Valdez Things to Do

I've always loved otters, both river otters and sea otters. What a fun-loving animal.

In the Alaskan oceans the sea otters get plenty plump as they spend most of the day dining on tasty crustaceans. They consume about a quarter of their body weight daily. That computes to some ten pounds of sea food. I'd like to see you walk about to the counter at a Red Lobster and ask for ten lbs of prawns and then gobble them down. So yes, you must not only admire their carefree attitudes, but also their voracious appetites.

What a life. Lying on your back all day, eating the bounty of the sea and when you've had your fill, there are countless otter companions with whom you can wrestle around.

Whale watching can be tedious--but I also find it oddly exilerating. Basically, this is the scenario: You catch sight of a black speck in the distance. The captain guns the motor and steers towards the point the whale was last seen. You look at the point where the whale was last seen and then someone catches sight of it 180 degrees in the opposite direction. The captain guns the boat for the point where the whale last went down and you wait around again for another five or ten minutes.

However, there is something thrilling when the captain has cut the motor and the whale surfaces within a few hubdred yards. The roar of the ocean parting so that the great animal can catch a few breaths is like no other experience in the world. I can only imagine the thrill of a full breach by a creature as large and magnificent as the humpback.

In our case, we saw several flukes, which is the whale showing its tail as it goes down for perhaps a ten to fifteen minute dive.

By the way, whales eat mostly krill, plankton and extremely small fish. It couldn't choke down a sea otter if it wanted to. Amazingly enough, a humpback can go through two tons of krill in a day. The Alaskan seas are just teeming with life.

When I visited Valdez in 2002, there were 2 main kayak rental/outfitting companies: Pangaea and Anadyr. They were both located on Harbor Drive facing small boat harbor, only a few doors from one another. They were about the same size, both run by people who love kayaking and familiar with Prince William Sound. My kayaking trip was with Anadyr and I had a wonderful time. The cost for a 1 day kayaking trip to Columbia Glacier was $185 in 2002, including a guide and the boat ride to the Glacier with kayaks and all equipment. Lunch not included. Just checked their websites and they seemed to continue to do well. These are their websites...

www.pangaeaadventures.com
www.anadyradventures.com

The photo shows our group preparing to launch the kayaks into the icy water near Columbia Glacier. At the time we had already paddled a couple of hours in the morning, and just finished lunch on a moraine island.

How close the kayaks can get to the Glacier depends on the tide and the experience of the guide. The water in front of Columbia Glacier is filled with moraine rocks which become islands at low tide, as shown in photo. Some areas are too shallow even for kayaks. So we waited for the tide to rise, then the guide took us through the waterway.

Valdez is located in the heart of Prince William Sound, and Columbia Glacier is the Sound's crown jewel. The Glacier has been retreating fast in the last decade, filling miles of ocean with calved ice. It's no longer easily visible from ferry or cruise ships. Even the smallest motorboats or kayaks cannot get you a close-up view. But you can leave your kayak on moraine island and take a hike. Enlarge the photo and you can see the face of Columbia Glacier at the far side which is about 3 miles wide.

Prince William Sound is abundant in marine life, and kayaking is the best way to enjoy them. Kayak is small, quiet, and non-intrusive. You get to see marine life at sea level.

While kayaking in Prince William Sound, we were followed by a few sea otters. These cute little guys were highly curious, a sign of intelligence. They sneaked out of water to peak at us, nibbled at our rudder, then submerged quickly (see sea otter in travelogue).

Valdez's small boat harbor is the center of activities in town. There are all kinds of fun you can choose: ocean kayaking, glacier sightseeing, charter fishing, etc. It's also a busy harbor for commercial fishing.

Or just take a stroll along the boardwalk and enjoy the beautiful surroundings. As seen in photo, mountains around Valdez are snow capped even in summer. Behind the harbor there's a small hill where you can walk up and get a bird's eye view towards the harbor and town.

Columbia Glacier is the 2nd largest tide-water glacier in north America. After years of rapid retreat, it deposited a large amount of rocks and earth (moraine) on the ocean bed in front of it, miles wide and miles long. At low tide the moraine exposes and becomes islands covered with chunks of icebergs.

You may leave your kayak on the island beach and hike a little. But watch out for the tide. Alaska has one of the highest tide ranges in the world. Within a short hour, you may have to drag your kayak a few hundred yards back into the ocean, or the tide has come up taking away your kayaks.