Exit Glacier

As we drive out of Anchorage we go through a mist of clouds. Not really fog, like when your in an airplane and the clouds are like cotton candy and stringy. The tide was out and we could see the mud flats. As we traveled down Turnagain Arm we noticed the fireweed was going to seed. This looks like cotton that is pulled away from the stem, again stringy. This area is much different without the snow but lusher than our last trip down this way. We were on our way to Seward. Our plan was to see the town and Exit glacier.

As we looked for animals along the way we only saw beautiful scenery. The once snowed mountains were deep green with hues of brown and reds. As we passed the familiar Turnagain Arm we see the in the distance Portage Glacier, Skookum Glacier and Spencer Glacier. Then, as we rounded Turnagain Arm we head south into the Kenai Peninsula where we can view Twenty-mile Glacier. The first area we pass through is called Turnagain Pass there are trail heads everywhere with parking areas available to hikers. We continue on through Johnson pass and cross six-mile Creek. This creek was part of the Gold rush until gold was discovered in the Klondike. Now its a great spot to go rafting. We passed the Hope highway exit and went on toward the Sterling hwy and Seward hwy intersection which was another 20 miles. Once before, we went west toward Soldotna but this time we were headed on South to Seward. Passing lakes with mountains reflecting into them and trails heading every which way we journeyed on through Moose Pass with a stop or two to take pictures. We chose to drive through Seward first to get a feeling for what we wanted to do since it was only 11am. There were RV spaces all along the water line of Resurrection Bay and a large Marina with shops and restaurants. There is actually a small town here. But it reminded us of a small beach community in the Carolina's. We decided to drive as far as the road would take us and ended up on Lowell Point. That was as far south as we could go on this side of Kenai Peninsula. So then on to lunch. We ate with a view of the marina and watched the Glacier and Whale cruises heading out and in.

The Exit Glacier was next on our list. The road was on the north side of Seward but just about a mile. We traveled along a valley with the Resurrection River flowing along side the road for about 8 miles. We both said WOW. We went to the visitor center first. And were able to see the history and the movement of the glacier over time. Then we started our hike. We were able to get up close and could see the blue ice. It was amazing. The Exit Glacier is 3 miles long and descends 2500 ft. The ice was on top of a range of mountains it was called the Harding Ice Flow and most of the valleys or curves of the mountains had ice flows coming down them. Surprisingly it wasn't cold. We took a trail that took us down to the Resurrection River. It was really running fast. We then went back to Seward and visited a few shops but decided it was way to early to just stop. So we decided to go back north a ways and find a campground and hike or just stay the night.

We had made up the car for sleeping and decided all we really needed was a bathroom. It was only 40 miles back to the road to Hope and we decided that would be our destination. Hope sits on the other side of Turnagain Arm as we travel south from Anchorage. We drove 17 miles along the six-mile creek and to a state campground. However, there was a motorcycle club camped in every spot. So we backtracked to the Town of Hope which sits along the Turnigan arm. Hope was also a mining town back in the day. When the 1964 earthquake hit, this side of the bay was also hit. Hope lost half of it's town. It now has a population of 147. They have 1 bar, 2 restaurants, a social hall, a gift store and a small campground. It was now 5pm so we got something to drink and rented a space. The guy told us that the tide comes in at 10pm and we might get a little water on our campsite but not to worry. Well ok. Then we went to one of the restaurants and had a nice dinner and went back to the bar to listen to music and just relax. I think most of the 147 people were there.

We took a walk on our way back to the car and watched kids fishing, birds flying and could see the tide rising slowly. It was still daylight and we both had something to read so we got ready for bed and laid down in our little car bedroom. Beside us was a tenter and next to him a motor home. At about 9:30pm I decided to go the restroom one last time. When I got back I noticed that about an inch of water was just starting to touch the back tires of the Jeep. We read some more for about half-hour and heard several voices rather excited. So we got up and looked out to see the water had risen about 6 inches and was surrounding our car and the tent beside us was under water and the motor home who was trying to grill their dinner was moving. We watched for a long time but it only got 6 inches and in an hour it was starting to recede. The little groundhog like animals that live under ground were swimming all over the place, zig-zagging looking for a place that was high ground. Guess we can brag that we spent part of the night IN the Turnagain Arm.

We started the night reasonably comfortable but we both noticed that we tossed a lot. My hip bothered me and John just couldn't find a good spot. So we woke each other up about every two hours. That night though the temperature dropped and we really got cold. When we woke at 6:30am we both said that's enough. We wiggled around in the car enough to move the things we had put into the front back to the back and got into the front seats and drove up to the bathroom. We chattered our teeth and did our business and got back to the car and drove back to Anchorage. We were home by 8am. Our garage has shopping carts for use by the tenants so we put our stuff in one and took it up stairs. We both showered and laid back down for a while. We got up and went to late church but the rest of the day we just rested.

Knik Glacier and The Butte.

We follow the book 'The Milepost' on most of our trips. This time we didn't quite get what they were saying. We turned off to go to Knik Glacier and found ourselves instead of 3.2 miles but 11 miles and still no glacier. Turns out that the glacier along with 10 smaller others were still farther and only accessible by boat. So instead of getting there we drove to places where we could get at good look and took pictures from afar.

Then we traveled back a few miles to a water fall. We hiked only a few hundred feet back toward Pioneer Peak to get a closer look. And of course we took pictures. Then on we went to where we could cross the Knik River and headed for The Butte. It's a shorter mountain but very much an upward climb. Took about an hour and views were gorgeous. We were able to see back to Pioneer Peak where we had just seen the waterfall. Down at the bottom was a Reindeer farm. There were about 75 in various ages. These are the same reindeer that were used in the Run with the Reindeer during the FurRondey last March. I like taking pictures of all the flowers and meadows we come to.

Later in the week we went to Beluga Point to see whales but didn't but we saw moose mom and 2 babies. They really can run fast and when they are young their ears are floppy. They eat mostly leaves off trees. Just last week there were two here at the apartment building eating the little trees they planted in the Spring.

Artic Valley, birthdays,

Sorry I haven't written very much lately. We have taken some hikes and trips though. Two weeks ago we took a hike in Artic Valley. It's an area that winds back between the mountains. When we got out there, there were a lot of people picking blueberries. So naturally we used the empty tennis ball container and a target bag. We ended up with about 2 quarts. They grew very low to the ground, so we had to pick up the branches to see them. That was fun for a while then we put them in the Jeep and started our hike. This one was mostly easy and long. Our goal was to wind our way through a valley and to get to Rendezous Peak. The area used to be, back in 1945, a military ski area that they closed down for artillery and missile shooting. When we had walked about a mile and a half we came upon the real Artic Valley. Wow we were so high overlooking the back side of the town of Eagle River . This valley meanders for miles all the way down to Girdwood, a ski town down by Turnagain Arm.

This week is our birthday week. We went shopping a couple times to catch some sales for pants mostly. On Friday we went out to a very nice restaurant called Simon & Seaforth for my birthday. I had steak and John had Halibut. For his birthday we went to a all you can eat Buffet, you guessed it, Seafood.