Seward is a small village located on Resurrection Bay on the East coast of the Kenai Peninsula. The original Iditarod Trail was surveyed from here to Nome as a mail route in 1910 (now the famous dog sled race begins in Anchorage).
Resurrection Bay is a year round, ice-free harbor with tall glacier/snow covered mountains and was a strategic military post during WWII watching for Japanese submarines. Seward is also home to the Alaska Sea Life Center which was funded by oil companies after the Valdez oil spill.
We wanted to walk on Exit Glacier, but even with our rain gear, we were getting soaked after half a mile. We would have another 2.5 to 3 miles to get back to the info center if we had gone on.
The Kenai Fjords National Park is almost 670,000 acres which is over half the size of Rhode Island. The Harding Icefield covers over half of the Park with ice up to 4,000 feet thick. We did get some nice views even a mile away.
The glacier deposits about an inch of sediment to the valley each year. This is a constant source of gravel for construction and building in Seward.
Going out to the dock for a 5PM dinner cruise along the fjords and into Resurrection Bay. We were afraid the rain and fog were going to put a damper (no pun intended) on being able to see the mountains and glaciers. Boy, were we wrong. The trip turned out to be great!
Thought this was really funny (Burn Diesel - Kill Fish).
On our way out into the Bay, a commercial fishing vessel was heading in the same direction. This was at 6:00 PM and they were just going to work.
The views of the water, Fjords and ice was incredible.
The area is considered a rain forest. The average rainfall is 60 inches. The average snowfall is 80 inches. Nothing like being wet most of the year.
Water flows down little nooks into the bay. Fjords are created by glaciers that cut valleys then are filled with sea water. The depth of the Fjords in Resurrection Bay are up to 900 feet. There were some "beach" areas where landslides had deposited glacier sediment.
We were so lucky to see Orca Whales in the Bay. There were 5 smaller Orcas and this larger one that swam just behind the others. The Park Ranger on the tour boat was just amazed that we spotted the Orcas. We also saw Harbor Seals, Sea Lions, Puffins and many other unique birds. One of the species could dive up to 600 Ft deep into the water. Cheryl spotted a large "whale" and got everyone excited until the Ranger said it is the local faux whale rock in the middle of the bay.
This tunnel was one of many the U.S. Military dug into the sides of the cliffs. This one was outfitted with large mirrors that would be pushed out to watch for Japanese ships. An outpost at the end of Resurrection Peninsula actually spotted 4 Japanese submarines using search lights that could shine 35 miles.
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