So we left for Seward. About 200 - 300 miles south of Anchorage, Seward is a small town by the sea - where huge cruise ships come to drop people off starting the day Alaska opens - May 15. Seriously, in Alaska, nothing is open before May 15 or after September 21st. Since Captain and I were there May 1st, we were the first customers at the hostel in Seward, Moby Dick (highly recommended!), and struggled to get transportation there from Anchorage.
We were there for the purpose of sea kayaking - to explore the fjords and enormous tidewater glaciers up close and see the sea life. The only kayaking rental place available at the time was a few miles from town and they denied us the Kenai Fjords National Park. This was due to the weather, Aialik Bay faces directly into the open Pacific Ocean and the weather is notoriously bad. This was our first time sea kayaking, and they were taking a risk just letting us go into Resurrection Bay. We had to do an underwater exit from our kayak, which we did extremely successfully and quickly (the water is a numbing 45 degrees).
Since we were the first customers, they lent us wet suits, wet bags, and a map for free, but it was still expensive for the boat ride and renting the kayaks for a few nights. We originally thought we were going for only one night, and had only brought enough food for 2 days. Except for rice. We had a lot of rice. The boat ride over we saw otters and dolphins.
We were dropped off in Thumb Cove, to be picked up two days later on Fox Island. The first day was a rare one - perfect cerulean skies, warm sun, ice covered mountains and cold gray sea. We kayaked the whole cove, taking pictures of purple and pink starfish, seals, and picturesque houses on tiny islands, only accessible by sea plane or boat. I tried fishing for the first time, only for an hour and by kayak. Not a nibble, but there wasn't much to get apparently. I'm certainly no expert and I still say I haven't been fishing yet.
That night, instead of camping, we stayed in a cabin that gets rented out - the door was open and we stayed the night. Reading the cabin's log, we realized that less than a week before a female bear had inhabited the space below the cabin. I had nightmares. For dinner, in order to preserve our rations, we had seaweed, Tabasco sauce and rice for dinner. Kinda bland but pretty salty. Not bad overall.
The forest there is rainforest - big ole pine trees with lots of moss everywhere. It's very quiet, only a murmur from boats passing by in the Bay and the dripping of water off the pine needles. Truly a beautiful place.
The next day we went out of Thumb Cove heading for Sandspit Point State Marine Park on Fox Island. But we had to get to Humpy Cove first. The wind was fierce and we paddled with all our strength - it was very tiring and very cold. We finally made it to Humpy Cove, where the wind abated dramatically, and we ate some ramen to recover our warmth and strength. We stuck to the coves, checking out the sea caves filled with anemones, starfish, and snails. One little inlet was the most beautiful of all - a perfect waterfall, a sea cave with sunlight reflecting off the water, and an otter playing in the midst. It made me want to cry, it was so perfect. Soul-filling, you see it and you don't need to eat...almost.
Since we were making such good time, Captain and I went past Fox Island towards the open ocean. We heard there was a sea lion den on the rocks to the south. But we saw no sea lions, only a really cool arch - Captain wanted to go through, but I was scared of getting stuck, for good reason, and we didn't risk it.
We made it to the Sandspit Point on Fox Island and made camp. It looked like the moon Endor in the final Star Wars - I kept expecting to see an Ewok hiding behind a tree. Since Captain was really all about seeing a tidewater glacier, we looked at the map for the nearest one. It was the Bear Glacier - directly across Resurrection Bay, exposed to open (dangerous) ocean. We agreed that if it was calm the next morning we would risk it and head for the glacier.
The next day, I woke up hung over due to some whiskey we had the night before. But the sea was as calm as could be - we headed across the Bay. It was hard work, but we saw so many bald eagles, one even went fishing in front of us! We saw a lot of waterfalls, but when we got to where the glacier should be, we realized there was a spit of land separating us. We went up a tidal river - dragging the kayak at many points, and came across a seal den - there must have been at least 6 seals watching us. The tidal river opened up into a tidal lake, but was too shallow for the kayak to continue. Looking at the watch, we decided to head back, doing some whitewater kayaking in a tandem sea kayak. It was a lot of fun. On the way back across the bay, we saw humpback whales and porpoises!
We arrived an hour before pickup, cold with all our clothes wet. It felt like purgatory - uncomfortable and nothing to be done about it. On the boat ride back, the porpoises played in the wake - they like the vibrations of the boat. They splashed Captain in the face. It was excellent.
We went back to Anchorage to be picked up to go to work in Denali. Loved the adventure, love this world.
*I don't have any pictures yet of our kayaking trip - Captain has them on his waterproof camera!
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| Puffins Making Puffins in the Seward SeaLife Center! |
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