Our campground in Seward was amazing in
that is was the first one we encountered that didn’t have a single warning sign
to watch out for bear or any other wildlife!!
We actually camped between two rented RVs (quite a few from the Great
Alaskan Holidays company—Minnie Winnies, mini – Winnebago RVs; Cruise America
RV Rental; etc.) and set up our tent in a little patch of grass beyond the
gravel. Our neighbors to one side were
from Massachusetts! The others never
appeared from their RV, ever. The
Massachusetts folks actually flew into Fairbanks and then down to Anchorage to
pick up their RV. They’d had it less
than 24 hours, but did a great job backing it up. Andrew had to help with their water hookup as
it was spraying everywhere, and then I had to unhook it as Andrew had it wound
pretty tight, but all was good in the end.
Lovely people visiting a cousin that has been a teacher in the Aleutian
Islands and Fairbanks for 30+ years as there weren’t teaching jobs available
near her when she graduated. She apparently
surprised everyone by taking a job in Alaska and then staying.
There are TONS of RVs out there, parking
everywhere. It appears that is the way
to go if you really don’t want to drive.
It is amusing to think how much money Alaska is making on tourists. We are a cheap date as we tent camp (last
night was $10!), but RVs are more, and hotels are even more!! When we were at the Flight Deck in Anchorage
we were listening to a local complain about the tourists, with their RVs, and
tour busses, and such. I was just
thinking to myself how much tourists are pumping into the economy; even we that
are tent-camping our way do restock our food supplies and have done several
guided things and will do more just to see more and get a larger experience.
Since our hiking plans fell through, we
opted to ride our bikes about town-we did bring them along so we should use
them. It is a cute little community, as
far as tourist communities go. We
checked into our boat tour office and then parked where we were supposed to
park and then rode our bikes for about an hour, nearly taking out a few people
that literally pulled their bikes onto the gorgeous bike trail (except for
those annoying blue uprights to keep motorized things off-they are sure spaced
tightly) right in front of us. Then we
had many walkers to traverse around. All
and all, great.
The boat company suggested we dress in
layers so we added a layer right before we left. It was actually a hot day in Seward so we
never really got cold at all, even out in the water.
We got to see sea otters doing their same
cuteness. Did you know that they have a
million hairs per square inch on their bodies?
Us either, that is how they can stand the water and winters here. AND they have special “pockets” under their
armpits that they put rocks in so they can crack open crabs and such! How clever!
They want to eat and that is the way to do it!
Resurrection Bay is special as it is an
actual fjord and never freezes. It is surrounded by mountains to keep the much
colder waters of the Gulf of Alaska “out” so to speak. It is also extremely deep; there is no
gradual walking into this baby, as it drops straight to about 600 feet and is
1,000 feet in some places. There was a
ginormous cruise ship pulled into dock and lots of boats that could be
chartered for one thing or another: wildlife tours (like us), fishing, kayaking
(yes, they take you on a boat to a more secluded, less “wavy” area to kayak)
and more. There were eagles soaring
overhead, so majestic.
This tour is the same one we used ten
years ago but this time lunch was included.
What was lunch? A sandwich? No—salmon,
prime rib, mashed potatoes, green beans/carrots, and salad. Pretty nice deal! We ate outside and were joined by two
gentlemen from Norway. Actually one was
French but was living in Norway finishing up his PhD on wolves. J I had to do a double take on that one
too. The other one has his PhD in
bears. J Yep, that one needed a smile too. It turns out they were in Anchorage for a
bear conference and there were people from all over the world attending. The “wolf” guy was actually studying wolf
habitats and since they tend to hang out where bears do, bears sometimes work
their way into his research. The “bear”
guy was doing additional research into bear communities, their genetic make-up,
diversity, etc. Very interesting
conversation for sure. They had rented
an RV (!) with several other folks that had attended the bear conference, extending
their USA stay for a week. They were
planning on heading back to Norway tomorrow.
Back onto the Nunatak and we were
presented a fluke. A beautiful whale fluke.
I love whales; just ask anyone.
They are just such majestic creatures.
We actually had a great whale viewing day, not all fluke sightings, but
at least six different ones I think. The
birds were absolutely crazy! There were HUGE
schools of fish all swimming together, looking like a black spot right under
the surface of the water, so the birds were excited and the whales were too as
this was easy eating.
We also saw some Stellar Sea Lions
(different from the California Sea Lions) and it was very interesting watching
and listening to the big bull “boss” everyone around so he could get a better
position on the rock. They are
apparently on the endangered species list right now and they are studying the
area to see if they notice any patterns on why.
They think perhaps the things they usually eat aren’t as handy due to
climate change and they are having issues adjusting.
We didn’t get to see many birds roosting
in the rocks because they were all going nuts over the fish. The puffins (two different kinds!) were funny
little fellows to watch fly. Our guide
even commented that they aren’t good flyers as they are really too heavy, but
they sure give it a shot! Some black birds
(I can’t remember their “name” right now) actually sort of “stood up” in the water
before they took flight and looked like they were mimicking penguins-black with
white and upright!
Of course the mountains are even more
beautiful every day, those dark scraggly cliffs and tops glistening with white
snow!! And those glaciers, Styrofoam
blue, just settled in between the peaks.
Several were on the edge of the Harding Ice Field, which is where we
hiked yesterday. We’ll have to get a
topographical map to see how it all relates.
On the way back to port we struck up a
conversation with a couple that looked familiar. It turns out they ate at the Double Musky the
same time we did and stayed in the same campground that evening so they were
around that magnificent fire in the roundhouse.
They are both in the military (Air Force firemen) and are here for three
years, him stationed in Fairbanks and her in Anchorage. They asked to be stationed here and came from
a year in South Korea! They decided to
take a week and explore so rented an RV to explore (either the military gets
good discounts or they rent them to their servicemen-I can’t remember now!). He
had his first winter already and, even though it was very mild compared to “normal,”
he said the complete or near complete darkness is unnerving. It really only barely gets dusky for a few hours. She just got here so is looking forward to
it-NOT. But they really wanted to explore
something new so they thought they give Alaska a try.
Dad talked some of a town called Hope so
we thought we’d see what it was all about.
Interesting! It is an abandoned
gold mining town, literally at the end of the road. There is a bar and restaurant that are in
original buildings from the late 1800s, and some other shops from that time
period as well but they were closed already for the evening. There is a “new” Hope down the road a bit,
mostly little shops of one kind or another.
A school, and churches, but really a small place.
We then waited 35 minutes to drive 2.5
miles in a tunnel, six minutes traveling on a one lane road that trains also
use! Whittier is our next adventure for
a glacier boat tour. Someone at the
Flight Deck recommended it as he “knew the guy” that runs it. Thy boats apparently get right up to the
glaciers so you can be up close and personal, and are guaranteed wildlife
sightings (maybe more whales!). Our couple
from the military warned us that the mosquitoes were really bad in
Whittier. Yeah, right. They can’t be as bad as they were at the
Arctic Circle. Yes, they can be just as
bad. It is amazing. I grabbed some of my bug spray from Avon
(Thanks, Christy-I used the silver bottle this evening but the green works too!)
and sprayed and sprayed. They didn’t
land on me but they swarmed within millimeters from my face! And they landed on my hat and hair. Even after I sprayed my hat and hair, they
landed. IRRITATING! They didn’t bite that I know of but they are
literally huge swarms. They didn’t even swarm
Andrew! Lucky!
We weren’t sure exactly where we’d be
sleeping as there aren’t a lot of places to camp here in Whittier, population 220. But we found a gravel lot designated as a
campground on the end of Prince William Sound.
There are RVs here, as I said they are everywhere! And there is one other tent! And a U-Haul van? Not sure if there is a bed in there or not!
We have a great backdrop of snowing
melting off the mountains, ending in a gorgeous waterfall. Lovely to look at but then we quickly dart
into the safety of our mosquito-free tent.
We hope to bike or kayak in the morning
before our boat tour. We’ll let you
know!
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