June 2010: Alaska, Part 2

During our first six weeks in Alaska, we spent four of our weekends visiting interesting places within 100 miles of Seward. Our “weekend” is on Wednesday and Thursday, because those are relatively slow days at our lodge, but this works fine for us since those are the slow days in other tourist areas, too. Between mid-May and the end of June, we stayed in four very different lodging establishments, all of which were easier (and less expensive) to get into than they are now, with the tourist season in full swing.

There is only one road out of Seward, which leads to Anchorage. About 30 miles along the highway is a turnoff leading to the rest of the Kenai peninsula. We took that road to our first destination, the Kenai Princess Wilderness Lodge. It's located in the north central part of the Kenai Peninsula, at Cooper Landing. Its main function is to serve as a stopping-off point for Princess Cruise Lines customers who have booked land tour packages in connection with their cruises. But, just as at our lodge, each week has peaks and valleys of demand tied to cruise ship schedules. We took advantage of an Internet special to get into Kenai Princess on an off day.

It's in a beautiful location, on a bluff overlooking the Kenai River, which flows out of Kenai Lake, crosses the Kenai Peninsula and empties into Cook Inlet at the city of Kenai. Across the river is Mount Cecil Rhode, elevation 3,967 feet. Several of the mountains around the lodge had already lost most of their snow, although the north slope of Mount Cecil Rhode, facing the lodge, still had plenty of snow covering it.

(click on any photo to enlarge)

We arrived at mid-day and decided to spend our afternoon there, enjoying the warm, sunny weather.  We took a walk along the river, where the  color of the water reminded us of the ocean in parts of Hawaii, but that may have been partly because of the gorgeous blue sky.

The lodging units are in single-level buildings scattered around the property. At the front desk, we were warned not to disturb a mother and baby moose that had been seen near our unit, but we didn't spot them during our visit. The day was warm, but we couldn't pass up the opportunity to enjoy a wood fire in our room's stove.

We had rented a car to get to the lodge, and the next morning we headed toward Soldotna and Kenai, on the west side of the peninsula, both of which are population centers with many more stores than we have in Seward. We needed shelves for our cabin, as well as some other necessities, and this was as much a shopping expedition as a sightseeing trip. But we did enjoy getting a look at some unfamiliar territory.

This part of Alaska, adjacent to Cook Inlet, was home to several Russian communities prior to the U.S. purchase in 1867. In Kenai one of the landmarks is this Russian Orthodox church.

On our way back to Seward, we stopped in Cooper Landing to enjoy this view of Kenai Lake.

Our next weekend getaway was to Girdwood, about 40 miles southeast of Anchorage, and the home of the Alyeska Hotel. The hotel, which is part of a major ski complex, is a luxury property, but again we got in at an affordable price thanks to a midweek Internet special.

We - and Tom in particular - had been eager to ride the Alaska Railroad's Coastal Classic train, which runs between Seward and Anchorage. Our trip to the Alyeska was the perfect opportunity, since the train's only intermediate stop is at Girdwood. We left Seward on the train at 6:00 P.M., after a full day of work for both of us. It was raining, and there were many places where it seemed the water was going to overrun the rail bed. We wondered how the railroad's track maintenance forces could keep up with the conditions. Wet ground, standing water, rushing water, falling water... all along the way, there was water.

But it was very nice, sitting on the train having a sandwich and a glass of wine as we enjoyed the wet, wintry landscape through the large windows in the café car.

As we gained elevation, there was snow in the dark forest areas and later we saw a lot of snow in open areas as well. We saw one moose wading across a pond, but that was our only wildlife sighting.

Despite the rain, the scenery along the way was gorgeous. The train winds around tight curves where the railroad's builders had to find a workable route through the Kenai Mountains, climbing from sea level at Seward to an elevation of 1,063 feet at Grandview. Passengers can see glaciers and waterfalls from the train, and for those who didn't mind the cold winds, standing in the doorway of the train allowed a closeup view of the landscape.

We arrived at Girdwood around 9:00 PM, and got off the train along with a couple from Australia, also headed to the Alyeska. Just after the train left, a man drove up and asked if anyone else had gotten off the train. No, we said, we were the only ones. Well, the man said, where's my friend? We don't know, we replied. After we convinced him that his friend hadn't gotten off the train, he began to drive off. But just before he turned out of the parking lot, we looked up and saw the train (which had been gone for about five minutes) slowly backing up to the station. It stopped, and off got the man pictured below, who it turned out, had slept through the stop at Girdwood. When he awoke and told the conductor what had happened, the conductor had the train stopped, and then backed up to Girdwood to let the passenger off. Only in Alaska!

Although we've had a lot of rainy days since we've been in Alaska, we got lucky with the weather on both of our first two getaways. For this one, we had rain on the way up from Seward, as well as on the way back, but our day in Girdwood was sunny and warm.

It was definitely a slow week at the Alyeska, so we enjoyed exploring the hotel, the grounds around it, and the town of Girdwood without having to deal with crowds.

 

There's a tram to the top of the hill that serves skiers in winter and tourists in summer.

In addition to ski facilities, the top of the hill also features a restaurant, the Seven Glaciers, with wonderful food and great views. We got the best table in the house overlooking the mountains above the resort.

We both had a grape salad, Tom had king salmon with blueberry accented side dishes, and Marcia had king crab legs with spinach and citrus accents. So flavorful! We finished by sharing a key lime cheesecake served with tart lime mousse, and truffles at the end of the meal. A memorable experience (which, we decided toward the end of the meal would be our anniversary dinner for 2010 - after all, we aren't likely to have a more elegant dinner during our entire stay in Alaska).

There are lots of trails in and around Girdwood, so we explored one of them and enjoyed being in the forest, where trees and flowers were starting to come to life, and the creeks were full of water from spring snowmelt.

The rail trip back to Seward was full of scenic places; Marcia saw three moose at different places and a mother bear with two cubs crossing the track in front of us. The many curves in the track provided abundant opportunities for wildlife spotting. Tom did not see these due to his hanging out the Dutch door in the vestibule of the dome car, looking ahead at the train itself (not the wildlife). But despite focusing on the train, he did manage to capture some of the glacier-blue water along the right-of-way.

For our third weekend getaway, we went to Fox Island in Resurrection Bay, about 10 miles from Seward. Kenai Fjord Tours, a company affiliated with our lodge (they're both owned by an Alaska Native corporation, CIRI) operates many boat trips to see wildlife and glaciers in the bays, inlets and fjords near Seward, and on Fox Island they operate a wilderness lodge that is actually a nice little piece of civilization in a very beautiful natural setting. As CIRI employees, we got a substantial discount for this trip, which started with a boat ride from Seward, where we saw this bald eagle as we left the harbor...

... as well as a sea otter, floating on his back and looking at our boat.

The one-hour trip across the bay was followed by a lunch in the day lodge at Fox Island with about 80 other people off the boat.

After lunch, most of them got back on the boat to continue their tour while 12 of us lucky folks stayed on the island.

We were in a building with four lodging units including ours, Gray Whale. The room was spartan, but in a good way - all light wood walls, no extraneous furnishings, and plenty of space, with a table and chairs next to the window. This is the view from our window of the greenery and lagoon in back of our building.

After settling in we went for a walk along the rocky beach of Halibut Cove with a park ranger, who gave us much more information than we could absorb about the different types of seaweed, sea stars and other life forms that had washed up onto the rocks.

Even if we were not fully able to absorb what she was telling us, it was a delightful way to spend the afternoon.

Dinner that evening was in the main lodge building (not the day lodge where we had had lunch with the people from the boat). There were three other couples as well as a pair of women from Christchurch, New Zealand who were on a six-week North American tour. The entree was halibut, very nicely prepared.

After dinner we did more beach walking and then sat outside the lodge watching the sun sink over the mountains and glaciers on the other side of Resurrection Bay.

While sitting there, Marcia notice a large porcupine approaching us, and while we now know that the idea of a porcupine shooting its quills is a myth, we weren't about to find let him get too close, so we retired to our cabin.

From the cabin, the last bit of sunlight shining on a nearby mountain on the Resurrection Peninsula, and the calm water in the lagoon, made for a nice reflection.

In the morning we had breakfast and then did more exploration of the beach before the boat arrived to pick us up for an afternoon tour of Resurrection Bay.

Again we had lunch in the day lodge (tasty grilled salmon) and then set out across the bay. We were soon within sight of Bear Glacier, one of several glaciers that reach Resurrection Bay from the Harding Icefield.

As we cruised past the glacier, a humpback whale showed its fin. While we didn't see the whale in the classic fluking position, with tail in the air, we could get a sense of the animal's size just from the small portion that extended above the water line.

We then proceeded east across the bay to Emerald Cove, where we saw hundreds of puffins.

Puffins are made for diving underwater to catch fish. They can fly, but their takeoff is far from graceful, involving a lot of treading water and fast wing flapping before they become airborne.

Nearby was a colony of Steller sea lions...

... one of which fell off a rock into the water as we watched.

Returning to Seward, we hugged the rugged coast of Resurrection Peninsula.

Our fourth major trip, near the end of June, was to Prince William Sound, for a cruise operated by another CIRI company from the town of Whittier. The town came into existence during World War II when the U.S. Army built a two-and-one-half mile tunnel under Maynard mountain in order to construct a rail line from Anchorage. Whittier, it was felt, would provide an alternative port in the event that the Japanese attacked Seward, which was considered a very real possibility early in the war. We didn't realize it until we visited the museum in Whittier, but the Japanese had actually occupied the Aleutian island of Attu for almost a year, beginning in June 1942.

The tunnel was strictly a rail operation until the late 1990s , when it was converted to allow one-way use by motor vehicles as well as trains. Today, it opens one each hour for inbound traffic, and once for outbound.

When we arrived at Whittier, we checked in for our cruise. It was only about half full, so there was plenty of room to move around and find good viewing spots. The weather was cloudy with sun breaking through in many places. The water in the sound is very calm. About 30 minutes after leaving, the crew started serving a lunch of king crab cakes, which were delicious. We had just finished eating when the captain announced a humpback whale sighting. Although we saw it spout, as well as its fin, we never saw its fluke.

Along the coastline, there were waterfalls everywhere coming down the hillsides; it looked like ribbons were streaming down the hills.

We stopped at a fish hatchery...

... where we saw chum salmon jumping out of the water, making quick splashes. When the boat stopped for us to look into the water, there were thousands of salmon swimming below us.

At the entrance to the inlet where the hatchery was located, a fleet of commercial boats was fishing for salmon that had been born at the hatchery and, after a few years of ocean life, were returning to their birthplace to spawn.

We then went through Esther Passage and up Barry Arm into Harriman Fjord. We could see three glaciers at one time - Coxe, Barry and Cascade.

When we got to Surprise Glacier, the ship stopped and the captain turned off the engine so we could listen and watch. The sound of the ice was like thunder, even though the chunks that calved off looked small.

The glacier is about almost a mile across where it meets the water, so judging the size of the chunks coming off the glaciers was difficult.

There were a lot of harbor seals on the icebergs nearby, apparently keeping warm in the sun on the ice.

On the way back to Whittier, there were hundreds of sea otters in the waters of Prince William Sound. Some still carried babies on their bellies, but these shy animals didn't want to stay near the boat.

After the cruise, we had dinner at the waterfront hotel where we were staying (the Inn at Whittier), with a good view of Passage Canal, the arm of Prince William Sound that reaches the town.

There were commercial and sport fishing boats coming and going constantly, and while we were eating a bald eagle swooped over the boat harbor.

The next day we made two stops before returning to Seward. The first was at the National Forest Service Begich, Boggs Visitor Center near Portage Glacier. The visitor center is next to Portage Lake, and is well-designed and informative, but unfortunately the glacier itself has receded so far that it can no longer be seen from the center. We took theses photos of the Portage and another nearby glacier from a highway turnout.

We also stopped at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center in Portage, a privately-operated nonprofit that maintains small herds of bison, moose, elk, caribou and musk oxen, as well as several bears (both brown and black). Many of the animals have been rescued after being injured or orphaned. We saw bull moose with their antlers growing in, looking even more silly than when they are fully grown.

One female musk ox, who had a young one nearby, came charging at us, stopped, and turned away.

One brown bear came right up to Tom, watching him for several seconds from different angles.  We were happy to note the sign warning that the fence was electrified.

A black bear that we later saw also seemed to know Tom, walking from across the pen to come greet him. Lesson: don't go wandering in the woods with Tom if you think there may be bears nearby.

There was also a bald eagle which had an amputated wing but still looked regal...

... and a herd of elk, with the males also looking regal with their velvet-covered antlers.

There was also a porcupine (perhaps a cousin of the one we saw on Fox Island), all rolled up in a ball (how does he do without stabbing himself with his own quills?).

We're trying to make the most of our time in Alaska, and we feel good about having been able to do so much in our first several weeks here. We've been very fortunate to have had good weather on many of our weekends, since the overall weather pattern for the past month has been decidedly gray and rainy, with daytime temperatures in the 50s. The current long-term forecast for our area reads as follows: A series of weak lows track across the Bering Sea and the Gulf region through next week... bringing a seemingly constant supply of moisture to southern Alaska. These systems will be punctuated by several periods of clearing... but in general expect a wet and cool weather pattern to persist through at least the end of next week.

We're a long way from understanding everything about Alaska, but we are starting to get some insights into why Alaskans consider themselves special. Self-reliance is a big part of the state's personality, and this is not mere bravado - it's a way of life in a remote area where the services many of us take for granted in the lower 48 simply aren't available at any price. Seward is a big town by Alaska standards, but don't expect to get a prescription filled late in the evening, or a flat tire fixed on a Saturday.

The positive side of this is that Alaskans are extraordinarily helpful to their neighbors and even to strangers. In our short time here we've seen many instances of unexpected kindness, like the woman in the hardware store who offered to let us use her truck when she heard us discussing how to get some shelves back to our cabin. When Marcia was in a clothing store and asked where she could replace a lost glasses case, the manager went to the back of the store and gave her an extra glasses case that she didn't need.

It's a beautiful place, and the seafood here is marvelous, but we're learning that it's the people who make Alaska what it is.

To see our other reports about our summer in Alaska, follow these links: Part 1; Part 3. 

Text and images ©2010 Tom and Marcia Murray 

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