Back Blip - Valdez

Morning in Valdez was calm, not a wisp of wind and the sea was a mill pond. The sea mist, with the mountains coming right down to the bay make it the most eerily beautiful place I have ever been. 

After a walk around the ruins of the old town, destroyed by an earthquake in 1964, we found a Subway, marvelled at how they had all the usual, fresh ingredients, and armed with our packed lunch we set off north. We stopped at a deserted camp site for lunch, and were too scared to leave the car for fear of being eaten by a bear....

We stayed overnight at a place called Copper Centre for an afternoon, allegedly, of gentle hiking. It was beautiful, with a view across the valley to the Wrangell Mountains, but the numerous warning signs about bears, along with the sale of bear spray in the gift shop, curtailed our hiking a bit. The hotel was kind of The Shining, but the food was excellent. My concern with bears led me to forget the more probable risks, and be slack with the mosquito repellent. That was something that was going to come back and literally bite me!