Days 147 to 148: Iceberg straight ahead - Journey to the Columbia Glacier and the end of the pipeline in Valdez

After arriving in Valdez, we wanted to book a boat trip to the Columbia Glacier for the next day. We found out that all tours were already fully booked. So we decided to do the trip on Sunday (in two days). We didn't mind at all because bad weather was forecasted for Saturday. So we spent Saturday visiting the local museum about Valdez. A large part of the museum was dedicated to the oil tanker accident that happened about 50 years ago, which caused significant damage to nature and wildlife. To our astonishment, we discovered that this massive disaster no longer ranks among the 50 largest oil tanker accidents worldwide. After the museum, we parked at the library parking lot and worked on editing our photos and travel reports for the rest of the day. For the night, we camped in a remote location near the Valdez Glacier. From there, we had a beautiful view of a lake directly facing the small glacier. Near our campsite, there was an open shooting range, which is unimaginable in Germany - you can simply go there and shoot whatever you want.

On Sunday morning, we headed to the harbor where our six-hour boat trip to the Columbia Glacier and wildlife observation would begin at 11 o'clock. Right at the beginning of the trip, we were told that it was no problem to go up to the captain on the bridge. This then became my favorite spot for the rest of the trip because I could look outside perfectly without freezing my a** off. Unfortunately, this "secret tip" spread very quickly and the bridge became quite crowded at times. After about an hour on the boat, we were served a small soup and Oreo cookies for lunch. After another hour of sailing, passing sea lions, bald eagles, and sea otters, we reached the edge of the icefield. These icebergs are all broken pieces of the Columbia Glacier. From here, the captain slowed down and sailed at a slow speed, maneuvering around the ice floes and stopping about 2 kilometers from the edge of the glacier. The pictures don't do it justice, but the edge of the glacier rises about 60 meters out of the sea and is about 2 kilometers wide. We stayed here for a while to admire the view of the three tongues of this massive ice formation. Unfortunately, we didn't see the glacier calving at all. After that, we sailed through the ice floes and the Valdez Bay back to the harbor. Once we were back on solid ground, we drove for about an hour to a glacier. We camped for free in the parking lot with a beautiful view. We saw a hiking trail along the glacier that leads about 400 meters uphill. So we decided spontaneously that if the weather allowed, we would hike up there tomorrow...