 |
| Resurrection Bay |
Seward is a small town at the end of Resurrection Bay. The bay is deep (972 feet) and was formed by glacial action. Snow covered mountains rise on both sides. Whales are sometimes sighted in the bay but we didn't see any. If you're a fan of Rockwell Kent, Fox Island in Resurrection Bay is where he spent 7 or 8 months in 1918.
The tsunami caused by the
Good Friday earthquake of 1964 took out a large part of Seward. The wave was estimated to be 30 feet high. The
Alaska Sea Life Center now stands at the bay's edge where the Alaska Railroad facilities and tracks once stood.
After breakfast we drove out in the gray and drizzle to Exit glacier in
Kenai Fjords National Park. The visitors center wasn't open yet, but the trails were. Exit glacier is rapidly retreating. As we approached the glacier, wooden markers marked the dates as the retreat occurred.
We took the short walk up to the glacier and looked around. The ice where not covered with snow or dirt has a blue cast.
It also has large pieces of ice breaking off that are big enough to kill you. As the glacier melts, it leaves a flat area with a river and debris. This is an outwash plain and is formed when the melt from the terminus (end) of a glacier deposits sediments ground down from the glacier's movement.
While we didn't see any moose, there was moose shit everywhere. The sun popped out of the clouds as we left the glacier, so we stopped at the river and had lunch.
Later, we stopped by the chamber of commerce and learned about the murals. Seward has developed a mural painting tradition. Each year, a new mural is painted on the wall of a building. There are currently 22 murals scattered about the city. Near the Sea Life Center, a small dirt road runs off to Lowell Point. The road is sandwiched between the bay on the east and the Chugach Mountains on the west. Of course, we drove to the point passing over a sketchy bridge next to a not-too-small waterfall. Not much a the point, a store and campground as well as a state recreation area.
Then dinner on the docks finished with a walk on them to look at the boats. There were two otters near shore floating on their backs chewing on shells. They looked well fed, and so did we! A good day in Seward.
No comments:
Post a Comment