Mom's August 2009 visit took us to Cordova, a tiny fishing town whose motto is "No Road." As you probably guessed, you can't get there by road, only by plane or boat. We took the ferry from Whittier, where Gemma fed this cute reindeer.
Cordova is located in Orca Bay, a beautiful, quiet spot great for fishing, hiking, kayaking, and in the winter, heli-skiing. We stayed at Orca Adventure Lodge, a converted fish cannery that now provides lodging, excellent gourmet meals, equipment, guides, and very friendly people :) Our room is in the picture below, facing the stream and waterfall.
Local wildlife:
Mom in downtown Cordova.
50 miles upstream from the mouth of the Copper River (home of the world-famous salmon) is Childs Glacier. It frequently and spectacularly calves into the Copper River, providing outstanding entertainment even in cold, wet, rainy, typical Alaska weather. Interestingly, you can watch seals chase fish this far up the river. I guess this is how the freshwater seals of Russia's Lake Baikal got their start!
We spent a day paddling sea kayaks along the shore near our lodge, and enjoyed many beautiful waterfalls...
wildlife, such as otters, eagles, and shorebirds...
and salmon...Nice catch! And yes, mom paddled--she's good at it!
After a great time in the Cordova area we ferried to the town of Valdez. The marker in the picture below marks Bligh Reef, the place where the infamous Exxon Valdez ran aground.
I don't know if my photo captures it, but the streams in the area were just thick with spawning salmon. Very fun to watch!
We rounded out our trip by camping near the tiny town of McCarthy, and touring the Kennicott mine (pictured below).
Thus ends a great trip to parts of Alaska I had never visited before. Good times!
Michelle
