Seward & Kenai Fjords (June 28 - 30)

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.

Our delightful lunch spot in Hope, Alaska

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.

Exit Glacier

Our lodging at the Seward Military Resort

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.

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.

A bald eagle fished right in front of us just a short walk from town

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.

The walls of this glacier are 300-400' high

A sea otter seems to greet us with a smile

An Orca (killer whale) pops up to check us out

Tufted Puffin

Steller's Sea Lions

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.

Horned Puffin at the Alaska SeaLife Center

Here's a map of our drive from Anchorage to Hope, then Seward.

View Larger Map

Denali National Park and Preserve (June 22-25)

Farewell Fairbanks, Denali here we come!

After checking into the Denali Touch of Wildnerness B&B in Healy Monday, we drove down to the Denali National Park and Preserve Visitor Center, made our reservations for the bus tour on Wednesday, then headed out for our first hike -- Mt. Healy Trail. It was short, but steep, and the overcast skies and drizzle didn't dampen our spirits.

Mike on the Mt Healy hike

Susan with sled dogs

Tuesday we did more exploring the Park, although the areas where you can drive your car are quite limited. We drove down to the Savage River area which is about as far as you can drive. Around the visitor center, we especially enjoyed visiting the sled dog kennels and watching the sled dog demonstration.

Back in Healy, we drove the short distance past our B&B to the Stampede Trail, not far from where Christopher McCandless became lost, lived for a time in an abandoned bus, and did not survive the ordeal due to his own ignorance and lack of preparedness. Locals didn't have fond things to say about the man, whose story was made famous in Jon Krakauer's book Into the Wild. The book and subsequent movie glamorization has created enough of a buzz that jeep tours out to his bus have popped up.

We loved Touch of Wilderness. Besides being cozy and comfortable, with good breakfast fare, in the evenings there were excellent complimentary presentations held right in our living room. We took in two. One was about sled dogging by a woman who, along with her husband and 2 young sons earned their living transporting climbers' supplies up to Denali north face base camp. Laurent Dick, an accomplished mountaineer and photographer, gave the other presentation on his ascents of Denali. We came home with an autographed copy of his book, Climb Denali: A Reflective Journey.

Our last day in Denali we would spend 12 hours on almost 90 miles gravel roads riding in what was essentially a school bus. Native corporations were the sole concessionaires for the tour deep into the park and our guide was very knowledgeable.

The Eielson Visitor Center was great, and had the best vantage point for viewing Denali, which didn't cooperate and "come out" for us that day, which we learned was not statistically surprising. Most of the trip was wet and at some parts quite snowy, but the weather didn't seem to bother the grizzlies we saw foraging on a snow covered hillside or the grizzly family that sauntered down the road ahead of us. We also saw moose, caribou, fox and coyote.

Red Fox

Caribou herd

Moose

Us at Wonder Lake (note mosquito hood)

The former gold mining town Kantishna lie at the end of the road, but it wasn't much more than a place to turn around for us. On the way back we stopped at Wonder Lake, which is a great photo op in better weather.  At one point, an oncoming tour bus had broken down and was blocking the very narrow road. After a short delay, the bus was pushed out of the way and we continued.

In spite of wet weather and clouds obscuring Denali, our visit at the National Park was fantastic. Thursday was time to head south again, so reluctantly we packed up and headed for Anchorage where we had reservations for three nights awaiting us at Elmendorf AFB.

Denali punching through the clouds

Denali

It took us all day to drive the 250 miles along Alaska 3 because we had to keep stopping to look at and photograph Denali. Yep, the clouds were lifting and looking northward were outstanding views of the massive mountain. After a late dinner in funky Talkeetna, we finally arrived in the Big City. In full daylight.