It’s pronounced Val-deeez. Just saying, lol. The drive out of McCarthy was bumpy but uneventful. When we go to Chitna, at the fork of the Chitina and Copper Rivers, we stopped at the ranger station to exercise the dogs and get another Wrangall stamp. Kathy struck up a conversation with the Ranger and learned a bit more about the area. Turns out that log cabin is about the only structure in Chitna that has not burned down.
We continued on to the post office to mail some post cards and make a quick lunch. The 30 miles out of the copper river valley to the Richardson Highway was quick. From there we turned left and headed towards Valdez (Val-deeez that is) and this section of the highway is breathtaking as it winds up the canyons, over a pass, and down into the coastal valley. Waterfalls, rivers, snowcapped peaks are on both sides.
We stopped at the pass and hiked to the bottom of the Worthington Glacier. The funny thing about glaciers is that they are covered in debris and hiking around them is challenging and dangerous. We watched small boulders tumbling down where we were trying to hike and decided this was not a great idea. We did get to see the river emanating from the bottom though.
We continued across Thomson Pass and down the road into Valdez (did you say it,? Val-deez) where we stopped to view Bridal and Horsetail Falls. So beautiful. We made it into town, stopped at the post office to mail some more postcards, and then I almost caused an accident at an intersection that I thought was 4-way. Turns out it was only 3-way which is weird. Oh well; tourists. We headed up to grab a free camping spot up mineral canyon. Camped in a nice pull off next to a waterfall on horsetail creek (different creek). Sounds like our back yard, only louder. We lit a fire and hung out while the logs were converted to ash.
Here are some more images from the day. https://www.overlandadventureexcursions.com/photos-albums/nggallery/album/20250718-mccarthy-to-valdez