Headed to Seward where I stayed for 3 nights.
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| Exit Glacier |
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| This shows how far it has retreated since 2005. |
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| This shows how the glacier has been retreating since 1815 |
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| Back in Seward where I camped for the night. Watching the cruise ship leave. |
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| Resurrection Bay |
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| The campground is pretty much a parking lot, but I got a site on the water. |
7/12 -
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| Morning view |
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| Also morning view |
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| Also morning view. So side views not so great, but front view was lovely! |
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| Having my tea at the campsite |
Checkout time was promptly at 11 and they said that if you were still there after 11 they'd charge another $50, so I wanted to be sure to be gone. I figured I'd shower since it was available to me, but that turned out to be a mistake. The water was barely luke warm to start and then it turned ice cold before I had a chance to use conditioner. I managed to stick it out thru conditioner and rinsing, but it wasn't pleasant. Probably the worst shower so far in my travels!
We took a walk at Twin Lakes trail in town. Easy and close by.
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| It's rare to see the roots so clean. Usually there is a lot of dirt and rocks attached. |
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| Pretty falls on the hike |
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| Seward marina |
After wandering around, I had lunch at Ray's Waterfront. I should have had their Sablefish (never heard of it), but I was set on having salmon and I was so disappointed! I had blackened salmon and it was dry and overcooked and the salmon had no flavor. What a disgrace considering where I am!
I found a free place to park with great views and tons of space. I parked near the entrance because it's just easier than searching for a perfect spot on rough terrain and the views were good. I did walk around and was going to move to a spot closer to the river, but as I was walking back to Big Bertha, someone pulled into where I was going to go. Oh well, this works!
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| Views from the campsite |
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| Soaking up the sun |
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| View from my front window |
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| This is a mobile sauna! A company, Seward Saunas, delivered it to this free boondocking location. What a cool (weird) idea! |
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| Down by the river |
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| I parked close to the entrance as there were good views and I didn't have to drive so far on the rough terrain. |
7/13 - I had booked a 6 hour boat tour (100 miles) with Major Marine tours a couple of days earlier because it looked like Sunday was going to be a good weather day and it certainly was! I felt so lucky to have such a lovely day. I would have booked it even later, but I had to coordinate it with a kennel for Zoe. I was a bit stressed about leaving her at a kennel (Seward Dog Lodge), since I had never met the people or seen the setup, but when I met Heidi in the morning, I felt really comfortable. She was very sweet to Zoe.
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| Spirit of Adventure - our boat. I spent a lot of time on the the bow area, but even though it was a nice day, it was cold out there! Most of the time, the boat was really moving, so there was plenty of wind, though it was a relatively calm day. By the end of the day I was sooooo chilled! |
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| From my seat inside. I had a great table in the right front, with a family of 3. Sherry, Mark, and Genevieve. Super nice folks from Philadelphia. |
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| Bear Glacier. The ice at water level is icebergs. We didn't get close to this glacier as it opens to a lagoon and isn't accessible. It looks amazing, just checking it out on Google maps and there's an Inn there. That would be amazing! |
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| Harbor seals |
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| Stellar sea lions. They must be good climbers or wait for high tide to get up there. |
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| Stellar Sea Lion male |
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| The clouds over the islands were so cool |
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| Humpback whales |
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| Heading toward the glacier |
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| Holgate Glacier, which we got up close to and got to see some calving going on. No big icebergs breaking off though. Just small ones. |
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| If you look closely, there is a boat in the left third of the photo. It's that big! |
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| Iceberg netting. They actually use the ice in their glacier margaritas. |
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| Yep, I really was there. (Me thinks my sunglasses are too big for my face! 😂) |
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| Bear glacier again |
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| Orcas! I focused more on watching than taking photos. They were right next to us and I could see them swimming by underwater. The captain said how lucky we were to see Orcas in July, but I wonder if they just say how lucky we are just to make us feel good. |
7/14 - It was nice to get up in the AM and not be on a schedule. Man, I am lazy! I've had only two days where I had to get up at a reasonable time. Yesterday for the cruise and the day before to shower before check out time.
I went to the Marine Life Center in town and really enjoyed it. I miss diving so much and being up close to sea life, but this will have to do for now.
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| tufted puffin |
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| horned puffin |
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| Common Murre |
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| This is the coolest starfish I've ever seen! It looks like a work of art, but it moves! I wish I remembered the name. |
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| I take the pledge! |
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| Giant Pacific Octopus. I wish it moved around, but I guess it was resting |
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| View of Resurrection bay. I'm so happy I wasn't doing the boat tour today! |
I came back to the same place in Moose Pass that I stayed a few days ago, before going to Seward. I stayed on Thursday night and it's busier tonight. I got here around 3:30 or so and I thought I'd have my choice of spots, but nope! I did get a spot with a view of the water, but not where I was hoping. It's raining, so it doesn't really matter.
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| Not a bad view |
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| Busy place! And more have shown up since this photo. |
I've been thinking today about how long I'm going to stay in Alaska. I have quite a bit more to do and don't really like thinking about having to leave. I'd really like to get some good salmon viewing and ideally bear catching salmon viewing before I leave. It's mid July, and I'm heading to Homer area from here, then to Valdez I think. I have to stop at Whittier. If I can get a ferry from Whittier to Valdez, that would be awesome. And then a ferry from Haines to Skagway. I don't really feel the need to go to Skagway, but it would allow me to drive different roads and explore more areas.
7/15 -
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| Jacob had caught 11 (limit it 6/day, so 6 for him, 5 for Lindsey) |
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| fish bellies being cooked up for Miss Zoe |
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| The end product for Zoe |
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| Pan, Mark, and Jerillyn doing the packaging. I helped too. |
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| The Kasilof River |
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| Rosco is such a cuddle bug! |
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| Hanging out around Jerillyn's tiny Solo stove. |
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| Cooking up hot dogs over the solo stove. This thing is so cute! |
7/18 - Mark loves to teach people to fish and I got my chance. He seems to do this with everyone who shows up and doesn't know what to do. I'm using his old waders and his pole.
Pan and Mark decided to bring all of us together for a potluck. I really enjoyed everyone. The young family was just so enjoyable. Lovely people and
such sweet and well behaved kids. I don't think I ever heard and crying or bad words among them.
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| Potluck crew. Left to right: Me, Pan, Mark (with Rosco and Ghost), Frank and Sharon, Ethan (back), Zeke, Zion, Gabriel, Joziah, and Jerillyn |
7/19 - After packing up and saying goodbye to everyone, I headed out. The campground and river were super busy, especially today since it's Saturday. I decided to head to Kenai. I parked in town and walked around with Zoe. I saw all the people dip netting on the shore and there were tons of people camping on the beach. Dip netting is only available to Alaskan residents and they just stand there with a net in the water and the fish swim into the net. Hmmm.
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| Mountains in the distance. Supposed to be Caribou around, but I didn't see any. |
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| Sandhill cranes |
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| People camping and dip netting on both sides |
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| You can see the nets they use in this shot. |
Russian History and Culture:
- Kenai was a significant settlement during the Russian colonial period in Alaska.
- The Holy Assumption Orthodox Church, built in 1896, is a National Historic Landmark and the oldest standing Russian Orthodox church in Alaska.
- The church played a role in the assimilation of the local Native population.
- The Russian River likely got its name due to its proximity to Russian settlements and trading posts.
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| Russian church |
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| We walked down to the beach and there were salmon carcasses all over. I think from the tide bringing them back in. Gross! It must get smelly unless the tide grabs them and pulls them back in. |
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| Had a burger from the Burger Bus |
Mark had given me some recommendations, though none of them really panned out. I ended up not being a great day for me, but oh well. The worst part was his recommendation to head some place that was "really nice" 27 miles north (out of my way). I thought it would be a pretty drive, but it wasn't. And when I got to the place he recommended, the road was crap with very deep potholes and when I got to the end, it was totally lame. I walked down to the water, but it was muddy down there and the bugs were horrible. I walked Zoe for a bit down the road and I had mosquitoes biting my legs through my leggings and then at least 10 ended up in the van after we got in. I went to Captain Cook Recreation area across the street, but didn't even get out as the views weren't great due to clouds and I was afraid of the mosquitoes. That part of my day was a big fail!
I then drove to a spot where I thought I'd stay and it was nice enough, on a cliff overlooking the sea, but it was very close to the road and I decided to request a BW site in Ninilchik. Once approved I headed down there. The host had provided directions, but I looked at the directions on Google maps and saw several of the same roads, so figured I was fine to follow the GPS. Being solo, reading directions while driving is a challenge... Anyway, that didn't work out so well. I was driving down a dirt road and a local asked me if I knew where I was going because there wasn't anything down that road. Silly me, I should have known at that point, but I said I thought I knew where I was going. Nope! Shortly after, I had to go through a big mildly muddy dip and then the road turned into a dirt lane that was definitely not maintained anymore. None of this had been mentioned by the host of past reviewers, so after heading up that lane for a short bit, I backed out and turned around and then followed the directions the host had given. I recommended that they mention to NOT follow GPS and to follow their instructions instead. Sharon and Gary, the other BWers that had arrived just before me had also followed GPS and it took them somewhere totally different! The place isn't very nice, but it's doable and I ended up staying a 2nd night.
I took Zoe for a rainy walk and we came across a mama and her two babies.
Yes, Sharon did invite me for dinner. She didn't realize that I gave them all I had that was fresh. Had I known I'd be staying I would have kept it and offered to cook it for them. It was enough for 4 servings, so maybe she hoped they'd have two meals out of it, but instead shared with me. It was a nice evening! They've been traveling for 15 years and the last three have been in the US. They are selling their RV and they are done with the USA. I don't blame them! They started out traveling Europe in a van for a few years and have been to so many places. I'm quite envious, but hopefully that will be my life for the foreseeable future.
7/21 - After the rainy day yesterday, the sunshine is very welcome today. Perfectly clear skies that gave views of the distant mountains/volcanoes.
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| Prettier in the sunshine |
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