Taking the Scenic Route to Seward

Today I arrived in Seward, AK after a day and a half of travel from Valdez. My trip began yesterday morning at 8 am, when I boarded the ferry in Valdez that brought across Prince William Sound to Whittier. It was an overcast day, but it was very beautiful, and a lovely way to say goodbye to the area. The ferry ride was almost 6 hours long, and pulled in to Whittier around 1:45 pm.

Ice from Columbia Glacier

Whittier in the distance

After getting off the boat, I wheeled my very heavy luggage (the train porters even had trouble with it) to the train depot, about 2 blocks away, and waited for the train. It was a longer wait than I would have liked, and the depot was nothing more than a three sided tent with concrete blocks for benches. The weather turned cold and rainy just as I got to the depot, and I shivered as I waited for my train to arrive (about 3 hours).

The train ride from Whittier to Anchorage was beautiful, but the rainy weather made it difficult to get any good photos through the train window. I took a few pictures, but mostly just relaxed and enjoyed the views. One highlight of the trip was going through the Whittier tunnel, which is two and a half miles long and the longest railroad tunnel in North America. The tunnel is actually shared by the railroad and the highway. Cars can only go through the tunnel one lane at a time so there is a computer system that regulates eastbound, westbound, and train traffic.

Heading out of Whittier

Approaching the Whittier Tunnel

Goats on a cliff near Anchorage

The train pulled into the Anchorage station around 9 pm. I stayed the night at the Arctic Adventure Hostel, which offers free shuttles from the train station. I was completely exhausted so I went to bed early so I could wake up for another day of travel to Seward.

In the morning, I took the shuttle to the depot for a train to Seward that left at 6:45 am. The trip was fabulous, traveling right next to Turnagain Arm near Anchorage and through a gorgeous, glacier filled mountain pass.

Turnagain Arm

Lots of tunnels

Enormous glacier

Lovely mountain lake

Pulling in to Seward

Sarah met me at the train station in Seward. It was so wonderful to see a familiar face so far from home! We started lugging my bags across town to Sarah's apartment, stopping on the way for some delicious halibut tacos at Sarah's favorite local restaurant. Then we finished the trip to her place and got settled in a little before walking around the adorable main street and stopping in some of the cute shops there. We also picked up books and movies at the library. I am so happy to be here and to have a week with Sarah before she heads back to Florida. I miss everyone from school, and it will be a long time before I see them again. This should be a great week and I am looking forward to it!

Goodbye Valdez!

This morning I am leaving Valdez, AK, which I have been lucky enough to call home this summer. I've had some amazing adventures and met some truly wonderful people here. Goodbye to everyone at the museum (and their families) - you've all been a pleasure to work with and get to know this summer. Goodbye to my hiking buddies Scott and Don who have brought me to some of the most beautiful places I've ever seen and been so much fun to get to know. And goodbye to my friends at Anadyr, who not only brought me on some incredible kayak trips but have also become friends. Goodbye as well to Toni, who shared her home, her food, and her bicycle with me this summer. Thank you all for making this a summer I'll never forget!

Shoup Glacier Kayak

Today I went on one last sea kayaking trip through Anadyr Adventures. My friend Kate, who runs the office for Anadyr, let me know there was one spot available for the trip this afternoon, which began at 12pm and went till 8pm. I am lucky my boss from the Valdez Museum was flexible and let me have the afternoon off so that I could go (thanks, Andrew!) Today was foggy in the morning, but many of the clouds lifted and it turned into a beautiful day just in time for the paddle.

As we loaded the water taxi with the kayaks and gear, a sea otter lounged in the water at the small boat harbor. The water taxi dropped us off at a small beach near Shoup Glacier. After unpacking the boats, we started paddling towards the glacier.

On the first part of the trip I shared a kayak with a very nice man named Bob who was on the trip with his wife and daughter (after lunch I paddled with his wife Karen). They were on vacation from Oregon and will be traveling to some other places in AK before heading home.

The scenery throughout the trip was gorgeous. The water was a beautiful pale green color and very still. Mountains with rocky coastlines covered in lush green vegetation surrounded us on all sides. Countless waterfalls ran down the sides of the mountains.

Unloading the water taxis

Shoup Glacier in the distance

After paddling about 45 minutes, we came to a kittiwake rookery filled with the seagull like birds. The rookery was on a rocky island. The island was totally covered in birds. They flew all around the area and the air was filled with their noises. We slowly glided past the rookery and watched the thousands of birds around us.

Kittiwake rookery ahead

Paddling toward the glacier

As we passed the rookery, Shoup Glacier came into view in the distance. We paddled towards it, eventually landing on a beach next to the glacier for lunch. After a short hike to a close up view of the glacier, we stopped for lunch. It was a beautiful place. A large cave in the glacier had a river running through it into the bay. The ice on the side of the glacier was jagged and blue. Small icebergs floated in the water in front of the glacier.

We had lunch and enjoyed the area a while before getting back into our kayaks to head past the glacier and land on a beach on the other side. It was a short paddle, and the views were well worth it. The area was very rocky, with streams cutting through the beach. The glacier towered over us, and there were several more ice caves here. We hung out in this incredible spot for a while before heading back to the kayaks to return to the beach where we began.

Paddling through ice as we neared our lunch spot

Heading back to the kayaks

Kayaking past Shoup

The other side of the glacier

Me and Jill (one of the guides)

On the way back, we once again passed Shoup Glacier and the kittiwake rookery. We entered a small set of rapids that propelled us towards our destination and made the paddling a bit easier for a little while. The trip ended where it began and the water taxis returned to the beach to pick us up. It was another amazing kayaking trip with Anadyr and I am so happy I was able to go!

Heading back to our starting point