Our plan for the day had been to loaf in Tok and head down to Valdez on Saturday but the weather forecast this morning was for a great day but showers for the weekend so we packed up and headed southwest.
The trip to Tok is 258 miles, 125 on the Glenn Highway (Tok Cutoff) and 128 on the Richardson Highway from Glennallen to Valdez down the Copper River Canyon and over Williams Pass through the Chugach Mountain Range into Valdez. It turned out to be a beautiful day right to the top of Williams Pass where we ran into fog and drizzle so it was a good decision.
The Copper River winds its way to the sea through the west edge of the Wrangell-St Elias National Park and Preserve, largest of our national parks, where the Wrangell, Chugach, and St Elias ranges converge and produce the largest number of glaciers and peaks over 16,000 feet in on the continent including the second highest peak in North America, Mt St Elias at 18,003’. Referred to as the “Mountain Kingdom of North America” the Park offers breathtaking scenery.
As we followed the Copper River Mt St Elias became visible in the distance across the Copper Valley partially obscured by smoke from forest fires out on the Kenai Peninsula. 
Further down the valley the Chugach Mountains come into view and as we started the climb to Williams pass the first of several glaciers are also visible. 
We ran into the clouds and drizzle just as we reached the summit of the pass and that weather continued down to Valdez. 
Coming down off the pass the runoff from the glaciers and melting snow pack create a myriad of waterfalls including Bridal Veil Falls (Another One) in the Keystone Canyon. 
The runoff ends up in the Lowe River flowing through Keystone Canyon which is slate gray in color as a result of the glacier water. 
Coming out of the canyon the river empties into the beginnings of Prince William Sound. On the south side of the Sound is the Alyeska Pipeline Terminal where the crude pumped from the North Slopes at Prudhoe Bay is pumped into tankers bound throughout the Pacific Rim. 
We are staying at the Sea Otter RV Park on the waterfront next to the harbor in Valdez. The namesakes of the campground have been busily eating mussels just offshore in front of the motorhome. Directly across from us is the pipeline terminal where a small tanker just arrived.
The inlet to the harbor is just to our right and the fishing fleet has been returning to port as it is Friday night.
After dinner we went for a walk around the park and noticed that across the street is the Peter Pan Seafood Co with a sign for seafood for sale. We went over and purchased seven pounds of Copper River Sockeye ($5.75/lb and a pound of halibut ($10.00/lb). We will get more salmon before we leave as Copper River is Sue’s favorite and get more Halibut when we get to Homer where Jeff plans on going on a halibut charter. The prices are great even if the freight is a little high!We will be here until Monday morning when we take the 8:00AM ferry to Whittier out on the Kenai Peninsula.
