Seward - Alaska 2005     

Updated: 11/30/08

We arrived in Seward on a cloudy day. The rain had ended and we had no trouble finding a campsite in the city campground next to Resurrection Bay. The city turned the unstable land along the shore of the bay that did not fall into the bay during the 1964 earthquake into camping for visitors to the city.

      From across the bay, the RVs parked along the shore look like little white dots.

From the middle of the bay (in a boat), the RVs look bigger.

If it is blown up a little, you can see the HHII.

As you can see the land is not far above sea level.

The is another town where Tsunami signs abound.

Our view across Resurrection Bay is great - mountains and glaciers.

We had just finished setting up about noon when we saw a cruise ship coming into the bay. Later, we talked to a couple from the cruise ship as they walked behind our fifth wheel. They told us they have a class 'C' motorhome and asked a lot of questions about our experiences. During our conversation, they told us the ship was leaving at midnight. They must not have been on 'Alaska Time' - the ship left at 11:00pm.

As the ship floated by, we talked again about how happy we are to be traveling without structure and moving at our own pace. 

Do you notice how dark it is as the ship is departing? There has been such heavy cloud cover the last few nights, it has been dark. 

We drove to the other side of the bay to see what we were looking at. It is a ship yard with a dry dock. There is also another city campground - if you say it fast. It is a level gravel area that seems to be popular with fisherman.

On the other side of the bay we found another glacier. The tower in the foreground of the guard tower for the local maximum security prison.

Even though it looked like rain, we drove to Exit Glacier - the most accessible glacier in the Kenai Fjords National Park. We got our first look at it along the road as we drove the nine miles to the park. Exit Glacier is three miles long and it is one of over 35 named glaciers flowing from the Harding Icefield. It is the only road accessible area in the Kenai Fjords National Park.

As you walked the trail, signs showed you where Exit Glacier was in 1927, 1951 and 1978. You can see the Harding Icefield on the left ridge.

Because everything in Alaska is so massive,
we thought this information was worth posting.

They say that glacier ice is unstable, unpredictable and very dangerous. Fred heard or read that you can not go on it without a guide. As we were walking towards Exit Glacier, this guy was being carried out due to an injury of some kind.  

It was a misting rain when we arrived and raining hard as we approached the glacier. The last half of the mile walk was muddy so we did not complete the entire walk on our first visit.

We went back to Exit Glacier and finish the walk to the base on a day when it was just raining lightly.

This photograph lets you compare the front part of the glacier and the people for size. Most of the time there is no size comparison to determine how massive things are.

The story is that you used to be able to walk up to Exit Glacier and touch it or walk on it. When someone was killed by chunks like these, people were no longer allowed passed posted warnings signs.

This glacier did not make sounds like Aialik Glacier but is just as dangerous.

This outwash plain results from the receding glacier. Water flows through, changing its course and creating what is then called a braided river.

           Mary Lou waited for Fred back a ways from the glacier.

This what we came back to see. Exit Glacier from its base. The face had deep grooves in it and it is not as clean looking as we expected.

If you got to these Exit Glacier photographs using the link at the end of this page, you are finished with this page.

If you are a new visitor to this page, please continue.

We had been seeing vintage cars around Seward.
This license plate explains that the Classic Car Club of America
was on a North to Alaska CARavan.

As the sun sets, the shadows make the mountain across from us look even more interesting.

Looking down the bay towards the ocean, we spotted a broken rainbow.

Our big adventure in Seward was our 8.5 hour Kenai Fjords National Park Tour on a tour boat. We were on the top deck so Fred could move around to make photographs. We sat outside behind the cabin with a roof over our heads in case it rained - great seats.

The boat has two Caterpillar diesel engines developing over 3,500 horsepower. It was big enough to carry 150 people and could cruise at 25 MPH.

Our cruise included a halibut or chicken lunch on the boat and an all-you-can-eat salmon dinner on Fox Island on the way back to Seward

The cost for our tour was $145 per person. They offered shorter tour and there are several tour companies. Our was with Kenai Fjords Tours. It was great.

Before we left the dock, everyone rushed to the left (port) side of the boat. An eagle was sitting on a boat mast. No matter how many eagles you see, they are spectacular.

We were barely underway when the boat stopped. This little guy was leisurely swimming along. We have noticed that on the bus tour in Denali and this tour that the operators are very respectful of the wildlife. Providing you a look at them but not interfering with the habitat more than necessary.

Later in the trip, we stopped for another.    

Just another short time under power from the first sea otter, we stopped again. There were two eagles in the trees along shore. They allow time in the tour for several stop at predetermined locations and at impromptu location for wildlife viewing.

Then we headed for open water. Looking ahead at the various islands, you could see the openings to the Bay of Alaska.

Pilot Rock is the home of several navigation aids. Weather and sea conditions are transmitted to a satellite, the information can then be accessed via the internet at any time. 

While it was a cloudy day, some glimpses of blue sky were visible.

After we reached open water the captain announced that in front of us was the longest stretch of open ocean heading to Hawaii and beyond.

Bear Glacier is on the outside edge of the park just before reaching the Aialik Peninsula.

The shore along the Aialik Peninsula of Kenai Fjords National Park provided some beautiful views. The jagged rocks ... and ... how do those trees grow in rock?

Use your imagination . . .  this ridge looks like a sea shell or fan.

We will call these 'big' and 'little' mountains. How big is the little one?

Sea lions were numerous, we saw big groups of them on two occasions. This is the group at Chiswell Island.

These sea lions had to share their rocks with a whole bunch of sea birds. Every rock ledge was filled with birds and hundreds were flying around.  Too many to count!

The Alaska Sealife Center has a remote video cam installed on Chiswell Island to observe the rookery. The next day, we watched a live broadcast from Chiswell Island at the center.

The little Puffins are everywhere.     

This bear was at the beach. It was probably fishing before we arrived. It wandered the beach for quite a while then decided to go up the mountain and into the trees.

As we turned and headed into Kenai Fjords National Park, we could see glaciers in front of us. As you travel the views of the glaciers change as mountains in front of them obstruct part of the view.

Holgate Glacier

            
Pederson Glacier

Continuing deeper into the park, we approached Aialik Glacier.

As you got closer, you realized how large this glacier was.
The boat could get no closer than a quarter mile and drifted away quickly.
At its face, the Aialik Glacier is about 1.5 miles wide and 500 feet high.

This is the glacier closer ...

And some random views ...

We parked at Aialik Glacier for a half hour and heard the thunderous sounds a tide water glacier makes. The captain said we were fortunate to see so much calving - the pieces falling off the glacier seemed small to us due to the fact that the boat was always at least a quarter mile from the glacier. The following photographs of one of the calvings are not thumbnailed so you can see it. (For 'low-tech'  animated - click on the first photograph, use your down arrow key fast, you can see the change.)

Mary Lou wanted Fred to take a photograph of the harbor seals in the slush. It appeared that way to us because of the distance - they were really laying in chunks of ice. Some of the harbor seals floated near the boat.

You just know it is fantastic viewing when Fred thinks the ice is beautiful.

We had to leave another
tour boat was approaching.

The captain took us by some of the remaining sights as we turned for Seward.

     
Cascade Falls

Elephant Rock

Sea Arch               

The captain had shown everything on the tour and was heading for Fox Island when had received a radio communication from another boat that they had spotted Orca Whales (Killer Whales). He told us we were changing direction to see them.

Lunch was served on the boat and the all-you-can-eat salmon dinner was served on Fox Island. We had an hour on shore for dinner and two toots of the horn told us it was time to board the boat again.

 It was a great day that ended at 6:30pm. It was a pleasant weather day with some sunshine and, importantly, no rain.

At the end of the day, Fred was glad he did not lug around a camera setup like this around the boat all day.

The next day we visited the Alaska SeaLife Center in Seward. It is relatively new (1998) and small in size. It promotes public and ecological understanding. Admission is $14 per person.

Feather Stars

Puffin                    

This boy was playing with the harbor seals. He was rolling a ball in front of the tank. they were trying to get it.

If you are going as a casual visitor, you may be disappointed. The focus of this facility is research and wildlife rehabilitation. There is a strong element of public education, including excellent hands-on exhibits for children and adults. They offer Behind-the-Scenes Tours, and frequent presentations through the day.

We are not saying that the activity level is low in Seward ... but ... all the people came outside to watch a cruise ship turn around in the bay.

We found time in our busy schedule to photograph the event.                     

Later that night ... looking out the bay towards the Bay of Alaska. 

And even later that night, the small boat harbor ...      

The next day, even in the rain, camping at the edge of the bay was interesting. A barge loaded with cargo, including a motorhome, a truck with a snow plow and a boat, passed our window.

After hiding in the HHII from the rain all day, we headed out to the Miller's Landing campground on Lowell Point about 7:30pm. It was three miles of narrow winding road between the bay and the mountain. We were amazed how much traffic we encountered. Believe it or not, people take their RVs over this bridge.

We found this waterfalls along the road. Because it had no name, we named it Surprise Falls. It was in a very old and commercial area and a waterfall was a pleasant sight.

The marker for Mile "0" of the Idiarod National Historic Trail is in one of the city's campgrounds. The trail was originally. a mail route between Seward and Nome. The sled dogs were replaced by an airplane in 1924.

The Iditarod race we hear about now, runs from Anchorage to Nome each March.

The 13 year old, Alaska Native boy from Chignik, who designed the Alaska flag in 1927 is memorialized here. Mary Lou noticed, that they used stones to form the shape of Alaska on the rear of the marker.

Benson explained the design of the flag: The blue field is for the Alaska sky and the forget-me-not, an Alaska flower (now the official state flower). The North Star is the future state of Alaska, the most northerly of the union. The Big Dipper is for the Great Bear, symbolizing strength.

The first unfurling of the Alaska flag took place at the dedication of the Jesse Lee Home in Seward on July 9, 1927.

In spite of the continuing light rain, we went to Exit Glacier about 2:30pm. It was raining there also but just the light variety, nothing like it was the first time we were there. This time, we finished the walk and got to the base of the glacier. As you can see from the attire of the people in the foreground, it was not a great day.

If you are revisiting this page and passed by Exit Glacier , this link will return you there to view additional photographs from our second visit.  

We enjoyed our time in Seward. Watching the watercraft on Resurrection Bay helped filled some rainy days. We realize now, after four days of rain, how fortunate we were to have a dry day for the boat tour.  

Return to Kenai Peninsula, a few days 

Go back to Alaska Photo Album .

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