Alaska Tour Days 27-32

On Day 27, July 18, we headed for Seward, 172 miles from Homer.  It was a beautiful sunny day so we stopped at the Kachemak Bay viewpoint to get a clear look at the bay and Mount Iliamna.

Here are some photos from our drive...

Our campground was right on the water.

After setting up we walked all around town and wound up at Seward Brewery where we had a beer and some delicious Wontonachos (spicy beef, pico de gallo, and cheese sauce, served on fried wontons).

The following day the tour group went on a Kenai Fjords National Park Wildlife and Glacier Cruise with a salmon dinner on Fox Island.  It was a cloudy day but it was still a fun cruise.

We set sail on the Tanaina

Eagles!

Humpback Whales

Dall's Porpoises

Sea lions relaxing on the rocks

We sailed to the Aialik Glacier, the largest glacier in Aialik Bay in Kenai Fjords National Park.

First glimpse of glacier

Because of light refraction, glaciers have beautiful blue colors in them.

Our captain kept the boat close to the glacier and revved the engine several times in an effort to get pieces of ice to fall off.  Some small pieces did fall.  We were able to hear glacier calving.  This is a loud, thunder-like rumble the glacier makes as pieces break off and push into bodies of water, creating icebergs.

This fisherman was so proud of his catch, he held it up for us to see.

Dinner on Fox Island was delicious.  Afterwards we spent a few minutes looking for heart shaped rocks on the beach before heading back to the harbor.

The next day the group went on a guided hike to see Exit Glacier.  Exit Glacier is a glacier derived from the Harding Icefield in the Kenai Mountains.  On our walk we passed signs noting how far out the glacier was in the past.  It's remarkable how much it has receded in the last 100 years.

Here we go! We had bear spray ready to use!

The marks on the tree are from a moose's teeth when he rips off bark to eat.

Notice the water from the melting glacier

Look how much it has receded since 2010.

Saturday, July 21, was a free day.  We spent it walking around town and shopping, and packing for our drive to Palmer on Sunday.

We are retracing some of our drive as we start to head to Prince George, BC where the tour ends.  Palmer is about 45 miles north of Anchorage.  On Day 32, July 23, the tour visited a Musk Ox Farm.  It was a very interesting tour.  The non-profit Musk Ox Farm is dedicated to the domestication of the musk ox, an Ice Age mammal that once roamed the earth alongside saber tooth tigers and wooly mammoths.  These animals produce an annual harvest of quiviut, the finest wool in the world.  It is incredibly soft but quite expensive.  Musk Ox do not like to waste their energy.  They are happy to spend their days eating, sleeping and pooping.

After the tour it was time to get ready for Day 33 and the drive to Glennallen.

Alaska Tour Days 21 - 26

We arrived in Anchorage on Day 21, July 12.

Just outside Anchorage a moose ran across the highway right in front of us.  John had to step on the brakes to keep from hitting it.  When I thought about taking a picture, it was already in the other lane and all I could photograph was its backside...

Later that afternoon after setting up we went to the Mann Leiser Greenhouses in Russian Jack Park.  This is where they grow all the beautiful flowers that decorate downtown Anchorage.

The next day we took a narrated trolley tour through town.  One of the things we learned about was the 1964 earthquake.  Lasting 4 minutes 38 seconds with a magnitude of 9.2, it is the most powerful earthquake recorded in North America and the 2nd most powerful in the world.  Two hundred miles southwest of Anchorage some areas near Kodiak were permanently raised by 30 feet while to the southeast near Turnagain Arm some areas dropped as much as 8 feet.  A 27-foot tsunami destroyed the village of Chenega, killing 23 of the 68 people who lived there.  It's hard to imagine such a powerful earthquake!

Downtown Anchorage...

...and salmon?

Another interesting area in town was the Lake Hood Float Plane Base.  Lake Hood is the world's busiest seaplane base, handling an average of 190 flights per day.  During the winter the frozen lake surface is maintained for ski-equipped planes.  We went back to the airfield on our own and enjoyed looking at the planes...

Plane docks (instead of boat docks) lined the lake

This 1/2 truck is used to move float planes

Watching planes take-off and land...

And we even had to stop to let a plane that landed taxi in front of us...

That evening the tour group had a pizza party at the campground.  Just as it was starting, we all heard a loud metal crunching sound.  Turns out while someone with another tour was attempting to park in his RV site he backed up close to our pickup truck and when he moved forward and turned into his site, the back of his RV caught the back end of our truck.  It opened the rear of his motor home like a tin can! Thankfully our truck is still drivable!

That was an exciting way to end our stay in Anchorage!  On Day 24, July 15 we headed for Homer.  On the way we stopped at Potter's Marsh, a game refuge and bird sanctuary.  There is an extensive boardwalk for viewing waterfowl, swans, geese and more.

We saw no swans but we did see a female moose walking through the marsh.

Further down the road there was a nice pull off with a waterfall...

There was also Beluga Point which is a good spot to see beluga whales.  We saw none.

The drive to Homer had many photo opportunities...

The water on the Kenai River is a beautiful blue/green.

We stopped at an area for viewing Mount Iliamna.  There was a path leading to the edge of a cliff.

Mount Iliamna, elevation 10,016, is in the Aleutian Range

We passed several strange flattened grass areas along the path.  We wondered:  alien crop circles or very large animal?!?

The edge of the cliff looked down about 60 ft on a beach.  When I stepped to the side I noticed that part of the cliff looked like solid ground but in reality it was only about 12" thick and was hanging over the beach below!

Don't step too close to the edge!

The clouds parted and we got a better look at Mount Iliamna

Just outside of Homer there was another pull off overlooking Kachemak Bay.

The mountains are somewhere behind the clouds!

Here comes the rain!

Our RV campground was located on Homer Spit.  Located on the southern tip of the Kenai Peninsula, the spit is a 4.5-mile long piece of land jutting out into Kachemak Bay.  It is a beautiful place, surrounded by water and mountains with a fishing lagoon and boat harbor.  We also found time to ride our bikes the entire length of the spit and back again.  There was a light rain when we were setting up but the rest of our time there it was windy with highs around 60 and lows around 45.

Many people were fishing in the lagoon, which is stocked with salmon

People lined the banks of the lagoon.  There was even a section  just for kids.

The boat ramps and docks float up and down with the tide

We spotted a mama eagle tending to her baby

Many fishing charters in the area

On Day 26, July 17, we took a narrated bus tour of the town and harbor.  The tour included a visit to the Norman Lowell art gallery just outside of town. He came to Alaska 60 years ago and raised his family on his homestead that now includes his original one-room cabin, the art gallery, and his current house.

The original cabin

Time to get ready for Day 27 and our drive to Seward!