our destination is Valdez, AK 253 miles/407 kms...which according to Google Maps should take us 5 hours.  However, depending on the road conditions, it may take us longer...so we may end up overnighting it somewhere...we'll see how it goes.  We also like to stop hourly to put in the fifth-wheel's sliders that creep out (sheesh!)


The cloud cover started to thickened as we traveled west...we crossed the Tok River...


We actually thought we would be loosing the sunshine completely but before long it started clearing...

We stopped at a gravel turnout by a large pond.  The Milepost book says to watch for waterfowl...trumpeter swans frequent this area in the spring and fall (hmmm...this is July, guess we missed them) Apparently eighty percent of the world's population of trumpeter swans nest in Alaska...although they are outnumbered by the smaller tundra swans.

Mabel Creek...

Slana Slough...

We are getting views of some magnificent mountains in the distance.  What we couldn't get over was the vast flat valley below...I believe it is the Copper River Valley...

And what would our drive today be without road construction...at least this was a small portion...quite frankly, they could be doing a lot more road repair!!

Gakona Lodge & Trading Post...built in 1929, it replaced an earlier roadhouse built in 1904 known as Doyle's. It was an essential stopping point for travelers on the Valdez to Eagle and Valdez to Fairbanks trails...back in the day!

We stopped at a viewpoint that overlooks the valley of the Gakona and Copper rivers where they join...

Then we came to Gakona Junction...and a stop sign!  This is the end of the Tok Cutoff...we turned left (south) onto the Richardson Highway towards Valdez...

This is the Gulkana River...a very popular fishing spot...

Tonsina River...

We're really starting to get into the beautiful mountains now...

This fellow has found a nice camping spot by the edge of the river, I think he had a bit of a rough narrow road to access it though...

We passed two of these 'wide loads'...looks like bridge spans that had been shipped to Valdez and are now being transported to their destination...

The mountain views are getting absolutely stunning...

 Worthington Glacier...

Thompson Pass...

...and pulled over to take pictures...absolutely magnificent but as usual, the pictures just don't do justice to the beauty of the area...

Blueberry Lake...

Then there was a very long decent down into the valley...

Getting closer...only 22 miles to go...

 Lowe River...

Keystone Canyon...

Bridal Veil Falls (the third set of falls we have encountered on our travels with that name)...

...and more falls...

We arrived in Valdez shortly after 4:30 and after a drive through town, we saw a few RV parks that, although convenient to town, are just big gravel parking lots and very expensive ($35 to $40/night). So we decided to drive back around the inlet to Allison Point Campground which is on Dayville Road...

...and there it is...

It's nothing spectacular, other than the setting...backed right onto the inlet...and at $15/night (dry camping), it works for us! And we have stayed at private RV parks where we are much closer together and paid a lot more! There is also tank of drinking water on site.

 Steve went on top of the trailer to get some great pictures of the area...

 

 I think we got the last site that would fit us...whew!  After getting set up, we relaxed...inside...because the wind was just howling outside.  We had dinner and since the wind had subsided, we went for a walk.  There is an access trail down to the water where you can fish for salmon right from the shore!

Road report:
The first 40 km or so of highway from Tok are great but after that for the most part it was a very long bumpy ride. Very few bad spots are marked and those frost heaves and splits in the highway will sneak up on you no matter how careful you are. Our truck is rough riding at best so we hope that our trailer rides a little smoother. At least we didn't have to deal with dust and or mud today :)

Side note:  Forgot to mention the other day that when we arrived at the hotel in Dawson City they had a whiteboard on the wall with the weather forecast listing the sunset at 12:09 a.m. and sunrise at 4:49 a.m. Very cool...it never gets dark!