Alaska Trip - Seward

 July 11, 2018

It was raining when we drove into Seward Monday afternoon. We pulled into South Resurrection Campground, a wide paved parking area that runs along the Resurrection Bay waterfront. Provided and operated by the city, it accommodates a couple hundred RVs parked side by side. We took a “front row” spot that was vacant and “dry” (without water and electric hook-ups.) For those amenities, you would need to find a place to park in the 2^nd and 3^rd rows behind us. We were happy to have ring side seats to watch the ever-changing clouds moving over the Bay and the occasional sea otter or two playing out in the water in front of us.

A steady rain fell all through Monday night and into Tuesday. Monday evening, tired of being inside, I donned a rain jacket and walked a while on the paved hiking/biking trail that also runs along the Bay waterfront right in front of where we were parked. It’s the National Historic Iditarod Trail that keeps going north out of town. Happy to be outside, I didn’t mind getting a bit soaked while walking past the assortment of RVs parked in the campground and the small memorial gardens planted along the trail.  

Tuesday was rainy-like i.e. heavy and gray, damp and misting, but not outright raining. We drove north and west out of Seward 15 minutes to Exit Glacier, part of Kenai Fjords National Park. It is the only part of the Park accessible by road. From Exit Glacier Visitor’s Center, we hiked to what’s

juvenile eagle in the campground

left of this once massive valley glacier. The 2-mile round trip hike on the developed Park trail through the lush forests, up and over black rock outcroppings to the edge of the glacier was most interesting. Every so often along the trail, markers have been placed showing the glacier’s recession over the past 120 years. Of course, the marker for 120 years ago was back down the road about a mile. Wikipedia states that in one year from 2013-2014, Exit Glacier retreated 187 feet.

Back in Seward, after lunch we walked from our campsite along the waterfront to the Alaska Sea Life Center. This 20-year-old sea animal rescue center and aquarium has 3 floors of interactive displays to educate the public. We learned it is the only facility in the world specifically dedicated to studying the northern marine environment. A couple of areas I found particularly fascinating were the sea otter nursery and the aviary room. Looking down on the sea otter nursery, I could watch a tiny sleeping sea otter (an orphan) in a small pool of water floating on its back being gently pushed by its caretaker. In the aviary/pond room we spent some time with gulls, puffins, king eiders, oyster catchers and a pair of smews from Asia all flying and swimming about or perched on rocks.

Exit Glacier

Exit Glacier

Young Otter in Sea Life Center

King Eider

Puffin