June 12, 2008
After fueling ourselves (Italian in Cordova) and the planes (AvGas at the float dock) we took off from Cordova under clear skies and followed the coastline north and through a narrow inlet to Valdez. Port Valdez is a spectacular mountain-rimmed cove, and it's the northernmost port which remains free of ice throughout the winter. 
Valdez
Oil tanker terminal at Port of ValdezThe tanker port is on the south side of the inlet. Oil storage tanks are perched up on the slope marking the southern terminus of the Trans Alaska Pipeline. It looked pretty quiet down there, just a couple smaller ships in the harbor.
On the other side of the bay is the town of Valdez. Apart from oil, wildlife and the enduring lesson that the two don't mix, Valdez is also well known for the annual STOL contest where bush pilots vie for the greatest accuracy and shortest takeoff and landing distances. It's held the first week of May every year and winning pilots will take off within one hundred feet and land within two. That's shorter than a lot of driveways, when you think about it...
On the other side of the bay is the town of Valdez. Apart from oil, wildlife and the enduring lesson that the two don't mix, Valdez is also well known for the annual STOL contest where bush pilots vie for the greatest accuracy and shortest takeoff and landing distances. It's held the first week of May every year and winning pilots will take off within one hundred feet and land within two. That's shorter than a lot of driveways, when you think about it...
Anyhow, we decided to stop in and set down (using about 500' of runway) and happened to pull up right next to another GlasAir. The owner/builder was tweaking the electronics in his plane and was happy to see us drop in. It’s nice to catch up with other pilots on the ground, there’s always a lot to talk about, and all the more so between pilots who’ve built airplanes. We traded stories with the GlasAir pilot for a while: winter conditions, snow and plowing, mountain flying, building, breaking and re-building airplanes… until we got antsy and had to get back in the air again.
The low coastal layer that had nearly socked us out yesterday had completely burned off. This afternoon was clear, blue and sunny - visibility unlimited. The air was cool and stable (no turbulence) a perfect day for exploring.
As we flew back out of Port Valdez, we got distracted by a glacier. We veered off into Shoup Bay for a closer look and some photos.
Shoup Bay
A quick tour and we popped out heading SW into Prince William Sound. The islands and inlets of the sound are just beautiful. In many ways we were reminded of the islands in northern Puget Sound. Little moss-covered islets with a tree or two on them. Larger islands with a cabin or a small settlement. The occasional airstrip. Rocky shores with a very occasional beach. The water very deep and clear - like Prussian Blue straight out of the tube.
Little icebergs bobbing in the water led us to the Columbia Glacier – a vast expanse of blue ice falling into the Sound. Of course we had to go check it out.
Columbia Glacier as it meets Prince William Sound
The glacier is so huge that there wasn’t much rising terrain to worry about – we weren’t likely to get pinched in a narrow valley – the ice was a broad sheet that climbed up and looked to overwhelm the mountains behind it. It topped out at 8,000ft and ran clear down to the sea.
We spent a half hour flying over the ice fields. The crevasses we so big they could have easily swallowed us up without a trace. Seriously.
Columbia Glacier as it meets Prince William SoundThe glacier is so huge that there wasn’t much rising terrain to worry about – we weren’t likely to get pinched in a narrow valley – the ice was a broad sheet that climbed up and looked to overwhelm the mountains behind it. It topped out at 8,000ft and ran clear down to the sea.
flying up the Columbia Glacier
We spent a half hour flying over the ice fields. The crevasses we so big they could have easily swallowed us up without a trace. Seriously.
following the 180 over the glacier
not a good place for an emergency, especially in a white aircraft
We chased the 180 around for awhile, maneuvering and snapping photos. They chased us around. This was good challenging flying. And the fact that the 180 is a white aircraft with a blue stripe made keeping it in our sights even tougher. We got some amazing photos, though. And our minds were thoroughly blown by the scale and the raw beauty of the place.
At the foot of the glacier icebergs collected in the Sound. They looked like jewels. Clear turquoise, emerald green, and deep blue ice lit up by the sun. They were enormous. We have one photo that captured a group of kayakers threading their way around the chum ice near a big berg. The camera caught what we were to high up to see, and we love this photo for reminding us of the unimaginable scale of that landscape.
At the foot of the glacier icebergs collected in the Sound. They looked like jewels. Clear turquoise, emerald green, and deep blue ice lit up by the sun. They were enormous. We have one photo that captured a group of kayakers threading their way around the chum ice near a big berg. The camera caught what we were to high up to see, and we love this photo for reminding us of the unimaginable scale of that landscape.
icebergs from the Columbia Glacier
kayakers exploring the ice200 photos later we were winding our way across Prince William Sound again, west towards Portage Pass at Whittier. The Kenai mountains tumbled away to the southwest. The Chugach range was on our right to the north. Down below there was a pretty active fishing fleet working the sound from Wells Passage to Eaglek Bay. Port Wells was another astounding bay leading to College Fiord. Narrower and steeper than the Columbia, here glaciers tumbled down steep slopes lining both sides of the fiord. Were it not for fuel, we could spend all day flying here.
Portage Pass is a narrow cut between two mountains and leads directly to the Turnagain Arm of Cook Inlet. The high-speed ferry from Cordova brings passengers here where they can then drive north to Anchorage or south down the Kenai Peninsula.
approaching Portage PassPortage pass is high, narrow and winding. The road below runs through the narrow valley until it's forced to tunnel through the mountains. Up above, winds were tossing spindriff off the peaks of the Kenai mountains.
On the other side we were suddenly in a wide protected bay. The Turnagain Arm is relatively shallow and tides are pretty extreme – the tidal range has a mean of 30’ and spring incoming tides can create a tidal bore up to 6’ high traveling at 15 mph. The only road between Anchorage and the Kenai Peninsula runs along the north side of the bay. On the south side the road cuts through the mountains rather than across the mudflats and swamps that characterize the lowlands.
Turnagain Arm of the Cook Inlet
Turnagain Arm of the Cook InletWe were flying over those swamps now, having turned southwest for Soldatna. This was new terrain for us. Lots of little lakes, glistening puddles, few trees where it was really wet, forests where it had dried out some. Apparently they’ve got some great fishing down there. The Kenai range followed us on our left. It was overcast on this side of the mountains and the light was pretty flat. It didn’t do much for the mountains, but it brought out the textures of the rivers and marshes.
low tide at the Turnagain armAfter 3 hours in the air we landed at Soldatna for fuel and fit right in. The tarmac is filled with taildraggers. Cessna 180’s and Supercubs dominate, with a few Beavers, Maules and Citabria rounding out the population. We'd hoped to meet up with another friend of a friend here but Gary was out flying for a few days. So we took a tip from one of the folks on the field on a place to spend the night. We took off and headed to Seldovia, south of Homer on the southern arm of the peninsula.
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