Anchorage, AK to Seward, AK (140 miles)
Unfortunately it was time to travel solo for a couple of days – it seems Heather will do anything to get out of cleaning up so she bailed out early (something about work). After dropping Heather at the airport it was time to head along the coast line of Turnagain Arm to the Kenai Peninsula. It is so called Turnagain Arm as when Captain Cooks party was exploring (that guy travels more than I do!!) they thought it was a route to the northwest passage and there was much Turn Again before they gave up. He should have got a map.
I had arrange a Kayak Trip from Seward tomorrow morning so that was my destination for the night. I parked up at the waterfront parking that allows RVs to overnight, and then on for a pint or two at Seward Brewery before heading back to the campervan to work through left over alcohol before I drop the campervan off soon!
Seward, AK to Hope, AK (80 miles)
I headed off with a group on a water taxi loaded up with kayaks to be dropped off in Resurrection Bay for a paddle. I was under strict instructions from Heather not to spot too much wildlife as she would be jealous but luckily the forecasted rain made her a little bit relieved that she was missing the trip!
I was keeping fingers crossed that we wouldn’t spot any of the pods of Killer Whales that cruise the bay otherwise Heather would have been really mad : ) We didn’t spot any of these but as a reward for paddling through a day of drizzle we did get a humpback whale cruising past in between the kayas and blowing which was pretty amazing! After our close encounter with the humpback (which explains the naming of our starting point for the paddle – Humpy Cove) we had otters, seals and eagles coming over to see us.
Some of the kayakers bailed out of the trip early as they were not too impressed with the weather – the downside to a bit of peace and quiet was that we didn’t need the covered heated water taxi to get back so it was replaced by a small open speedboat to blast us back through the rain. I missed Heather today but was relieved that I didn’t have to give up my gloves and a couple of layers to her for the return trip.
Hope, AK to Anchorage, AK (90 miles)
Rather than drive back and spend the last night in Anchorage I decided to make the most of the wilderness and parked up at a small hamlet call Hope for my last night. I had the campground to myself and had a nice evening looking back over a fantastic trip.
After a short drive back to town it was time to drop the campervan off at the RV center ready to be prepped for a season up in Alaska. The guy outside who was jet washing and cleaning the RVs ready to go out did look a bit horrified when he saw the state of ours 🙂
Hope you enjoyed following the route.