OK, this is getting a bit too much... It's now January 1, 2017, yet on my blog I'm still not out of Alaska. I have to get caught up before I forget the details...
On September 15 I regretfully left Denali Nat'l Park - the campground was going to close in a few days, so I couldn't have stayed even if I wanted to --and headed back south on the Parks Highway. Which, by the way, is not named because of its proximity to national parks, but rather after a governor of the Alaska Territory named George Parks. There's a Trivial Pursuit answer for you... The fall color extravaganza continued. Here's the view from Hurricane Gulch Bridge, located at Milepost 284.2, counting from Seward, my eventual destination --
I spent the night at the RV park in Trapper Creek. I'd called in advance just to make sure it was open as many places weren't by this time of the year, and I also wanted to stay 2 nights to clean up and do laundry after over a week of doing neither at Denali. "Sure, no problem!" the lady at the other end of the line said. So imagine my surprise upon arrival when the same lady told me I could only have a spot for one night as there was a wedding party due in the next day. Uh, you were the one who told me... "Sorry!" So I crammed in getting my laundry done and headed out the next day. Later, I found out she had still charged me for 2 nights! She never took the charge off my account even after a few e-mails. After awhile I decided it wasn't worth the effort.
I continued south, zipped through Anchorage for a 2nd time, and headed down the Kenai Peninsula to Seward. The road from Anchorage to Seward is called the Seward Highway, and the scenery along it is magnificent. But that's the way it is along all of Alaska's roads --
And on to Seward, population 2500 and mile 0 of the historic Iditarod Trail. (The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race has its official start in Willow, about 80 miles north of Anchorage.) Seward is a thriving fishing port, and cruise boats dock here, too.
Seward sits along Resurrection Bay, and has glaciers on the surrounding mountains.
Sea otters swim close to the shore, too. They look cute, but I heard they have bad tempers.
I didn't get a chance to visit Homer on this Alaskan trip, but that's not the only place along the coast that has Bald Eagles; this one was right along the shore, and obviously was not welcome by some --
If you have time to go to only one attraction in Seward, it should probably be the Alaska SeaLife Center; it's Alaska's premier aquarium. My favorite feature was the grotto which houses the center's numerous seabirds. You can get up close and personal to species you'd ordinarily view from far away --
Harlequin Duck
Tufted Puffin
While staying at the Waterfront RV Park in Seward, I took a 6-hour boat tour to Kenai Fjords National Park. The scenery was magnificent and the weather beautiful, with a calm sea, but the marine mammals were few. But the coastline is rugged and remote, with mountains going all the way to the ocean; a tour boat is the only way to see sights such as this waterfall, with rainbow-like colors caused by the fall's mist refracted by the light --
Aialik Glacier is one of over 30 glaciers that have their origins at the Harding Icefield, thousand of feet above. The island gives some idea of the size of these glaciers --
One of the highlights of North To Alaska was the hike along Exit Glacier up to the Harding Icefield. The weather was perfect, and the hike perfectly timed as rain was due to move in the next day. That's the Harding Icefield on top, the starting point of the glaciers. And no, the photo isn't a "selfie"; a fellow hiker took it with my camera --
The Harding Icefield up on top --
And looking back down to the end of Exit Glacier and the valley below --
A word about Grizzlies; yes, they were there. I saw quite a lot of bear scat on the trail, including some that was obviously fresh. So I once again made it a habit to whistle or clear my throat (chronic rhinitis) just so a nearby bear would know I was around. Though it's not recommended that you hike alone, people do it, even young kids; I came across a kid who couldn't have been more than 13 years old, hiking by himself with a small radio turned on and a small can of bear spray hanging from a lanyard around his wrist.
I ended up spending about a week at Seward, staying at the RV park right along the shoreline. Here's a sunset view not far from my spot --
I should mention that another reason why Seward was so special to me is, like with Len Jellicoe in British Columbia, I met other Facebook Friends here -- Doug and Holly Olds. Doug's job with the Forestry Service takes him all over the country, and now they were in Seward. So we had dinner before I left, and established a friendship based in part on a shared affection for Alaska, and Seward in particular. If they're still there when I return in 2018, Seward will definitely be on the trip itinerary.
It was now towards the end of September, and the weather was definitely starting to turn. There were street signs in British Columbia and Alaska saying that you must have snow tires starting October 1, so as I didn't, and was pulling a trailer, I thought it would be a good idea to be as far south as possible. So I headed north once again, passed through Anchorage, took the Glenn Highway east, hit the frost heaves on the Tok Cutoff -- thank goodness there was next to no traffic as it was off-season, so I could crawl along safely at 20mph --, past Mentasta Lake once again, having gone in the other direction nearly a month earlier --
and was out of Alaska a few hours later. Just before I crossed the border into Canada, I stopped at a roadside survey which was asking for motorist's opinions of Alaska. I simply said "I'll be back". The survey taker said thank you, and I was back in British Columbia. And I really WILL be back..
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