mile 6781

Good Morning to all!  We made a run from Anchorage  to Seward and it was really beautiful along the water in to the Chugach National Forest.  Even so we wanted to escape the bad weather in Anchorage, it stuck with us all way long.  Unfortunately did we not see very much of the remands of the glaciers which once formed that valley and the fjord, but just the clouded shapes of the mountains gave a good impression of what's behind.  Because of that not very much pictures, sorry.

Going Moose Pass to Seward

Seward was also the starting point for a day cruise we took to see some sea life and to visit some glaciers of the Harding Ice Field close up.  The day started well with some sea otter floating along in the bay, followed very quickly by the sighting of some blows.  We all got perched to the railings to see the humpback whales feed in the fjord, and of course the famous fluke dive(s).  With such impressive images in our heads we continued further Southwest to the Northwest and Redstone Glaciers and waited there long enough to see the glaciers calve (i.e. to watch huge junks of ice break up from the glacier and rush in to the sea).   Having our noses frozen we turned and visited some sea birds breeding islands and some sea lions enjoying the afternoon sun on the rocks.  More whales, sea otter, puffins, dolphins, and other sea creatures went with us back to port, as fish eagles were hunting for their dinner.  Even so we got pretty cold, and the occasional rain was still with us, it was a great day at sea, very entertaining, very educational.

Seward Port

Resurrection Bay

Northwest Glacier

Seward starting point of the Iditarod Sled Dog Race to Nome

As the weather had shown no sign of improvement, we broke camp this morning in Seward and made a run North to Denali as the forecast looked more promising.  Returning back to Anchorage to join Hwy 1 we got this time a much better view of Turnagain Arm coming down the Moose Pass and with the Portage Glacier to our right.  Now we know what we should have seen coming down three days ago.  Anyway we continue North and enter the Denali Park, with the only drawback that by now the weather once again has changed to our disadvantage and Denali is hidden behind some low hanging, very fierce looking rain clouds.  So no vista from the South, no vista from the North.  But we will stay some days here in Denali and we hope that we will get a better look of him tomorrow as we will venture in to the park up to Wonder Lake or perhaps further.

"To the lover of wilderness, Alaska is one of the most wonderful countries in the world." - John Muir
Quote provided by Marianne