After two border crossings, in and out of small section of Alaska in 24 hours, we headed back into Canada through Haines highway toward the Alaska highway to enter the mainland, Alaska. The night before entering Alaska, we camped at an extremely windy spot and decided to take shower the next morning in a freezing cold weather before our border crossing. As a result, when we crossed into Alaska, later the same day and camped next to a first small town in Alaska, called Tok, Amir started to feel sick.
We stayed at the same camp site for two days and were hoping that Amir will feel better soon. After almost 4 months on the road, that was the first time that one of us got sick.
After two days at Tok, we decided to start driving and take it easy for few days for Amir to fully recover. First stop on our road trip in Alaska was Valdez!
After an stunning drive, we arrived at Valdez, our first stop in Alaska. Driving the Alaskan roads for the first time, we couldn’t believe our eyes! On both sides of the road, there were so many beautiful glaciers and waterfalls with their contrast to the lush green mountains and there were great spots to camp with stunning views over glaciers.
We didn’t camp in higher altitudes, facing the glaciers, since it was too cold for someone who already had a bad flu. We enjoyed the view and camped by the beach on the outskirt of Valdez for two days, next to the beach. Views were still spectacular.
The road to Valdez is interesting. It receives so much snow in winter that till few decades ago, the city was completely cut off from the world for the winter months. In recent years, they clear the roads in winters but the area still receives a crazy amount of snow each winter. Comparing to Skagway, that we visited recently, it is a more laid-back town with its original charm since, it is not on the cruise ships routes. We enjoyed the town a lot! visited its museums, when the weather was rainy and enjoyed walking between fishing boats in their harbour and having a beer in the local bars.
Valdez was beautiful and painted an exact picture that I dreamed of A;laska! After seeing the photos of different destinations on social media, normally, it builds up a lot of expectations for the destinations and most of the time, when you arrive, in the same exact destination, your expectations are so high that the destination never meets your expectations. The views are not that stunning or it is too crowded or the flowers are not in full bloom.
But Valdez was a great first stop for us in Alaska. and engraved a great memory of Alaska in our hearts. There were other things in Alaska that disappointed us but Valdez wasn’t one of them.
We saw the real life of alaskans and had a chat with few locals. One of our unique interaction was with Ron! A nice old man who was living in his sailboat for a long time. Initially he bought it to sail around the world but due to his health issues, it never happened. Now he is living in it full time and grow vegetables on board with creative methods.
Valdez is also famous for fishing tourism. In the afternoon, chartered fishing boats were coming back and people were hanging their catch and take a photo. The prize catch in this area is the famous Halibut. And it definitely tastes great!
We haven’t tried the fishing charters, but will get to it a bit later.
After few days in and about Valdez, we had a short drive to the famous Salmon hatchery in Valdez. Watching the Salmon runs is one of the uniques events to experience in Alaska. We headed to the hatchery, where every year, millions of Salmons are coming back to, for laying their eggs. And of course, lots of sea lions and bears are waiting for them in the water! The views around the hatchery and the abundance of wildlife in the area was amazing. We arrived early in the morning and after visiting the hatchery, we saw a lot of locals fishing from the beach, not far away from the hatchery. We parked next to them and watched how they fish for a bit. Surprisingly they were catching a lot of salmons. We decided to try our luck too!
After few tries, a friendly local, gave us some tips and kindly borrowed us a right hook and after few tries, we had success!! Amir got our first Alaskan Salmon and shortly after that, the second one!!
We were so happy to get our first Salmons in Alaska and had a great local experience in Valdez.
And it brings us with some of our disappointments in Alaska.
A lot of activities, you see for Alaska, can not be done independently. You need to pay for it and you need to pay a lot of money!! Things like fishing Salmons or going to the sea for Halibut fishing are quite expensive. All the glaciers, you need to have a guide. We understand that tourism is a big part of Alaskan lifes in summer time but the prices are simply too expensive. We were super happy that had a real experience with locals. It made a great memory for us and of course fed us few amazing meals. It also proves that, there are still free authentic activities that can be done in Alaska.
We headed to Valdez glacier lake and made our first meal out of our salmons next to the lake with its stunning views and icebergs before heading to our next destination in Alaska.
In the next post, we’ll continue driving in Alaska,
Till then, Take care.
Elliot and Cindy Bialick
February 24, 2025 at 5:05pmHello Amir and Azadeh,
I delight in reading you periodic news and I am pleased that your trip seems to be be progressing with interest and not too much drama.
I corresponded with you briefly last year about the aluminium units that you had designed for your Land Cruiser. Since then I have bought a new LC 76 from Saudi which is presently going through UK registration. We have decided on a Cabover unit to provide a little more space than the TROOPY.
Just wondering how you are managing vehicle servicing and repairs as you travel through areas where the LC is not sold.
Best wishes to you both. Elliot
Amir
February 25, 2025 at 2:09pmHi Elliot thanks for your message, I do all my road maintenance on my own,
like Bearing re-grease and engine oil changes plus diff and transfer case and gearbox oil changes plus all filter changes on exact ODO schedule,
In some countries finding proper spec oil is little hassle which sofar I found what I need which I will write about correct oil type for VDJ78 and the countries I found them on our way.
I also carry lots of crucial spare parts with me, I have listed all important spare parts on our website post by below link:
If any serious workshop maintenance needed usually good Toyota mechanics could be found from travelers suggestions and they can do for you if needed but sofar we didn’t have any serious mechanical issue.
https://amirandazadeh.com/our-overlander-troopy/