The drive to Seward

Monday, July 30, 2012
Seward, Alaska, United States
Will Seward be like Whittier ? was the question of the day as we returned through the tunnel in the rain, out of the 1940's and back to 2012. The first thing we came across on our return was the Alaska Conservation Center for native animals -- and we immediately turned off to see what it was. A glorified zoo for animals in need of protection (orphaned or injured in the wild) -- the center was beautifully laid out. And the animals were wonderful. We saw moose, and grizzlies, and wood bison, and elk and caribou and lynx and bald eagle. The animals looked healthy and at ease (except for the black bear) and the backdrop was cleverly developed so it looked like the herds were in the wild. Nothing a tourist likes better. We learned a lot as we walked around in the rain. 
Like Whittier, Seward is squeezed onto a small piece of flat land between mountains, glacier and the frigid fjord . As usual, you start with the port and the parking lots and the fast food places and the tour boat offices, and work your way down to the point where the old town is anchored. Here the post office and the Sea Life Exhibit, the restaurants and the bed and breakfasts are dominant, bordered by a park all along the edge of the bay. Its a great layout. RVs and campers use the park, looking out into the fjord. The rest of us walk the trail and gaze at the view from town.  

Up, behind Seward is the Harding Ice Field -- a huge layer of ice which lies atop the mountains of the Kenai Fjord National Park. It spews glaciers down into the ocean all down the peninsula. Close to Seward it lets out the Exit Glacier -- which we visited. We saw how it had receded over the past 100 years -- and how it exudes a damp cold when you get up close. No, we didn't see it actually move.
 
We ate Halibut, in all its forms, with a side tour to reindeer and rockfish.    

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