Day 35 - Anchorage to Seward

Click on any photo to see a larger picture

Gary and Sally Johnson #17                                                                                      July 13, 2010


Today was another travel day after three days in Anchorage. We were looking forward to seeing everything on our relatively short 120 mile trip to Seward. Unfortunately, Mother Nature had other plans and we spent much of the day in rain. The road from Anchorage soon was along side the Turnagain Arm of the Cook Inlet, so named because explorers searching for the Northwest Passage had to turn around again here. Much of the land here is part of Chugach State Park. The scenery was beautiful even though it shrouded by clouds and steady rain. We saw snowy, towering mountains, waterfalls, lakes, and streams, all in abundance. In the distance, the rain made the landscape appear black and white. But up close, the mountains were many shades of green with lush vegetation.

We decided to turn into the road to Portage Glacier and perhaps go through the tunnel to Whittier. We stopped at the Forest Service’s Begich, Boggs Visitor Center where we learned about Prince William Sound, receding glaciers (as is the case with Portage Glacier) and saw the Burns Glacier and a tiny tip of the Portage Glacier. The wind and rain was even worse here so we decided that Whittier could wait for another visit.

Farther down the road we stopped at the Trail Lakes Fish Hatchery. This is the off season for the hatchery. A worker explained that most of the fish eggs are captured in the fall, held over the winter, hatched in the spring, then air lifted to streams in the Cook Inlet drainage. From a male and female fish, they retrieve 2500 fertilized eggs, which will ultimately produce 80 adult fish. We took a picture of their picture of salmon returning to the stream they were dropped into. 

We arrived at our new RV park, Stony Creek, mid-afternoon. By that time the rain had stopped and a few clearer patches appeared. This is a spacious park with all hookups and next to a beautiful stream. We have seen bald eagles flying overhead. After getting settled in, we went into Seward and got our bearing at the seaport and downtown. We are looking forward to the next few days here – and already wish it was more.