Day 16 – Cool Hand Fluke – June 16, 2019

It was a cold and stormy morning – and we still went out for our third boat trip in as many days. This time, it was the Kenai Fjords National Park Cruise. A ‘cool’ six hour ride down through Resurrection Bay, out into the Gulf of Alaska, and then back into the relative calm of Aialik Bay kept our teeth chattering for most of the day.

We took a short walk along the Seward waterfront before we checked in for the boat tour.

Once on the water, we passed an otter gazing up in amazement at the tourists leaning over the edge of the boat. It seemed to be wondering why we were heading out into the spring squalls.

Right around Callisto Head, we saw the telltale spouting of a humpback whale.

We even got a fluke shot, sort of…

Our captain got word that Aialik Glacier was socked in with sea ice, so we diverted to the nearby Holgate Glacier. On the way up Holgate Arm, we passed several waterfalls, among them was Bridalveil Falls (seems to be a default name for many falls in Alaska).

Through the rain and mist, we finally saw Holgate Glacier. We floated in the bay for about 20 minutes, watching pieces of the glacier fall into the water. At this point, my hands stopped working and the screen on the phone became unresponsive in the cold and wet conditions.

On the return trip, we went out again into the Gulf of Alaska. Out beyond No Name Island, we stopped and watched a playful pod of orcas. They were literally flying through the air (out of camera range) and crashing back into the water. Our captain, who said she's been sailing these waters for nearly forty years, told us she's never seen so many orca breachings in one place at one time. In lieu of a wildlife photo, here’s what a ‘Pano’ shot looks like when the boat is heaving to and fro, and when the photographer is trying not to fall overboard.

As we traveled north back up Resurrection Bay, we passed Mount Marathon. It’s the site of an annual July 4th endurance foot race that has runners climbing from the streets of downtown Seward (sea level) one and a half miles up to the top of Mount Marathon (nearly 3000 feet elevation), and then back down into Seward. It is billed as the most difficult 5K race on the planet. You can see the trail going up the ridge line in the center of the photo.

We also saw a lone Aliner trailer camped on the shores of the bay. They’re braver than us.

Back in Seward, we thawed out with some seafood chowder and called it a day.

Next: Alyeska Ski Resort