Alaska: Seward Glacier and Alaska SeaLife Center

Today is my last full day in Alaska and I pack the day with activities.

I start the morning with breakfast at the Porthole food truck. They’ve been a reliable provider of coffee the past two days.

The travel fatigue is catching up with me so I choose a short hike today to go see Exit Glacier. Exit Glacier is part of the Harding Icefield, a 700 square mile ice block that feeds many glaciers. Exit Glacier is easily assessable through a short trail with just a short bit that might prove a little challenging for some. However there is a farther viewing area for those who can’t make the hike.

On my drive to the glacier I see a moose family trotting along the road. My drive is slightly delayed while I wait for them to turn off the road.

I stop to finish my coffee with a view.

Walking down the paved path to the Exit Glacier you will come across signs with years on them. The years represent how far the glacier extended during that year. It visually shows how much the glacier has receded over the years.

There are also beautiful views of the valley formed by the former glacier.

The final part of the trail.

Some glacier views

I follow the trail back and I decide to go off to the side trail that I didn’t take earlier. I end up in a large rocky area which I believe used to be part of the glacier. I walk on the rocks to get another view of the glacier.

I leave Exit Glacier and drive back in town to visit the Alaska SeaLife Center. I am not normally a big fan of aquariums but this one is highly rated so it is worth a visit. I am not disappointed. I learn so much about local sea life and come up close to sea life I am only able to see at a distance prior.

One of the great things about the museum is seeing all the sea birds up close. It is entertaining to watch them swim, fight and swaddle about. I see Common Mure, Horned Puffin, Tufted Puffin, King Eider and more.

We don’t get up close to the Stellar Sea Lion (and I am glad) but we do get to see them swim around.

I of course need to stare at the salmon. I love to eat salmon and am ever interested in witnessing spawning of salmon someday.

Another (new) favorite of mine, the King Crab; plus friends

Octopus

While at a lower level I observe the tank below the birds. I catch puffins diving. They are excellent swimmers.

Jellyfish

I finish my day with a sandwich and a view and a local spot. It is still very light out but I feel like I need a rest. The cruise exhaustion is catching up with me. Good thing I am going home tomorrow.

Alaska: Kenai Fjord Cruise from Seward

My first full day in Seward Alaska consists of a nature cruise. I have a little anxiety about going on this cruise because I have had the bad luck of not seeing much wildlife on cruises or the tour getting cancelled for bad weather in past attempts. Neither happens today. The Captain’s Choice National Park Tour goes on spectacularly. Most of the boat tours have a set itinerary but this particular tour goes where the Captain sees best and the captain is amazing. On this cruise I see more wildlife than I expected. My animal checklist on the cruise pamphlet has me check off ten out of the thirteen possible animals.

The first wildlife we see are the cheeky sea otters. They love swimming along the side of the boat. We learn how these otters were almost extinct because they used to be hunted for their unique fur. Their special fur keeps them very insulated and dry.

We next spot some mountain goats. We see a mom and a baby goat. The mother is trying to teach the baby to climb. It is endearing to watch the mom encourage the kid and the kid too scared to climb.

Next we see a glacier – Holgate Glacier. What is good about this cruise is we come very close to the glacier, something we were unable to do with the big cruise ship. It is a more intimate experience. The crew collects some floating ice from the glacier and I order a glacierita made with the ice.

After the glacier we are back to animal viewing. We first see the cormorant, a bird that is an excellent diver.

I finally see some puffins, in fact we see two types: Horned Puffin and Tuffed Puffin.

We cruise by a bunch of stellar sea lions.

I am introduced to the Common Murre.

Also seen is a beautiful bald eagle.

We also catch Humpback whales, Orcas, dal’s porpoise and harbor seals.

We arrive back at the dock and all I can think about is some more king crab legs. Luckily there is a restaurant nearby that has them on the menu.

I walk around town and back to my hotel with a view full stomach. I don’t think I have ever seen so much sea life in one day. I highly recommend the cruise.

Alaska: College Fjord & Seward

Today is the last day of cruising. Luckily there is no early start. I start my morning with a causal breakfast and a rest on the upper deck.

I have no plans until the afternoon so I sign up for a wine tasting. I try many wines and snack on some cheese.

We arrive in College Fjord and it is time for the on deck observation. I see more beautiful vistas and glaciers. What we see here are tidewater glaciers -glaciers that are fed by the snow and break off into the sea.

It is the last night on the ship so the main dining room has its napkin swirling music celebration.

I try to stay out a little my last night but I don’t make it a late night.

The next morning we depart early.

The cruise port is Whittier but it is actually 60 miles from Anchorage. Transportation options are limited so we hop on a bus to take us to the Anchorage airport. From there I am picking up a rental car but I will spend a couple hours with family in town while they wait for their flight. The bus ride to Anchorage is scenic and the driver plays theme music as we travel through the long tunnels. There is some commentary on the way, so you aren’t just getting a quiet and boring bus ride.

Today is no Kings protest so I briefly participate in the protest by honking while I drive by in my rental car.

My cousin and I stop for lunch. He splurges on King Crab once again and I try a Yak burger.

I drop him off at the airport and start my drive to Seward where I am spending my next few days. During my initial planning I wanted to take the coastal trains to Seward because I read the views on the journey are unforgettable but the I am unable to fit the train times into my schedule. I rent an expensive rental car instead. I am rewarded with a beautiful drive of my own where I stop occasionally to enjoy the views during the two plus hour drive.

When I arrive my motel room is ready. Accommodations in Seward are not fancy and they are not cheap but the room is clean and convenient to town. Hotels tend to be pricey here because there aren’t many of them and the official tourist season is fairly short.

I check into my room and walk into town to see if they have tables at the highly rated Cookery restaurant and they do. I sit at the bar and eat the most delicious meal. The service is friendly and they actually cook salmon correctly. I could have eaten here multiple times since the menu looks fantastic.

It’s still early and due to the sun setting very late this time of year it appears I have so much day left so I walk around town and along the water. I pass by a campsite that is lively. It seems like many drive their campers out here for the summer and enjoy the mild temperatures. (Or I am just really lucky because I have terrific weather during my entire Alaska adventures.

Tomorrow I have a nature cruise and I hope it leaves as scheduled in the morning. In the past I’ve had bad luck with those types of cruises but I feel like my luck is changing.

Alaska: Glacier Bay National Park

Today is a scenic cruising day and I am up early. We have a 7:15am presentation by the park rangers from Glacier Bay National Park here in Alaska that have stealthily boarded our ship even earlier this morning. Luckily my aunt has saved me a seat much to the disappointment of other passengers that were eying my seat. There are some morning snacks, which is good since I haven’t had time to eat yet.

Today we are on the ship all day and the goal is to find a good viewing deck when we get close to each of the glaciers. This is the time when I regret not splurging for a balcony room. While I am pushing myself awkwardly in the tiny available spaces to get a good view I dream of having a coffee and sitting on my balcony with a delivered breakfast waiting for the glacier view to come to me. As usual my anxiety is unnecessary because we spend quite a while at each glacier and the boat slowly rotates giving one ample chances to get a good view of the glacier – multiple times.

Lamplugh Glacier

Margerie Glacier

The only disappointing thing is that we are too early in the season to see calving, or when pieces of ice break off as part of the natural cycle of glaciers – though some are receding more due to climate change.

I forgot to include last night’s meals in my previous post so here are some pictures of the tartare, lamb chops, and port wine I had last night.

Tonight for dinner we visit the speciality BBQ restaurant to get some meats and southern favorites.

I go to a late comedy show. Luckily we don’t have an early rising in the morning.

Alaska Cruise: Juneau

Today we are docking in Juneau, Alaska. I have another excursion booked but it doesn’t leave until the afternoon so there is no rush to get off the ship. My cousin and I are going on this excursion today so we coordinate our day. We’ll disembark this morning to explore Juneau, eat some king crabs then meet up with our tour group.

Even though the line is long we pay the expensive fee to take the tram up to the Roberts Peak. There is some First Nation’s exhibits, hiking trails and some gorgeous views of below. We hike one of the trails.

There is an option to hike down but I am unsuccessful in talking my cousin into it, plus we don’t know how long it would take us and our priority is to get some king crabs legs at Tracy’s King Crab Shack. We wait in the line for Tracy’s. It isn’t the longest but we do wait a bit – however it is worth it. Seeing the hefty price tag we decide on a 1lb per person instead of the bucket and it is the perfect size. I walk out still very full and very satisfied. The only thing we ask for more of is some butter and my cholesterol will hate me later for it.

We still have time to spare before we meet our tour so we walk as far as we have time for towards the other end of town.

Our tour is whale watching and a visit to Mendenhall Glacier afterwards. Each of these things can be coordinated on your own for probably cheaper but it seemed safer to book through the cruise to save the planning hassle and there is a better odds they would get you back in time to board the ship before it leaves; there is always that risk when you go off on your own. If I did it again I’d probably do a choose your own adventure day because I would have liked a little more time to hike the longer trail at Mendenhall Glacier and we did not have enough time on our visit for it.

This is the third whale watching tour I have attempted – the first was cancelled in New Zealand due to weather and the second in the Azores was only filled with dolphins – so I am hopeful at another chance to see whales. We do see some breaching briefly from the window of a cruise ship bar but that doesn’t count. Fortunately we are successful on this boat. At first I am slow to see them because I am always on the opposite end or side of the boat when it happens and it isn’t easy as a shortie to get a peak from behind other people, but I eventually get my views since it appears there is enough whale action to go around.