Alaska's Bearfoot Magazines: Valdez: Bidarkas -- small boats that were used by coastal Natives -- looked a lot like these new, plastic kayaks. The kayak is one of those great northern inventions.
Alaska's Bearfoot Magazines: Valdez: Blue water, blue sky, and snowcapped peaks of the nearby Chugach Mountains, even during the summer make Valdez Harbor a wonderful place to visit.
Alaska's Bearfoot Magazines: Valdez: Fishermen, sportsmen, and people who just love the sea keep their boats at the Valdez Harbor city docks.
Alaska's Bearfoot Magazines: Valdez: Local glacier and wildlife-viewing charters at the Valdez docks, ready to take travelers out into Prince William Sound.
Alaska's Bearfoot Magazines: Valdez: You can learn about what to do in the Chugach National Forest at the Valdez visitor center at the entrance to town on the Richardson Highway.
Alaska's Bearfoot Magazines: Valdez: Cutting a halibut on the Valdez docks. The docks have running water to clean fish.
Alaska's Bearfoot Magazines: Valdez: Halibut are large, white-fleshed fish that are caught in Valdez Harbor, along with salmon.
Alaska's Bearfoot Magazines: Valdez: Evening summer light on the Valdez docks bring a glow to a local fishing boat.
Alaska's Bearfoot Magazines: Valdez: You can watch the salmon spawn in Crooked Creek the high-tech way -- on a television through an undercover camera at the Chugach Vistor Center.
Alaska's Bearfoot Magazines: Valdez: The fishing is great in Valdez, Alaska. Travelers show their day's catch.
Alaska's Bearfoot Magazines: Valdez: A beautiful seaside Alaska town -- accessible by road, ferry and air service. Seagulls gobble up fish carcasses from cleaning tables on the dock.
Alaska's Bearfoot Magazines: Valdez: Salmon spawning at Crooked Creek, outside the Chugach National Forest Visitor Center in Valdez.
Alaska's Bearfoot Magazines: Valdez: Stop at the salmon spawning overlook at Crooked Creek as you enter Valdez on the Richardson Highway.
Alaska's Bearfoot Magazines: Valdez: Successful fishermen return from the docks of Valdez Harbor after cleaning their catch.
Alaska's Bearfoot Magazines: Valdez: Allison Point, across the bay from the city of Valdez, is a popular place to fish for salmon at high tide.
Alaska's Bearfoot Magazines: Valdez: During the 1898 Alaska Gold Rush, miners didn't want Canadian mounties to monitor them, so they entered Alaska by way of Valdez -- "The All American Route."
Alaska's Bearfoot Magazines: Valdez: The port city of Valdez is the terminus of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline, starting in Prudhoe Bay. The first oil came through the pipe in the summer of 1977.
Alaska's Bearfoot Magazines: Valdez: The "Perry" was built in 1939, survived the Great Alaska Earthquake, and then worked on the cleanup of the Exxon Valdez. It's in front of the Valdez Museum.
Alaska's Bearfoot Magazines: Valdez: Crooked Creek waterfall and small overlook trail.
Alaska's Bearfoot Magazines: Valdez: Kids are in put in a rolling "jail" during Valdez's summer carnival, Gold Rush Days.
Alaska's Bearfoot Magazines: Valdez: A tugboat in Prince William Sound near Valdez. (Photo, PK & Julia)
Alaska's Bearfoot Magazines: Valdez: Schooner in Valdez small boat harbor. (Photo, PK & Julia)
Alaska's Bearfoot Magazines: Valdez: Even tourists are successful catching salmon in Valdez. You can have it processed and shipped locally back home.
Alaska's Bearfoot Magazines: Valdez: Fishing at Allison Point, across the harbor from Downtown Valdez Alaska.
Alaska's Bearfoot Magazines: Valdez: Young Valdez kids spend the afternoon at Crooked Creek, learning about Chugach National Forest.
Alaska's Bearfoot Magazines: Valdez: This is a roofed, fully modern fish-cleaning table at the Valdez docks, for use by fishermen.
Alaska's Bearfoot Magazines: Valdez: Whale-watching is a major activity in Valdez. The LuLu Belle, a charter service, keeps records of successful days.
Alaska's Bearfoot Magazines: Valdez: Chugach National Forest visitor center in Valdez. This is the 2nd largest national forest in America.