Hello dear readers! We watch the “lower 48” weather reports and find it hard to believe we are in the same world! This past week has been such a mix of rain, sun, wind, and clouds that its going to be a rude and painful shock coming back down south! We do try to embrace the rainy days, afterall, it means a break from heat, right? But, let’s be real. Rainy days are just….tedious.
We left Homer late, thoroughly enjoying the drive back to Seward during weather that did not involve rain. Gosh its pretty when you can see it! We settled into Seward later in the day, which we like because then we can set up and chill for the evening. The Seward KOA is about three miles out of town, on the highway up to the famous Exit Glacier. We already had the Kenai Fjords boat tour scheduled, so we were on the hunt for what to add to our stay. We found the coolest helicopter ride/kayak at Bear Glacier trip, so we booked it right away. Awesome! We had some cool stuff to look forward to!
The next day headed up to Exit Glacier for the shorter of two hikes to view the glacier. How happy was I to find out that the hike is located inside the Kenai Fjords National Park! I got my passport stamped a day earlier than I had expected! I was eyeing the longer and strenuous 8 mile hike up to the Harding Ice Fields, but Dale’s torn meniscus in his knee is REALLY acting up again. It would have done him no good at all tackling that one. So we rounded out our day with a drive into Seward proper to check the lay of the land, and figure out where we should park for the boat tour. Dale had already decided he was not up for biking into town, since we needed to check in at 7:30am. The weather was sketchy so we didn’t want to risk riding in the rain.
But as it turned out, the day dawned so beautifully clear it was amazing. We could finally see the mountains that surrounded us in the campground as well as the eagle family in the one tree above our heads! We still drove ourselves into town to join the tour, but, oh my gosh, were we lucky to be there on such an unbelievably gorgeous day. Even our captain let us know how blessed we were! I don’t know if it happens for every tour, and even though we’ve seen them before, it was still an absolute thrill to see humpback whale, orca whale, dall porpoise, stellar sea lion, and all the birdlife that come to the area, especially the Puffins. Our tour included a stop at the Northern Glacier where we floated quietly and listened to the “gun shots”, cracks and moans, and then thunder as it continued to calf. It is alarming to hear, at every glacier we visit, about the continuing diminishing footprints of them. No matter where you sit on climate change, there is no doubt that the glaciers are getting smaller and fewer. I am happy to be able to see them, though wish I had done so 20-30 years ago. Most have changed SIGNIFICANTLY in that short amount of time. Maybe we’ll take one more trip 20 years from now to see their change again. The day was gorgeous, the views were incredible, and the day went very quickly. Of course we had to stop at the Park Ranger Station so I could get a second stamp in my passport, I mean, we were in the park two days in a row! And the weather was expected to stay clear and sunny so we were very excited about our kayaking tour the next morning. The boat captain had pointed out Bear Glacier and the floating icebergs we would be kayaking around. It was shaping up to be a fabulous third day in Seward!
We were thrilled to see another crystal clear morning, and since we had a little later start for the tour, we made sure to eat a hearty breakfast for our trek. We were picked up right on time, and outfitted at the headquarters, and were just heading to the van to go to the helipad when…..we were informed that the winds were gusting so bad that we needed to delay departure. They still needed to get to the glacier and pick up the group that went earlier in the morning! So we were sent back to the RV to wait. A beautiful day, albeit a bit windy ( okay, a lot windy, we could see clouds of dust being picked up out of the riverbed across the road from our campground ) but we sat, hoped and waited that we’d be heading out. After all, the sun still sets really late here so there was time. Three hours into our wait time, they called and said the wind had moved the icebergs and essentially pinned down the group already there. They couldn’t paddle, and the wind wouldn’t let the helicopter go get them so they were hanging out on the beach. And we had been told that the tour group keeps an overnighter cabin there, just in case guests may have to spend the night. Gads! So, given the choice, our trip was aborted. They were so gracious about it we felt bad about not rescheduling, but then, we got over it real fast. We took a walk that afternoon and found the Seavy Ididaride Dog Sled camp, less than a mile away. They baited my hook with info about the two litters of puppies they have so I signed us up for a tour the next morning.
Unfortunately, the clouds and threats of rain returned the next day. But we had our bikes ready and were determined to ride into town after the dog tour. I don’t know if either of us expected much. It turned out to be one of the most enjoyable things we’ve done! There is no doubt that those dogs are incredibly well cared for – and there is no doubt they are impressive athletes. Fortunately, we were able to get over the “in-your-face” smell of dog poop (Tucker never smelled like that!) pretty quickly. We had fun on the little ride you go on, and convinced myself that we are too old for a dog that can pull that much weight! The puppies were stupidly adorable, and even the little education on mushing was quite fascinating. It was 90 minutes we both truly enjoyed! We left there and had crepes at this little restaurant nearby. The crepes were FANTASTIC and the restaurant was pure Alaska quirk and charm. Then we rode into downtown Seward……..until the rain came. We made it back to the RV rather wet, but proud that we didn’t let the weather stop us! And that capped off our stay in Seward.
We decided to do something a little different on our way to Valdez. We had scheduled a ride on the Alaska Ferry system from Whittier, but we had a night to kill. So we chose to stay in the mountains, at Moose Pass RV Park, about 40 miles north of Seward. All we had was power (its really all we need), and we were seriously WIFI and Cell phone challenged (okay maybe we need more than power…), but the tiny town (dare I call it that?) entertained us for the evening and once again, we had the entire RV park to ourselves. We took a quick walk around – to the train tracks, the lake shore, by the lodge and flight-seeing planes, enjoyed a delicious ice cream cone, and bought fudge at the home of the “Talking Moose”. I’m sure many of you have seen those cheesy singing mounted Bass Fish, well, imagine that in a life-size moose. I couldn’t help myself, I stared and smiled like a six year old. It was another true Alaska night.
The next morning we were back to clear beautiful cold skies. So off to Whittier we went. I had been reminded that we first learned about Whittier from a bit on CBS Sunday morning, I cant even guess at how many years ago. All I remember is that there is one huge apartment building where nearly the entire town lives. I couldn’t wait to see it. You get there via a one lane tunnel, so you line up for the tunnel opening on the Half hour. The 2.5 mile tunnel is an experience all by itself! And once we were through and into Whittier, we felt like we were back in Iceland. On the water, surrounded by hills, glaciers and waterfalls, it is a charming little place. The famous apartment building was fun to see, and it remains the place where the majority of town inhabitants live. The quick military history of the town – built during Cold War era as a “secret base”, it was fully staffed from 1954 until 1960. Six years and they mothballed it! (I will let you all form your own opinions of that one). Anyway, It was so gorgeous outside we had to go for a hike. I found Emerald Cove Trail, advertised as four miles of moderately rolling hills which I thought would be okay for Dale’s knees. It wasn’t until we were heading down the path that I was able to have enough cell phone coverage to read the reviews – from three weeks prior when the rains had come….muddy, muddy, muddy….but we went for it anyway. We were able to hike it without mud up to our shins, but it wasn’t easy ( I think Alaska hikers have a different definition of what makes a trail moderate) , and we only made it about half way before we realized we had to turn around or risk missing our ferry! It was a helluva workout – and made me glad I didn’t push harder for the Portage Pass hike (2.5 miles up hill climb to a glacier). We had a lovely lunch at the Chez Dale Food Truck, and then lined up for the ferry. We are so glad we did it. It was a nice taste of what we are in for when we leave Haines in about a week. The amount of work they put into getting the vehicles loaded and unloaded is really impressive. It’s much more of a Tetris game than anything we encountered on a Washington State ferry. The views along Prince William Sound are mesmerizing. And wow did we see stellar sea lions! We must have passed hundreds. We rolled into our campsite around 8:45pm and ready for a GOOD nights sleep.
The rain started at 4am, and it’s been raining all day today. Fortunately our campsite is RIGHT DOWN TOWN, so we were able to take a stroll around with our umbrellas – like any true tourist, locals wear fishing gear… We visited the museum here, very well done and included the dreaded Exxon Valdez disaster. It was a good stop on a rainy day. We stopped at the Valdez Brewery for a “we aren’t driving” noon-time beer, and that will be our wrap for staying in Valdez.
Well, dear readers, I didn’t think I’d have that much to share with this chapter, but I surprised myself! I have managed to read so much I feel like we aren’t hardly doing anything! We are feeling the end of the Alaska adventure coming, but we still have a couple of Alaska National Parks to visit! Oh and we are busy working on the post-Alaska adventure as well! So until next time, dear readers, yours truly, Lady Wanderingwise.
Weise's Wanderings 
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