Seward...beach, rain, glaciers

Time to leave quaint little Seward and head to Valdez.  A short distance by water but over 400 miles by road.  We had fun here in Seward.  We did a little shopping downtown, then went to the Alaska Sea life Center.  The Center is small.  We were able to get up close to Puffins, gulls and another bird (can't remember its name) that swam under water, using its wings to propel itself through the water. 
Monday evening we took a dinner cruise on Resurrection Bay.  The Salmon and Prime rib dinner was good.  It started to rain just before getting on the boat and didn't stop until sometime during the night.  The cruise was uneventful.  Again we saw birds...birds...did I say birds?

The walls of this beach were covered with nesting gulls and if you look close at the center of the picture, you will see sea lions.  We did get to see a few dolphins swimming, but they were too fast for me to get pictures. We wanted to see whales, but ...maybe in Valdez.
Yesterday we went to the Exit Glacier.  I didn't know how it got it's name, but it sure is exiting (shrinking) at a fast pace. There were signs along the path to the glacier that showed where the glacier had been in the past.

Here are some of the pictures I took there.

Alas, we must leave our beautiful spot on the beach and the funny little sea otters that gave us a show just a few yards off the waters edge.  This is our view of the bay.

 Here are the 4 sea otters in a cluster...I think they are napping after eating and playing in the water.

Next posting will be from Valdez...hope we get to see whales!

Halibut fishing

Ed, Dennis, Butch and Mark went deep sea halibut fishing on Monday. Thank you Mark Nemeth for the photos.  Ed said he caught at least 10 fish.  They only let you keep 2 halibut, so he kept the first one and kept throwing them back, trying for the "big" one.  He ended up bring home 2.  I believe all four of them brought home their limit.  Here are pictures that Mark sent to us.

Oh yes...you don't see Butch in these pictures...he was in the cabin turning green!

More Bear Pictures

Thought I would post a few more pictures of Bears.  These are of the "old man" at the Brooks Falls.  When we were watching the bears, we noticed this bear sitting in the water at the top edge of the falls...just watching the other bears.

Finally he came around and took up a position at the far side of the falls...notice the scar on his body.

He was very good at catching fish.  While the younger ones were working hard to catch fish, it seemed that the fish just came over and he would lean in the water and come up with a fish in his mouth.

One final picture of this old bear.  He is the one at the far side of the picture next to the river bank.  There was one really big bear fishing in the river who was not having as much luck and we watched the "bully" go  over and take a fish from the old one.  The wise old bear just gave the fish up and after the bully left, he caught another fish. 

Float Planes and BEARS

Yesterday we took a float plane to Katmai National Park...One of only two ways to get to that national park.  There are NO roads into it.  We wanted to see Brown Bears/Grizzlies up close at the Brooks Falls and WE DID!!!!!!  WOW

We saw Mt McKinley/Denali again....from the air.

Ed & Carol Happy...Happy...Happy and some of the float planes on the beach at Brooks Camp.
And Now for pictures of the bears!

When we got out to the viewing area we had to wait to get on the platform and then we only were allowed one hour to stay on the platform viewing the bears.   At one time I saw seven bears catching or trying to catch salmon.  They have a pecking order and one bear in one of the pictures you can see a couple of them growling at each other for position.  A few of the smaller ones knew to stay away from the really big ones.  Even a female tried to get close to the falls and got chased away.  WOW what a day!

Turngain Arm area

We spent a few days at the Williwaw USFS Campground just west of Whittier.  Beautiful area just below Middle Glacier.  While there we took an aerial tram to get great views of the area.  Then we visited the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center where they take in wild animals who need special treatment and hopefully be returned to the wild or if unable they find a new home there.  They currently are trying to reintroduce wood bison back into the wilds of Alaska. I took lots of pictures of the animals there...here are just a few.

Then we took a ride on the M/V Ptarmigan to see the Portage Glacier. We all had a great time watching the glacier drop hugh sections of ice into the lake. 

 

Today we moved south to Kenai.  We are going to take a float plane to Katmai National Park/ Brooks Falls to see the grizzlies catching salmon.  Hope to have lots of great pics to post.  We are having a great time!

July 9, Hatcher Pass

Trying to catch up on a few pictures.  Here are some I took when we took a drive over Hatcher Pass just north of Wasilla ( you know that town where Sara Palin lives)  It was a beautiful drive.First is an old bridge we saw..then an old bus,  next an old mine...then a beaver dam and finally a couple of old but goodies at Badger Pass.

Then the oldies but goodies having a good time when we got back from the drive.

Denali NP, The Mountain, MT McKinley

We are ready to leave this beautiful area, heading south.  I woke very early, and to my surprise...I can get on line.  I guess everyone else in the area is still asleep at 4am.  I must hurry and post while I can!

I saw The Mountain..Denali/MT McKinley.  At 20, 320 ft it is awesome.  It is usually covered by clouds, but the day I took the bus back to see it, just for a few minutes the clouds parted and I got to see it.

On the bus ride back this big grizzly was sleeping along side the road.  The bus driver told us that if we were very quiet and kept our hands inside the bus we could sit for a while and watch...we spent several minutes watching and taking pictures.

Before long we spotted a red fox.

There are lots and lots of moose in the park too.

And caribou too.

Oh...wait a minute, how did Nancy O'Bosky get in this picture! ?
Here is the caribou.....

Then we saw this grizzly a little further back from the bus...just relaxing.

Here Nancy and I were at the Eielson Visitor Center with Denali in the back ground.

By the time we got all the way back to Wonder Lake at mile 85 of the Park road, Denali was not to be seen...totally covered by clouds.  Oh well, we got to see it on the long drive back.  Maybe we will get to see it from a spot out of the park today. This last picture is a picture I took at Eielson Visitor Center of Denali and the sign  showing Mt McKinley.