MONDAY,
AUG 12:
Still
foggy and misty this morning, but not a drenching rain like yesterday. Took our time getting ready and having
breakfast. Then drove into town. Walked a little around the harbor area and
into the Kenai Fjords National Park Visitor Center, which is actually there in
the harbor area. Got some info on seeing
the Park itself, and other helpful info on things like bike trails &
kayaking put-in locations.
Then
explored a couple of the kayak options the Ranger gave us – one of which was 2
miles out on a terrible gravel road, filled with potholes.
By mid-afternoon, we drove on out to Exit Glacier,
the one part of Kenai Fjords Nat’l Park which is accessible by road; all the
other is by water only. We got there just in time to join a Ranger-led
hike to the glacier. A wonderful hike –
mostly easy for the 1st mile, and then a little climbing over the
moraine rocks for the last ½ mile or so.
It had mostly cleared up by now – to just being overcast and cloudy, so
we had wonderful views of the glacier.
It’s certainly not a big or imposing glacier. But the fact that you can walk pretty close
to it, and that there aren’t crowds around, makes it very appealing and
inviting and intimate.
What is so astounding is how much it’s receded in
recent years – there were markers where the ice had been at different
years. Even just 5 years ago, the spot
where we were standing today was totally covered in ice over 1,000 feet deep. And even with a small glacier like this one,
there was no question of how much colder it was near the face, as opposed to
just a mile or so less down the road. Marc,
the Ranger, told us that Seward gets a lot of rain during the winter season,
then quite a bit of snow, then more driving rain, etc., while up here, a few miles away, it’s all snow – 130 feet or
so a season – simply because the ice creates such a cold atmosphere. Fascinating stuff.
Marc came here from Montana right out of college to
teach in remote villages. He loved
living in those villages and learning of the culture of each different people
group and each village. Eventually, he
and his wife (who was doing the same thing) moved to Seward, where he finished
his teaching career. Now he does
National Park summer gigs, and you can tell he loves that as well.
It felt so good to be able to get out and do some
physical activity in a beautiful setting!
It’s just what we needed as an antidote to the soggy, dreary days we’ve
been having. Even Marc commented on how
nice it was to not be walking in the rain!
Oh yes,
on the walk over to the glacier, we got a glimpse of a black bear crossing the
trail. I was up front, and saw the whole
bear briefly; Bill was behind and got his camera open just a second too
late.
Came home
and made pasta for dinner. As I’m typing
this at 9:00, I’m seeing a mountain peak out
the RV window, cast in evening sunlight! And some actual blue sky surrounding it! What
a welcome sight! Bill’s not the only one
who grabbed his camera and went out to capture the image – a couple of other
people were out there too.
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