Kenai Peninsula, Seward AK July 10-16, 2011

Cooper Landing and Seward, July 10-16

On our way from Homer to Seward we stopped for a day at Cooper Landing and took a raft trip on the Kenai River. Our guide, Brad, is from Cannonsburg, PA, just south of Pittsburgh where Bill was born. He is a middle school teacher in Anchorage in the winter and fishing/raft guide in the summer. He had many interesting stories to tell of his adventures in Alaska including being "bluff charged" by a bear twice. He said he would rather face a bear than a moose, though. He came very close to shooting a moose that was threatening him and his dogs. They are very aggressive when you are in "their space"!

This is the Resurrection Bay campground we stayed in while in Seward. Our RV is just right of center with the bay on the south side and the mountains to the north.

We drove a short distance to Exit Glacier and were able to hike to the face of the glacier. The braided river is a result of glacial melt. Braided rivers are so called because they are continually changing their course in the gravel river base and form many channels.

We have been told many times that there are no rabbits in Alaska, only snowshoe hares. But, Seward does have many domestic rabbits all over town! These two were playing one evening as I was walking Ceilidh. She sure wanted to play with them! I guess the Seward rabbits are equivilant to the Key West chickens. This has become my favorite Alaskan town.

Mount Marathon, see from our RV site, is the scene of an annual 4th of July race. Runners ascend and descend the 3200 ft. mountain, the winner in less than 45 minutes. Coming out of the treeline towards the top left you can see the trail they use. This little town of 2600 swells to 25,000 on July 4th for this race!

Downtown Seward has its collection of colorful little shops and cafes and houses Alaska's only aquarium, the Alaska Sealife Center. It is also known as the Gateway to Kenai Fjords National Park and was voted an All American City for the third time in 2005. There are 7 streets in town running parallel with the bay and the mountains and Ceilidh and I would walk them twice every day.





Tour boats go out several times a day to cruise Resurrection Bay or out further to the Gulf of Alaska and the Kenai Fjords National Park. We took a 7+ hour cruise. It was a beautiful, sunny day and we enjoyed standing outside, viewing the many glaciers and mountains that surround Resurrection Bay.







Included in the cruise was an all-you-can-eat buffet with mixed greens and mandarin orange salad, rice pilaf, salmon and prime rib. It was lovely eating dinner and watching the scenery. About an hour before we returned to the harbor, we enjoyed a dessert buffet: cheesecake, frosted brownies, carrot cake, tropical fruit and jello. Yummmmm.

One of our destinations was the Aialik Glacier coming down from the Harding Icefield, which is the largest icefield entirely within the US. We were fortunate to be able to watch it "calve" where a chunk of it breaks off. There were strong northerly winds as you an see from my hair and jacket puffed out with air!

Back at the campground Bill and I would sit and enjoy the beautiful weather. On this day it was 75 degrees, the hottest in all of Alaska! Cruise ships were usually in the harbor and the fishing boats were constantly going in and out. Sometimes a fishing boat would dump fish carcass in the water and as they washed ashore the gulls would have a feast. That is, until the eagles came and helped themselves!

What a lovely town, but all good things must come to an end and we must head to another destination.