RubiKon: Yukon Quest '09

Road to Valdez

We left Tok Alaska towards Valdez. The weather is looking to improve in the coming days. The first night we stayed in Porcupine Creek state park and road our bikes out onto the highway and enjoyed the sunset. One could barely see the tip of Mt Wrangell in the distance.

The next day we stopped to see the Alaska Pipeline. Yukon Johann thought it would be warm, but it is insulated pretty well. The fins you see are radiators to convect heat away from the supports. They are sitting in permafrost and the warm oil can melt it as it makes its way along the pipeline. The pipeline is not straight, but zigzags across Alasksa. It isn't tied down to any of the supports, but rather it rests on teflon bearings allowing it move as the warm oil is pushed through.
The view of Mt Wrangell (ovwer 14,000 ft), although never complete was neat to see as we drove along.
Thompson pass and the Worthington Glacier are very, very nice.Thompson pass is the most beautiful pass we've seen in Alaska.
Yukon Johann had to have a closer look and we climbed on top, under and below the Worthington Glacier.
That night we camped at Thompson pass and headed down to Valdez. We stopped at several waterfalls like teh one shown here.. known as Horsetail Falls.
We are looking to put our Kayaks in the water tommorow and go on a two day kayak trip into a bay and see the snout of the Shoup Glacier. The weather is supposed to clear up and get sunny. What little we can see, looks very beautiful. Stay tuned for more updates in a couple of days :-)