Today, we went sea kayaking in Resurrection Bay in Seward. To get there, we drove about 3 miles on a dirt road. We pulled up to this barn and walked in to find a gravel floor and several people walking around in flip flops. They were all very nice. We headed to the beach and started our kayaking adventure.
There was fog early in the trip. We were supposed to kayak about 5 miles, then hike for 2.5 to an old WWII bunker. Our guide said if the fog didn't burn off it would not be worth hiking that far because we couldn't see much. The fog never burned off, so we stopped for lunch on North Beach. We hiked about a mile and then started kayaking back. We stopped at another beach where we walked to a creek to see the salmon running. We weren't the only ones there for the salmon - we were joined by a young black bear. There are several pics in today's album.
The scenery all day was just breathtaking. As James said, "it doesn't matter where you look it is just beautiful." We really enjoyed the trip. I was VERY nervous about the kayaking trip because I am just not fond of being around the water stuck in a plastic thing with my legs kind of confined. But it was just fine. :)
While we kayaked, we saw a seal and sea lion. We saw several fish jumping out the water and several different birds that go diving for fish. And of course we saw the black bear and salmon.
The kayaking trip lasted from 9-5. We went for dinner then headed to Exit Glacier. Glaciers are not just chunks of ice floating in the water. That's what I thought before I came to Alaska. A glacier is just an accumulation of snow and ice where snow accumulates faster in the winter than it melts off in the summer. As they melt, they work their way down the mountains. There are several different types of glaciers.
Exit Glacier was really neat. As early as 1998 you could actually touch the glacier. However, it has receded enough that you can no longer touch it. This may sound alarming to you and you may be thinking "that's global warming". But there was a sign at the park showing where the glacier had been in previous years. The worst decay of the glacier was in the 1960s and sometime in the early 1800s.
The pictures of the glacier don't do it justice. It is massive but only a small portion of the ice fields that it came from.
Take a look at our pictures from today. Hope you enjoy! Tomorrow we have a boat ride in Whittier to see more glaciers and wildlife.
Seward pics
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One of these days......AHHH. David has always wanted to go to Alaska. We'll make it there someday maybe, if only in our dreams! Thanks for sharing your trip with us. Its beautiful. I hope you all continue to have a great time. And watch out for those bears!!! We looked at the pictures first,(cause I was excited) and our first thought about the glacier receding was global warming. Glad you explained, thats just what you would expect, I guess.
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