Valdez Glacier
The posted coordinates will get you near a parking area at the Valdez Glacier Lake. Please feel free to find a good spot for a picture of your group near the lake/glacier. Near here, you will be able to view several features of the Glacier and the surrounding area. Take the picture needed anywhere you would like, make sure the glacier or the lake area are in the background.
Valdez is a small city know as "little Switzerland" It is nestled in a glacial fjord, called the port of Valdez, surrounded by towering mountain peaks. Valdez is a self sustained town of about 4200 residents, with grocery stores, gas stations, hotels, bed &breakfasts, restaurants, museums, a hospital, schools, many shops, and an airport. The small boat harbor is a great place to watch the fishing boats and kayaks head out into Prince William Sound.
Valdez and the surrounding Chugach Mountains are home to hundreds of glaciers. There are 5 magnificent and accessible glaciers: the Columbia, Meares, Shoup, Worthington and Valdez Glaciers. VALDEZ GLACIER is located on the outskirts of the town of Valdez and is full of amazing history. It was known as the All American Route by gold seekers looking to head over the glacier and into the interior of Alaska during the Gold Rush of 1898. The glacier begins almost at the edge of the sound and it extends in generally a northern direction for about 15 miles to its summit where it reaches a height of 5140 feet, and crosses over the range it runs down on the north slope of the coast range for a distance of about 10 miles.
1964
The geological story of Prince William Sound and Columbia Bay begins off the coast of northern California some sixty million years ago when rain and floods, freezing and thawing eroded the continental landscape. Rivers carried loads of sediments seaward depositing them on the edges of a deep, submarine canyon. Periodic earthquakes dislodged the mud and boulders, sending massive turbidity currents-a slurryof mixed water and sediments-cascading down the canyon walls to spread out in a fan below. Partial subduction of these unconsolidated sediments slowly transformed them into sedimentary rocks. Turbidites from this period occur along the western shore of Columbia Bay. Prince William Sound with its 3,000 miles of shoreline is surrounded by the Chugach Mountains to the east, west and north. Fifty-mile long Montague Island and several smaller islands form natural breakwaters between the Sound and the Gulf of Alaska. Between the barrier islands stretch underwater sills separating the Sound's deep waters from the much shallower waters of the Gulf. Deep water renewal occurs during the winter when cold winds from interior Alaska cool the surface waters causing them to sink, while the warmer bottom water rises to the surface bringing rich nutrients which support huge plankton blooms in the spring. Millions of years of glaciation gradually carved away a coastal plateau creating the sound with its many tributary fiords and passageways, islands and rocky shores. Fewer than 10,000 people live in the three towns-Whittier, Valdez, and Cordova- and two native villages-Chenega and Tatitlek situated on the shores of the Sound. Because the Sound was formed by millions of years of glaciation, its shorelines are heavily indented by deep fiords and many smaller bays. No roads connect these communities. To see a map showing Alaska and the location of Prince William Sound, go to: http://www.pwssc.gen.ak.us/maps/pws.webmap.html
GOOD FRIDAY EARTHQUAKE
On March 27, 1964 (Good Friday), disaster struck Alaska. At 5:36 in the evening, an earthquake lasting over four minutes and registering 9.2 on the Richter Scale struck 45 miles west of Valdez. The quake triggered an underwater landslide, which in turn created several tremendous waves. The first waves washed away the Valdez waterfront and drowned the 30 people who had been standing on the dock. Three men on the steamer Chena, which had been tied to the dock, also died. In all of Alaska, 114 people died as a result of the earthquake.
1989
EXXON VALDEZ OIL SPILL
On March 24, 1989 (another Good Friday), the tanker Exxon Valdez struck Bligh reef, approximately 25 miles outside of Valdez, causing the largest oil spill in North American history and thrusting Valdez into the national spotlight again. During the months following the spill, the population of Valdez grew to almost 10,000 as cleanup workers, reporters, and state and federal employees streamed into town. As a result of the spill, thousands of birds, sea otters, and other wildlife died, and hundreds of miles of beach were oiled. Crews worked all that summer and fall and into the next year, cleaning the beaches and rescuing animals.
PRESENT DAY
Today, the population of Valdez is approximately 4,200. Its residents are mainly employed by the city, the oil industry, winter and summer tourism, fishing, or transportation and shipping.
VISITOR INFORMATION: The Valdez Visitor Information Center is located at the corner of Fairbanks Drive and Chenega Avenue and is open year round. For additional information on meetings and conventions, group tour needs, or visitor activities and services please call, 907-835-4636
To get credit for this cache e-mail chiefsfan19 the answer to the following questions:
1. What shape valley does a glacier carve?
2. Estimate the distance across from left bank to right bank of the Glacier.
3. Post a picture of yourself or group with the glacier at your back.(Optional)