Dave's favorite shore excursions are the outdoorsy ones. On June 13, 2026, we went river rafting near Valdez, Alaska.
Valdez is the terminus for the North Slope oil pipeline. It is infamous as the place where the Exxon Valdez tanker ship spilled 11 million gallons of crude oil into the pristine waters of Prince William Sound at 4 minutes after midnight on March 24, 1989. The skipper had drunk heavily that evening and went to bed, leaving an inexperienced junior officer to navigate the huge ship through the reefs offshore. The ship crashed onto Bligh Reef. For months after, clean-up efforts attempted to save wildlife covered with oil and to rid the sound itself of oil.
Dave and I climbed into dry suits to protect us from the freezing water if we fell off our raft. We then drove by bus through gorgeous scenery to our push-off point.
The raft trip was billed as gentle, but it felt like Class 3 rapids to us, with several sections of serious white water. We had to stow our cell phones in dry bags, and so we didn't get photos of the thrills!
Watching the rafting crew stow the rafts four high was memorable, itself!
When we returned from our rafting adventure, Dave and I walked into town, noting the many large, industrial-looking hotels and apartments. We assumed that is where people who load the oil from the pipeline onto the tankers stay. Another time, we'll skip the rafting and visit the museum that tells us all about it!
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