Seward, Alaska (65 degrees, blue skies on and off)
We are now in Seward Alaska spending time taking in the pretty coastal scenery. It's been a fun five days hiking and touring around. The highlight for all of us was a nine hour boat trip.
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| Cloudy skies at first as we left shore |
The Harding Ice field high above us feeds over 36 glaciers. The boat trip took us by many of them and it was stunning. This is our second boat trip and the rugged coastline and soaring peaks of the mountains were so beautiful. It started off rather chilly and cloudy but quickly turned into a pretty blue sky day. We were very lucky to have such great weather.
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| Quickly turned into a blue sky day |
We signed up for the
Northwestern Fjord Tour which took us out eventually to three tidewater glaciers. We saw lots of sea life and birds along the way.
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| Steller Sea Lions |
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| Horned Puffins |
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| Common Mures and Tufted Puffins |
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| Common Mures |
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| Parakeet Auklet |
It's really a thrill to see humpback whales. We saw a lot of them and even a pod of Orca's
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| Otters floating on small icebergs |
After traveling for a few hours and poking around islands we came to the Northwestern Fjord. It is a spectacular area where three tidewater glaciers (glaciers which flow directly into the sea) spread out before you. It's breathtaking. The captain turned off the engines and we listened to the icebergs creaking, popping and calving. A huge piece came tumbling down and a waterfall of ice poured out for at least five minutes. It was really something to see.
Ice Waterfall
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| Ice waterfall |
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| Jan and me enjoying the day |
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| Leaving the fjord |
We really enjoyed this cruise and highly recommend it. The scenery is just spectacular. We would have preferred a smaller boat like the Lulu Belle. However, the Northwestern Fjord is incredible.
Campground Review: Stoney Creek RV Park, 4 stars, creek side sites are the best, full hook ups, 30 amp, level gravel sites with grass (creek side only) WiFi did not work,good Verizon signal, good location, busy campground
Tip: Alaska Sea Life Center is worth a stop while visiting Seward. It's a huge research center and aquarium funded by the Valdez oil spill. Be sure to check out the puffin and water bird exhibit to get up close views of some great sea birds.
Tip: Sewart's Brewing Company - great place for lunch. Brews are great. I tried a flight of four which were all great. Good food too.
Happy Trails!
