Four Days in Seward

On day eight of our trip we drove into Seward, Alaska to stay with Seth's friend Catie. Her parents were nice enough to let us park our vehicle in their driveway so we didn't have to go searching for camp grounds every night. Since we were at a house it was also very nice to have access to showers and Wifi whenever we wanted. After awhile on the road we really started to appreciate those things that many take for granted. :) Seward is a small town located along the Gulf of Alaska, two hours south of Anchorage. It becomes a draw to tourists during the summer because of the whale watching, chartered fishing, and tours of the Kenai Peninsula. 

Our first day in Seward we went hiking-- or I should say more like mountain climbing. At first we were going to hike up to Exit Glacier and walk on the ice, that is until we found out that Catie's dog Bella couldn't come with. Plan B was to hike to the bowl on Mount Marathon. Now let me tell you some info about this Mountain. Every year in July there is a race where people run up to the top (3,022 ft tall), and then run all the way back down. Catie was telling us that some people can complete the race in about an hour. Yikes. Catie and a few of her brothers actually run the race every year. The race course is different than the route we took to the top (we took the long way) but it totals about 3 miles. Getting to the top on race day takes about 40 minutes and the descent takes about 10 or 15 (obviously give or take a few minutes depending on the person). We however, took a very different route to the top on the other side of the mountain. Originally we were going to go about half way up the mountain the what is called 'The Bowl', but then Mat decided he was going to go all the way to the top, so we all came with. So, after four miles up hill we finally got to the top of the snow-capped mountain. It was a wonderful view of harbor and we could see all the mountains around us that were much much taller. (I couldn't imagine trying to summit one of those!) 

Trail on Mount Marathon 

Waterfall along the hiking trail

Now for the descent. We decided to take the race course route down since it was much faster than trekking all the way back from where we came from. What we didn't know was how crazy steep it was going to be! For all of my family that has been to Pierce Stocking in MI, imagine going down for over two miles on snow and then loose shale. For those who don't know what this is like, imagine not being able to see even a couple hundred yards in front of you because it is so steep and appears to just drop off. It was intense. (and people run down this!)  However, I can imagine it might have been easier to run if our muscles hadn't been so tired from climbing all the way up. For Mat and I while we were on the mountain, it was tough. It was horrible. Why would anyone do this?! But once we got to the bottom of the trail it all became clear. It was success. We had climbed a mountain and got to see some of the most wonderful views. We had summited a mountain! Now I look back on that day feeling proud of myself, thankful for Catie showing us the way, and being able to say 'I did it!'. 

Mat and I at the top of Mount Marathon

Seth and Catie at the top of Mount Marathon

Day two was a bit more low key. We had one of the best breakfast burritos with sausage gravy at a train car restaurant. The restaurant only has six booths that fit four people each, but it was oh so good. We walked around town and ate at the Seward Brewing Company. Neither Mat or I are beer drinkers, but Seth and Catie enjoyed a tall cold one before we went to check out the tide pools. It was relaxing walking along the black sand beach searching for  little animals left behind and waiting for the tide to come back in. I was disappointed I didn't have my camera with, but we saw starfish, anemones, hermit crabs, and other little creatures of the deep. That night we set out to camp along the road heading into Exit Glacier Park. The campsite we finally decided on was in the river bed of the Exit Glacier River. It was located between two mountains and there were many meandering streams shooting off of the main channel. Here we ate dinner and sat by the warm fire until going to bed in the Jeep.

Day three was spent in town. Around noon we went to lunch at a Greek restaurant and had gyros. They were delicious. Then we walked around many of the small shops and saw more of the touristy souvenirs. We stopped by the Sea Life Center for a few hours, which focuses its' exhibits around the aquatic animals found in Alaska. There was a touch pond where we got to poke at a whole bunch of small sea creatures, as well as watch sea lions, seals, otters, and local birds in the other exhibits. The most fun was watching the male sea lion, Pilot, being fed. He was 1,400 lbs and huge! Apparently he is only a little over half of his full grown size which will be about 2,500 lbs when he gets a few years older. Pilot was swimming, flopping around, and barking while he was getting fed 40 lbs of fish. After this we went into the harbor to see the fish being weighed and filleted by the fishing boats. The biggest one we saw was a 110 lb halibut. 

Eagle on Bear Lake (photo credit to Seth Aasen)

Eagle on Bear Lake (photo credit to Seth Aasen)

The last day of our stay we slept in pretty late and again we decided to go to the train car restaurant and for lunch (it was just so good, we had to go back). Then we went to Adventure60 to rent canoes. We were dropped off at Bear Lake and left to explore until we wanted picked up. While paddling along we saw many birds and Salmon. At one point Mat and I had a loon only three feet away from our canoe! Seth and Catie saw a whole bunch of bald eagles at the mouth of a stream where salmon had congregated together. After getting picked up from two hours of canoeing, we checked out the Weir. Bear Lake was up stream from a Weir that let only a certain amount of salmon through each day (or else they would overtake the lake and ruin the ecosystem). The rest of the fish went to a company that sold them to local restaurants or markets.  It was a man made dam that the salmon had to jump up in order to get to Bear Lake and later on to their spawning grounds. Once they got up the dam, some were let through, and some weren't (due to preserving the lake). We watched the little guys try to make it up the rushing water for quite some time-- it was so entertaining.

The next day was bitter sweet. In the morning Catie had to go to work, and we were going to start our way north to the Dalton Highway.