From Hope, the port city of Seward is a mere hop, skip and a jump away across the Kenai peninsula, nestled in Resurrection Bay. Seward greeted us with some cool mammatus clouds and a spot of sunshine. Camping was rather busy, it being Labor Day weekend, but we managed to bag ourselves a prime waterfront camping spot and settled in to stay a few days.
Bring on the barbecue! In the UK, all it takes is a sniff of nice weather to get that bbq party feeling. A few hasty phone calls to friends is followed by an impromptu trip to Tesco express for burgers, sausages and chicken kebabs. I don’t think we’ve ever lost that carpe diem mentality when it comes to getting the bbq out.
Got a craving for jalapeño poppers. No ready made ones at the supermarket so made our own (bottom right). Yes, we did have more than one each! Sooo good.Like all good bbq’s, the weather turns and both you and your beer can have to pile the layers onRVs lined up on the right, with waterfront views. It being Labor Day weekend, seems the done thing was to huddle around a fire with even better views.Some pretty cool murals in Seward
Nothing major, but we fit in a few little hikes while we were in Seward.
On the Tonsina Creek trail, we heard the seagulls making a racket long before we saw them. Wondered what on earth was going on. Turns out they were seizing the day too. Think they’d been on the jungle drums to round up all their friends for the last minute salmon party, no bbq required.
Check out all the fish, no wonder the gulls were going mental
The walk to Exit Glacier, peppered with signs showing where the face of the glacier was in prior years, was the most popular hike in the area.
A smattering of autumn color against the blue-tinged Exit Glacier
And then you have Mount Marathon. For the nutters out there, there’s an annual race on 4th July up the runner’s route with 3,000ft of elevation gain, known as The Toughest 5K on the Planet (yes, up and back down again in 3.1 miles).
Disclaimer – not my picture and definitely not us!!
Even the hiker’s route is a steep scramble of a slog to the top, one for another time maybe, c’mon we’re on our holidays! But we did do enough of the lower slopes to get a view back down over Resurrection Bay.
Kind of difficult to make out, but top left was a moose-sized patch of fresh flattened grass and shrubs. Definitely a moose slept there last night. Or a bear.
Kayaker’s Cove:
Seward also happened to be our jumping off point for a trip to Kayakers Cove. Which does what it says on the tin – it’s a secluded cove accessible only by sea, where kayakers can explore the nearby shores and stay in a little log cabin overnight. We were the last guests of the season and had the run of the place to ourselves.
Got just a few pictures of our trip to Kayaker’s Cove so you can see for yourselves…
Waiting for our water taxi – steaming hot chai lattes and a bacon, egg and cheese breakfast croissant set us up nicely for the day aheadAs we left the harbor, Mt Marathon was lurking in the background. We continued out to sea… bring on the Seabourn jacket!We waved goodbye to the teeny tiny BaseCamp left to fend for itself for a nightWelcome to Kayaker’s Cove!Here we are. Just us and some kayaks and cabins. And lots of trees.No time to waste, let’s get out on that water. Double kayak of course.Eagle dead ahead (did you bring the binoculars?)Adorable family of river otters in the creekSo cool with all the fish. The end of the road for these silver salmon.Some of the salmon were still thrashing and thriving. (It’s only a matter of time…)Luxury yurt resort in the next bay over from Kayaker’s CoveBack to our cove to dry off and warm up. Not quite luxury but very homely. This was the outhouse.C’mon Darren, get chopping, need more fuel for the wood-burning stoveChanged into dry clothes and thawing out in the sunshine on our beachA little play with the droneMaking the most of those last rays…After watching a lovely sunset, we realized there were no lights in the cabin. Dinner was a hasty affair, partially lit by iPhones and head torches.The next morning, Darren was eager for another paddle. I opted to go for a walk instead.I took myself off up the hill and my walk turned into this. I clambered over some boulders. And back again. Somehow I think I got the short end of the stick.Meanwhile, Darren enjoyed his tranquil solo paddleBefore we knew it, it was time for our water taxi back to Seward. Bumped into some sea otters on the way back. A world apart from river otters.Just chillin’A fab time but now all done with the Kayaker’s Cove trip. Where to next?
