Sharp's Travels

Everyone was told they could leave at their leisure this morning as long as they were out of the park by 10am. Spike knew if we all left together we would never make it through the lights together. We were told we could meet at our 10 minute break spot at mile 62.

It was only 47 degrees this morning. We closed up in the rain and headed out of the park at 8:45am. We traveled along the Seward Highway down along Turnagain Arm. The fog was hanging low over the mountains. Just after we passed Beluga Point we spotted 6 or 7 Beluga Whales out in Cook Inlet. The Belugas travel in packs so they can trap schools of salmon to eat.

We stopped at the same bakery we were at yesterday hoping to get a chance to try their scones. We were able to get 2 and take them along to the wayside at mile 52, where we met up with 5 or 6 of our group waiting for Spike.

Finally we were all together again and pulled in to take a 10 minute break.

Off we go—only about 45 miles to go to Seward.

Seward was founded in 1903 and named after William Seward, who bought Alaska from Russia in 1867. Seward is the beginning of the Alaska Railroad and the Iditarod Trail.

We got set up in Seward at the City RV Park right on Resurrection Bay. We had a quick lunch and then Spike took us on a city tour. He pointed out restaurants, shops and fishing spots.

At 3:30pm we all carpooled to Kenai National Park to get a look at Exit Glacier. We were given a guided tour up to within about a couple of thousand feet of the glacier. We were on our own from there. A group of us started wading in the water hoping to get to the toe of the glacier. The water became too deep and we climbed a hill and followed a path through the woods and worked our way up to within 150ft. of the side of the glacier. We got close enough to peer into deep blue glacial crevasses. What a beautiful site. Pictures do no do it justice.

We met up with the rest of our group back down the trail and headed back to our campground. We made one quick stop at the Bay’s edge to get a glimpse of the spawning salmon heading up stream. We spotted two huge red salmon. Hope we see more tomorrow.

For pictures of the day see album: Anchorage to Seward 7-23-08