Alaska – Our Visit during July, 2013 - Part III

Tuesday, the 16^th July:

Seward is situated at the head of Resurrection Bay on the Kenai Peninsula and is known as the ‘Gateway to Kenai Fjords National Park.” Seward is a picturesque town with a bustling harbor. The Seward highway connecting Anchorage with Seward has been named an All-American Road, which is the highest designation of a National Scenic Byway.

In the morning, Sanjay and I left for the riverside. It was just opposite to our hotel. Actually, we wanted to get into the river to play in water, but there was no secure arrangement and so Sanjay for disappointed.

 

 

 

 

We returned back after taking pictures and spending some time in the spectacular restaurant located near the front desk at the hotel.

Meanwhile, Viji had prepared some delicious ‘rajma’ and rice for our lunch. We had cereals for our breakfast. We left our hotel to reach the visitor centre for Exit glacier and after collecting necessary information brochure, we began our hike.

We managed Sahana in the stroller for some distance, but the smooth pavement ended soon and we had to hike carrying Sanjay, Sahana and the stroller, through rough uneven rocky route. We shed weight by discarding the stroller to one corner on the way. Viji carried Sahana on her back, and I carried Sanjay on my back. We quickly moved forward. We stopped near a small bridge on the way to take some rest before we hiked further. It became colder and colder as we went closer and closer to the glacier. There was strong, chilly wind blowing in our direction. We reached the penultimate view point before the glacier and from there we had wonderful view of the valley down and the glacier up the hill. Sanjay and I went further up to the final view point that was very close to the glacier. It was freezing cold there and worsened by cold winds. The glacier looked beautiful in semi-bluish in color and at the same time very scary too.

An information board kept there, revealed that the glacier had been receding or shortening in its length over years, probably indicating global warming.

While returning back to the visitor centre, some visitors whom we met on the way reported that they spotted a bear in the woods area and they cautioned us to go carefully. However, we saw no bear and we were back safely at the visitor center. While we were looking at a few souvenirs displayed for sale, Sanjay attempted some puzzle in a book gifted to him by the Ranger staff in the visitor center. For successfully completing the puzzle, Sanjay was presented with a Forest Junior Ranger Badge and was administered the Junior Forest Ranger’s pledge. It was funny watching Sanjay taking the pledge without opening his mouth. But he was visibly proud that he had received the Badge. We went back to the hotel for our lunch.

In the evening, we left for the bay area. Sanjay and Sahana played for sometime in a park and we didn’t have much activity to do except watching the bay and the moving, small ships and speed-boats.

Suddenly, Viji had an idea. She suggested that we could drive up to Cooper Landing on the Seward highway to see Kenai River and Kenai Lake. It was a 47 miles drive on the way to Anchorage.

It was late in the evening when we reached the quiet Kenai Lake. The lake was desolated, but for a lady and her small child. The lady patiently watched her two-year-old son playing with pebbles near the water. She carried a gun on her belt and that scared us. But she was nice, she lived there and she gave us very useful information about the place. On her suggestion we drove a little up on the main road to reach a bridge across the Kenai River from where we could get excellent view. The river and its blue water with the backdrop of the hill offered scintillating view. It was past 8.00 PM and someone was just beginning his lonely river-rafting. He must be a daredevil, we thought.

 

 

 

 

After taking several pictures, we returned back to our hotel, had our dinner and went to sleep.

The hotel we stayed was located in a beautiful, spacious campus with plenty of trees, flowers and plants.

 

 

..................... continued in Part IV

   

Alaska - Our visit during July, 2013 - Part II

Part II
Sunday, the 14^th July:
We spent our forenoon at the Science Centre at Anchorage. The children enjoyed the several scientific exhibits playfully. Sanjay and Balaji went for a ‘dinosaur show’ while we went for ‘Northern lights’ show in the planetarium theatre.

Alaska is known for the Northern Lights – Aurora, a strange phenomenon of a natural display in the sky particularly in the high latitude (Arctic and Antarctic) regions, caused by the collisions of energized charged particles with atoms in the high altitude atmosphere (thermosphere).

We also went around the Science Centre looking at various exhibits about life in Alaska, its history and heritage and later developments.

In the evening we went for buying souvenirs from a gift-store. Later, we walked along the Downtown hoping to catch the entry to the walking/biking/hiking trail along the bay, but we couldn’t locate it. And so, we spent our time in a few parks, the children enjoying their park time more than our planned hike.

Monday, the 15^th July:
We vacated from our hotel after our breakfast and headed towards Seward. We took the same scenic Seward highway along the Turnagain Arm.

On the way, we stopped for hiking to Flattop Mountain. This is a 3510 feet high mountain forming part of Chugach State Park, with an elevation of 1280 feet from the parking lot. It was generally cloudy and misty around the mountains. There are several levels to climb on this mountain. One could walk or bike.

 

 

 

We could view Anchorage from the first level. We went up to the second level too. Lakshmi and Sahana stayed back. We couldn’t try to hike to third and further levels for want of time. Besides, Sanjay started complaining about his hurting legs. After all, he was just four years old.
From the Flattop Mountain, we drove further on the Seward highway and on the way we stopped to view a small waterfall. We drove all the way to the end of Turnagain Arm and then to the other side of the Arm and then towards South to reach Seward. The drive on the other side of Turnagain Arm was really very scenic with mountains, rivers, and lakes. Two of the important places we passed through were:

·        Moose Pass situated on the shores of Upper Trail Lake 30 miles outside of Seward. Iditarod trail begins here and was used to transport gold and supplies. There is abundance of moose in the area and prompted the name for the place.

·        Cooper Landing, considered as the ‘Gem of the Kenai Peninsula’, ‘a Emerald’ in summer and ‘a Diamond’ in the Winter, is one of the finest, most diverse outdoor recreation area Alaska has to offer. Conveniently located in the middle of the Kenai Peninsula, nestled in the majestic Kenai Mountains along the beautiful turquoise waters of Kenai Lake and the upper Kenai River. These waters are uniquely tinted blue-green by suspended ultra-fine glacial silt. Fishing, rafting, hiking, sightseeing, horseback riding, mountain biking, sea kayaking, and gold panning are popular activities of the place.

We reached Seward in the evening. Our stay was arranged at Windsong Hotel on the banks of the Resurrection River. The view of the distant mountains, some of them snow-capped, from the banks of the river was mesmerizing.

                                                                                                                          ………………..Continued in Part III