The Road to Valdez

After we left Homer, we decided to do a side trip to Valdez to check it out.  There were some incredible sites to see on the way to Valdez.

 

Here’s a semi up close and personal view of the Worthington Glacier.  I am really taken with glaciers and the thought that they’ve been around for so long.  And, this is another one that you can actually get really close to.

 

If you check out the lower right hand corner of this image, you can see how close you can get to this glacier.  Look for the red jacket!  The other thing this image does is give you a good perspective of how huge this glacier is!

 

Last winter, on the road we drove over, that was the only road going into the town of Valdez, an avalanche occurred. The road had to be dug out and there were some visible effects of the avalanche you can still see.  You can barely see the top of a tunnel in this image.  It’s almost buried!  The good news is that this tunnel seems to be an old train tunnel and isn’t used any longer.

 

This is really cool that looks a bit odd.  You can see the waterfalls in the upper left corner of the image.  That’s the water that’s flowing out the lower right corner of the image.  The tunnel is not made of rock or stone – it’s the snow from the avalanche!!  And, the green on top is grass showing thru where the snow has melted.  This is really a rather amazing image!

 

Another really pretty sight was the Bridal Veil Falls that flowed right next to the road.  I got over on an angle on the shoulder of the road so that I could capture some of the outward flow of the water as it came over the various rock ledges.

 

As I looked at the falls, I decided to focus on just one tiny area of the falls, a series of mini-falls, if you will.  Look at the cool abstract pattern made by the water flowing.  I slowed down my shutter speed as much as I could and still have a hand-held shot come out clear and in focus so that the pattern is more visible.

 

Here’s another close up of one portion of the Falls, where you can really see how the water sort of shoots out from the rock wall.  It really gives you an idea of how fast that water is flowing.  This is not some gentle lazy peaceful waterfall.  This is a waterfall that means business!

Enjoy!