After our tram ride, we spent a restful night at Crow Creek Mine Campground near the tram. It was a gold mine camp where you can still pan for gold. We did not do so, and left the next morning to head to our next adventure at Portage Lake.
Portage Glacier
Portage lake has a cruise boat that takes you to the edge of the glacier. We had a cloudy day for this one, but fortunately the rain held off until we were finished with our cruise.
We camped at Willawaw Campground near the lake. It was a beautiful wooded campground with a stream running through it. I don’t have any pictures of the campground as it started raining shortly after we got there and rained all the next day. However, I did take Dottie for a potty walk when we first got there before the rain. It was along a stream on a nature trail, and we got to see this:
Kenai Fjords National Park
Departing Williwaw the next morning, we drove south on the Seward highway to Seward through the rain. It is a beautiful drive through the mountains but with the rain, no great pictures until we drive back. After we arrived at Seward and set up camp, we took Dottie for her potty walk and saw this from our campsite:
We had five days in Seward and only two of them were predicted to be good weather days. So, I booked our Kenai Fjords National Park sightseeing adventure for the best weather day and we got incredibly lucky! It started off cloudy, but the seas were calm and the sun came out quickly. The crew told us we had one of the best days all season. Seward is in a temperate rainforest, which means it rains a LOT and the seas are not always friendly!
See the humpback whale blowing air! That’s how you find them.Then you get closer and get to see this! We are not as close as the picture implies. I blew it up considerably.This reminded me of the North Channel in Lake Huron…so beautiful!The ice along the top is part of the Harding icefield. It is over 700 square miles, approximately 4,000 feet deep and feeds 30 glaciers.One of the glaciers of the harding icefield. This is a tidewater glacier as it ends at the water.Notice the fishing boatOur second humpback of the day!We did not see any breaching here. We were told they do it for joy. As I had seen it in Haines early in the trip, I wondered if it’s when they get back to their feeding grounds they have joy. They go without any food for their entire migration and while calving. They will lose up to a third of their body weight and can go without food for six months. They have been here for a couple of months now.Amazing green growth of the temperate rainforestWhale on the leftAialik Glacier is over 700 feet tall…look closely and you will see two kayaks off the face of itHarbor Seals on the iceLook at all the seals! Just laying around on the ice that has calved off the glacier.Looks like cold sunbathing to me!Notice tour boatHolding a piece of glacier ice. It is denser than regular ice.See the calving in the middle of the picture. It makes a lot of noise and I got lucky to capture it as the water splashed.Victoria enjoying the boat ride in her WINTER coat! We sat outside the entire time and took a risk on the rain and cold, but we were so glad we did because we got the best views!Steller Sea Lions on the rock. They have been listed as endangered since 1997 and number approximately 46,000.Puffins floating on the waterOur third and last humpback! Victoria gets credit for the video.
We had such a great day!
One animal we saw, which I don’t have any pictures of, were jellyfish. The boat drove into a school of them and used their engines to raise them towards the surface. You could see bunches of them in the water.
Seward
When we returned and took Dottie on her potty walk, we were blessed with sunshine and these beautiful views.
Dottie is very happy to have her family together!
Update
I’m sorry if anyone worried about us as I know I have not posted for a while. I am safely back in Michigan and just have not taken the time to finish up the travel stories. There were no problems along the way; and I’ve just been busy putting the garden beds back to rights and catching up at home. I will have a few more posts yet about the trip so stay tuned.
I’m not sure what the future holds in terms of traveling with Clarice. I’m going to take the winter to process what I’ve experienced before making any major decisions. I promise to finish my blog posts for this trip with an overall perspective and give you more flavor on what I’m thinking.
OMG, wasn’t Seward fabulous? We did the exact same cruise up the Kenai fjords. What a great memory. We rented an Airbnb in Seward and walked through the campground you stayed at on the waterfront. So glad your home safe and sound. I know, I had two weeks of garden cleanup after gone a month in Alaska. I can’t imagine what you came home to. Good luck!
I must say I did wonder what happened to you, when I didn’t see any further posts! Glad you’ve safely at home. The pictures of the glaciers in Alaska and the humpback whales are amazing! What a trip you had, and how nice Victoria could join you in Alaska.
What an amazing trip! Thank you for sharing and letting us know you are home safely. Retirement is fun!
OMG, wasn’t Seward fabulous? We did the exact same cruise up the Kenai fjords. What a great memory. We rented an Airbnb in Seward and walked through the campground you stayed at on the waterfront. So glad your home safe and sound. I know, I had two weeks of garden cleanup after gone a month in Alaska. I can’t imagine what you came home to. Good luck!
I must say I did wonder what happened to you, when I didn’t see any further posts! Glad you’ve safely at home. The pictures of the glaciers in Alaska and the humpback whales are amazing! What a trip you had, and how nice Victoria could join you in Alaska.
So glad you are safe and welcome home!