Gold Star Day

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Today I took the Coastal Classic train to Seward and hiked to Exit Glacier. Both were amazing!

The day started early. Honestly I was up at 2 AM (5 AM Chicago time) and couldn't go back to sleep. So I had a snack and did some reading. Finally it was 5:30 and time to check out and head over to the train depot to check in. A light rain was falling but the walk to the depot was 5 minutes so I decided to walk rather than use the shuttle. They have a handy luggage check right outside the depot and will tag your bag with the hotel name so it goes straight from the train to the hotel on arrival. A few minutes later I had my boarding pass and fancy Gold Star pin. Car A, seat 3D, which couldn't have been a better place to sit. Just before boarding the conductor introduced himself and reminded everyone that masks are required at all times on the train (except while eating/drinking) and that was our only warning. If there was a violation, he would call the state police, the violator would be arrested and, since they are part of TSA, be put on the no fly list. After that stern discussion he went on to give a lively talk about all the animals we might see and to enjoy the ride.

I splurged here and booked the Gold Star ticket. Gold Star gives you a second floor seat in a dome car, breakfast, unlimited tea/coffee/water and 2 alcoholic drinks. I highly recommend the extra cost just for the views. The windows curve all the way to the top of the car and the views are amazing. There is also an outdoor platform to breathe in the crisp, fresh air and get some great photos. Since I am a solo traveler I got the first seating for breakfast. There were a few choices but I went with the eggs, potatoes and reindeer sausage. The eggs were ok, the sausage and potatoes were good. I ate quickly so I could get back up to my seat.

The route from Anchorage to Seward is a beautiful 4.25 hour journey along water, through tunnels, past glaciers, into valleys and forests. On this trip I was able to see a brief glimpse of some beluga whales, a bald eagle next with one adult and one juvenile and several pairs of trumpeter swans. No large mammal sightings but that's ok. I took so many pictures to try and capture the beauty of the landscape. It was cloudy, misty and sometimes pouring but that did not matter. I'm sure the mountains and glacier fed lakes are stunning in the sun, however I enjoy a rainy day. I even took a few turns out on the open air deck, where I could have used my winter hat and gloves and got a bit wet.

The train arrived in Seward and I walked the short distance to the Harbor 360 Hotel, my home for the next 3 nights. Shockingly I was able to check in even though it wasn't even 11:30 yet. It was nice to put my big backpack down and swap it for my lightweight hiking bag. I grabbed a sandwich from a nearby food truck and headed to Exit Glacier Guides for the next adventure. I had booked a naturalist hike which would allow me to get pretty close to a glacier without doing any strenuous hiking. Well, that's what I thought.

Kenai Fjords National Park was established in 1980. There is no entrance fee, one road in, two maintained trails and minimal infrastructure. This was the only way the residents of Seward and the native peoples would allow the park to exist. It is Alaska's smallest park and was established to preserve the Harding Ice Field. This field is the size of two New York Cities and feeds 38 glaciers in the park. The park itself is the size of Rhode Island. You can hike to the ice field but that's for serious hikers, not me.

Our hike started at the Exit Glacier Nature Center and was led by Katherine. She moved to Seward in May and plans to spend the winter in Colorado teaching ski school. She provided lots of information on the plants in the park and how you can tell the age of different areas by what is growing. Barren rock was exposed in the last 10 years, then lichens start to appear, followed by alders (trees that moose love), brown cottonwood trees and finally Sitka Spruce. The sobering part of the hike was noticing all the signs along the way with years on them. These demonstrate where the glacier was at that time. In the last 10 years alone the glacier has receded at an alarming rate. As we hiked along, we had to take the second trail because the first one was closed due to a mom moose and her calf being on the path. You do not mess with a mother moose! The closer we got to the toe of the glacier, the more challenging the hike. Mainly because the path was over rocks and at angles rather than being a smooth incline. Finally we reached the overlook and were able to get a close up look at Exit Glacier. It's massive today when you look at it but where we were standing was covered in ice just 10 years ago, which is sad. Katherine said they figure it will be gone in 40 years because it has a hole in it and once that happens it can't really recover. I really enjoyed this hike. The other people were friendly, we all asked interesting questions and learned a lot about the plants, animals and glacier activity in the park. Katherine also got word on her radio of a mother bear that was causing an issue further up the mountain. You also do not mess with a mother bear! As we made our way back down to the parking lot we were able to stop and feel the water and watch the giant ice balls tumbling down the streams. That was some cold water!

A short drive and we were back in Seward. I wandered back towards the hotel and decided I might as well get dinner to make sure I could get a table and find a place that was open. There is a shortage of workers here, just like many other tourist areas, and the main reason is lack of housing. So restaurants are short staffed which means shorter hours or entire days closed. We asked on our hike and Katherine said this is the busiest summer Seward has ever had. Restaurants made as much the first week of July as they used to in a month! She also said they have to turn people away from the hikes because they are overbooked. This is a positive (last year was terrible for tourism) but also overwhelms the locals who struggle to keep up with the demand. There are 2 more weeks left of the season here in Seward. After that, the train won't run south and pretty much everything closes down. The locals will go back to having Seward to themselves.

I ended up eating at Chinook, a restaurant right on the harbor. The halibut fish and chips was delicious, if a bit pricey. The view of the boats in the marina was lovely.

So far the Harbor 360 Hotel is great. The wifi is slow but it works, the room is clean and it's a very eco-friendly hotel. I am looking forward to a good nights sleep!

Tomorrow the plan is to enjoy the full day Kenai Fjords Northwestern Fjords boat tour. Hopefully the weather cooperates. There was a guy on the hike who went out yesterday and his full day was changed to a partial day due to weather out in the bay. He said the ride was pretty choppy and several people lost their lunch. I'm already planning to take meds before I go out to hopefully avoid being one of those people!

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Comments

[Mom]

Great
What a great day! Even tho it was a bit gloomy and rainy you sure did get a lot in. Have a great boat ride!