Our drive to Seward would be a leisurely 130 mile trip, and we stopped frequently to take in the views. At one point we saw a bear with her cub quite close up on a pedestrian path near the road.
After rounding Turnagain Arm we headed south, with a slight detour up a road that barely shows up on a map, to the little town of Hope for lunch.
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| Our delightful lunch spot in Hope, Alaska | |
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| Lupine were in bloom everywhere along our drive |
Just north of Seward was our next stop was
Exit Glacier, located on the only road in
Kenai Fjords National Park. Exit Glacier had a very nice visitor/nature center and a pretty easy trail to the "toe" of the glacier. Another trail takes you up along the edge of the Exit Glacier. Along the trail were signs showing where the glacier reached in a particular year. There were other trails you could use to hike to the Harding Ice Field, which feeds Exit Glacier, but we didn't have time to do this big of a hike.
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| Exit Glacier |
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| Our lodging at the Seward Military Resort |
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We were pleased with our accommodations at the
Seward Resort (a military MWR facility), backed up to a beautiful mountain just north of town, and picked up a directory of MWR facilities for future reference in the lobby. After we unloaded a few things, we headed into Seward for dinner.
We were about one week early to watch runners race the 3 miles up (2900 feet of gain!) and down Mount Marathon in an annual July 4th event.
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| Mountains overlooking the port town of Seward |
Along a boardwalk across from Resurrection Bay where Seward is situated, we watched amazed as a pair of eagles take turns flying out to fish, then returning to feed the nestlings.
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| A bald eagle fished right in front of us just a short walk from town |
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| Bear Glacier in Kenai Fjords NP |
Monday we returned to Kenai Fjords NP on an all day boat tour, ending with dinner at Fox Island. It was an outstanding tour, packed with truly awesome views of glaciers and snow capped mountains rising above the glacial blue water. We were thrilled to see wildlife including puffins, sea otters, harbor seals, sea lions, and orcas.
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| The walls of this glacier are 300-400' high |
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| A sea otter seems to greet us with a smile |
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| An Orca (killer whale) pops up to check us out |
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| Tufted Puffin |
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| Steller's Sea Lions |
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Tuesday we strolled around scenic Seward and ended up spending a good amount of time at the
Alaska SeaLife Center. We got to see a number of different bird species for the first time.
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Horned Puffin at the Alaska SeaLife Center
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Here's a map of our drive from Anchorage to Hope, then Seward.
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