Date: 20 June 2001 (Wednesday)

Start:

End: Seward Recreation Center (USAF), Seward AK (0 miles)

It was 54f and cloudy when we got up, and stayed cloudy and cool all day.

We got up late, then ate quickly and dashed off to do the day.

First, out to Exit Glacier, a smaller glacier but easy to reach by car and a short hike. We parked and walked past the Ranger office (nobody in it) and out to the place where you select the arduous or easy hike. There we met a couple who told us of fresh bear sign on the more strenuous trail, so we took the easier one. It leads off across the flats where water has been melting off the glacier for years and flowing down hundreds of channels till they merge into a stream.

To the right of the glacier were some bushes and boulders, and behind them the small hills to that side. We were talking with another couple when a third couple said "Bears" and we all looked up. A big black bear was 25 yards away, just into the brush, bending a willow over to eat the young leaves. Soon we saw another, smaller, bear doing the same thing. Then those two walked to the right and were joined by another small bear, showing us that we had a mother-and-two-cubs situation.

They walked a short distance and starting working on another set of willows. We all watched and took pictures. I ran out of film after a few shots and didn’t have any more with me, darn it.

They worked their way back into the bushes farther to the right and appeared to keep on going, so we continued the hike. It led off to the left and up a path into the short hills. We went in about 50 yards where it ended at a vantage point from which people could take good pictures of the glacier. We turned around and came back. Both ways, we did the standard bear precautions (clapping, make lots of noise, don’t surprise the bear, and so forth).

When we stepped out of the brush on our trail, a group was pointing cameras at us. It turned out that the bears we had seen earlier had turned around and gone into the woods right where we came out minutes later. We hadn’t a hint they were there.

It was hard to concentrate on the glacier after that, so we returned to the little house for more film.

Then we went downtown to the Alaska Sea Life Center (ASLC). This facility was erected using oil money from the Valdez oil spill reparations. They exhibit sea creatures to raise awareness of their needs, and save orphaned animals, turning them back into the wild or to zoos as appropriate. They study animal populations to try to understand what is affecting them.

Currently, they have four live video cameras on the island where we saw all the sea lions yesterday. The sea lion population is down 80% over the last 20 years and they’re trying to find out why. Studying the animals by video helps develop figures on how many pups were born this year (49 so far, 60 by this time last year) and other statistics. The observers can also gage the health of the animals.

They have touch tanks where you can touch your favorite tidewater creature (crabs, starfish, etc.), and three big two-story tanks (water birds like puffins, sea lions, seals) where the inhabitants perform as naturally as possible while enclosed. Of course, the gift shop is the last stop as you leave.

It’s really a nice facility and a must-do while in this area.

The old railroad station in Seward is next door.

Then we had lunch in the world’s slowest restaurant. We gave our order and received our drinks soon. Then our waitress didn’t come to the table for a half-hour. We were about ready to walk out. The order was slightly wrong (I’d been offered potato salad, she brought fries) to boot. Since we wanted to get to the library at 2:00 pm, we gobbled and left.

We went to the library to view two videos they were advertising. The first was one done locally showing before-and-after shots of Seward at the time of the big 5:36 pm Good Friday earthquake in 1964. The photos in it were all taken by locals at the time of the earthquake or just afterward (Seward was hurt more by fire from exploding oil tanks that had shifted than by the tsunamis (tidal waves) that kept coming till midnight). The second video was put together later by the Army to show some of the destruction and take credit for their quick response to the situation. It was fairly well done, but more theatric. It did have a lot of good shots of the destruction in Anchorage and Valdez, with some from Seward.

We went back to the ASLC for another look, then off to the grocery store and ATM. We made phone reservations for most of the next week and went shopping for gifts to bring back (I can’t describe those here).

We’ll have a quiet night tonight and run back to the Anchorage area tomorrow.