Happy
Independence Day! We are celebrating the
holiday in Seward, Alaska on the Kenai Peninsula, known for hosting July 4th
fireworks earlier than at any other place in the USA: At 12:01 a.m.!
By noontime on Saturday we
arrived at Stony Creek RV Park, which bills itself as "Seward's only luxury RV Park." HUH? Someone needs Webster's Dictionary to learn the meaning of luxury. Anyway...
After settling in, we rode the motorcycles
over to Kenai Fjords National Park, home to the Harding Ice Fields, for some
hiking and viewing of Exit Glacier. The 3 miles we traversed along the Glacier
View and Edge of the Glacier Trails demonstrated how significantly Exit Glacier
has receded in the last 100 years.
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View of Exit Glacier from Edge of the Glacier Trail
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Then Dad got a bit too ambitious and talked us into taking the Harding Ice Fields
Trail, an 8.2 mile round trip hike that Mom learned later was rated 25 out of
28 for level of difficulty, with elevation gains of 3,000 feet! WHAT?
Is Dad trying to knock us off? At 6 p.m., by the 1.25 mile mark, with a 1,000 foot elevation increase in just the first third of the hike, Mom started quoting Clint Eastwood’s Dirty
Harry character, “a man’s got to know his limitations.” But Dad pushed us on farther still, until we came upon three men from India, one of whom was sitting on the ground with his boot
off. He apparently had stumbled and
sprained his ankle. There were not many
folks on the trail at this point, and someone had to report his injury and get
him help. Dad decided that this was our sign--it was time to turn around. THANK
GOODNESS!
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View from Harding Ice Fields Trail
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View from Harding Ice Fields Trail
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We
got back on the bikes on Sunday morning and headed into downtown Seward. We walked
along the docks, visited some shops, and had a great seafood lunch at Ray’s on
the Waterfront Restaurant. With its many
city-operated waterfront campgrounds, Seward is a popular camping destination
for both tourists and local Alaskans.
This is especially true for the July 4th holiday, when the
population of Seward swells from 2,500 to more than 25,000! Holiday festivities include a race up Mount
Marathon, a parade, and of course, fireworks!
We
enjoyed the company of friends Kelly and Bill (who are work-camping here in
Seward), Steve and Linda (who assisted us with scouting campground sites at
Denali National Park), and 18 other RVillagers who
travelled North to Alaska this summer season.
Steve and Linda hosted the event since their rig was parked right in
front of Resurrection Bay. Talk about a
room with a view! From their windshield
they see beautiful snow-capped mountains enveloped by puffy clouds, ships of
all kinds and sizes sailing along the crisp waters, sea otters surfing and
frolicking in the waves. It’s “paradise
from the dashboard light”! Of course,
the trade-off is that you are surrounded by hundreds of other folks on all
sides in an area that is like party central.
But that’s a trade-off most are all willing to make this holiday
weekend.
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Resurrection Bay
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Cruise Ship in Harbor
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A couple of otters frolicking in the water
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Staying
to see those fireworks at 12:01 a.m. kept me up way past bedtime, so I slept in
today. But this afternoon, we got back
on the bikes to do a little more touring.
We visited Vagt Lake, took a 2 mile hike, and got a fantastic photo of the Alaska Train. We also spotted two
moose cows, and captured some pics for a change! (I took video of both the otters and moose--waiting for Dad to help me load to my youtube channel)!
Tomorrow
we head to Kenai. Talk to you soon!
It was great to see you guys and spend time together, especially on our countries birthday! How awesome that you got to help out a fellow RVer in such a HUGE way! Good for you! Love the pics of moose and other wildlife! Safe continued travels my friend!
ReplyDeleteTouring around on the motorcycles in Alaska must make the experience extra special.
ReplyDeleteDid you dig for Ice Worms at Exit Glacier?
Safe travels!
It is a dream come true to get the bikes out in Alaska! The weather has been kind to us enough to tour the Grealand on two wheels. The glacier is too far back now that you cannot get close to it.
DeleteIt is a dream come true to get the bikes out in Alaska! The weather has been kind to us enough to tour the Grealand on two wheels. The glacier is too far back now that you cannot get close to it.
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