Photos by SKS

A few stormy days gave us some time to rest our legs and check out the town of  Valdez.  A Small town of friendly locals that welcome the flocks of elite riders and film crews that travel here each spring to ride.  The center of town surrounds the small boat harbor, full of interesting boat names.  Just off the water you will find the main streets with the local hotels, bars, and restaurants.   We decided to take in the most of the local scene while the mountains got a refresher of new snow.

The prospector, 32 Degrees, Pipeline, and the Boardroom were local stops in addition to the Valdez museum.  Also thanks to the Fat Mermaid for hosting the annual fish fry and feeding a big group of Tailgaters that made the trip to town on their down day,  the salmon was killer.   Down days have given us some of the best unexpected wildlife sightings and quality time to learn more about the area.  We explored Valdez to fullest, but with a itch to go shred we hit the road and explored some lower elevation zones for fun terrain.  Ended up finding several cool spots, and had a good time cruising around on the split board.

Nearing sunset we went to shoot a river gap we looked at early that day, as we pulled up Ville started laughing, screaming and pointing at the 3 moose that were hanging out right where we wanted to ride.  Intrigued by the moose we stayed and watched for a while, and glad we did because minutes later out of the brush come 2 lynx!  Super rare sighting, and a super impressive animal to see in person.  All of us could agree we have been kicked out by cops, power tripping security guards, and agro janitors, but never have we been shut down at a spot by moose or lynx.  Only in Alaska.