Primitive Camping, I think they call it.

7/27/2013

Lynn: Last night we had nowhere to stay but a tiny state campground called Liberty Falls Recreation Area.  It was in a pretty spot, adjacent to a waterfall, but cold and damp.  The ground was wet even though the day was sunny, and it was very difficult to camp there. 

 This is a state campground.  Its only amenity is an outhouse.  I must say, and I know I don't know anything about Alaska political history, but it seems to me that Alaska made a lot of money from the oil here.  I would think that the state government would have been awash in tax dollars.  However, they have done nothing to make this a place that is comfortable for tourists.  Michigan has clean, modern rest areas about every 40 miles.  Alaska has outhouses that they euphemistically call rest areas, even at their state areas such as the one at Thompson Pass where they have an interpretive center regarding the glaciers.

 Randy: I hate to say this because Alaska is so beautiful but I really am getting tired of the rip-off that Alaska is.  I understand price goes up when the tourist is in town, and I understand that I am one of those tourist animals to prey on.  It is not just a bit high priced or a lot high price, it is outrageously expensive!  Bottle of Pepsi is $2.50; ice pretty much is about $4.00 for a small bag; gas in Valdez is $4.50 (probably the best buy we have seen).  We were going to go to Seward to take a boat through the fjords but rooms are just ridiculous…Holiday Inn Express is $270.00/night and the Best Western is $325.00 and they are all in that range…so I think the fjords are not going to be for us.  The room prices everywhere are very high and it does not reflect a nice place to stay..these motels, for the most part are just adequate lodging, often some old somewhat renovated building.  Well, enough of that stuff…

We are in Valdez and the Pink Salmon are in!  My God are they in!  We went to a weir today on Prince William Sound; you know, the place where Exxon dumps its oil. At the mouth of the river there are millions of salmon trying to get into a closed river.  Fishing for them…they don’t feed at this point so force feeding.  The lady at the RV park we are staying in said you just kind of pull a spoon with a big treble hook through the salmon and you get one…she told me red spoons work the best…when I think about this it seems that spoon color probably is not as critical as the rod twitch you develop.  It seems like we use to do this in the dark and referred to it as snagging.

There are lots of people