Day 117 – July 5 (Alaska Day 26) – Seward

I took the dogs out this morning – Sadie still will not go down the steps of the camper.  So I lifted her down to the ground and she slowly walked across the lot to the grass and back to the camper.  I lifted her back inside and put the food in their bowls.  Sadie wouldn’t eat; instead she went back to the bedroom with Dorrie.  She walks like her feet hurt.  We gave her half of a baby aspirin in cheese, which she ate right away.

One thing I have not mentioned - almost all the campgrounds here in Alaska look like parking lots.  Most are somewhat level and a lot of them have all the hookups in the backside of the sites.

We left Ninilchik and drove towards Seward.  The day had started off with a fair sky and it soon was really warm.

We stopped at the Kasilof River access point to see if we could see people dip fishing.  We talked to fisherman in the lot and he said they were doing it at the mouth of the river, but we needed to ask at the gas station across the highway for directions to be sure we could get the campers there.  We drove to the station and got directions, but he said not to take the camper attached to the car.  So I told Rick this and said I would drive there and see what it was like for him.  It was like a mob scene at the beach – cars and campers were everywhere.

Dorrie called Rick and told him not to come with the camper because he would never get turned around.  He said they would go on to the Fred Meyers store in Soldotna and wait for us.

Dorrie and I walked through the maze of people, tents, campers, and four-runners to a side road that lead to the beach.  People were all over the beach and off in the distance we could see people lined up in the water were the river emptied into the Cook Inlet.  We were not close enough to see the action and the Ottos were waiting for us, so we took a few photos and headed to Soldotna.

Shorty before we got to Fred Meyers, Dorrie got a call from Rick saying they were in the car at the beach.  So much for waiting for us!

We purchased some supplies and had lunch while we waited for the Ottos.  We both filled up with gas and hit the road for Seward.

The scenery is unbelievable on the drive to Seward.  We both love the adventure.

Just before the city limits of Seward we turned off towards the Exit Glacier.  This is one the easiest glaciers to drive to.  I don’t remember the names for the two basic types of glaciers – one recedes from the base towards the summit, like the Exit Glacier, and the other slides into the ocean like you see from boats and cruise ships.  The parking lot was overflowing from the big 4^th crowd that had gathered in the area.  So we went on to Seward.

A stop at the visitor’s information center was less than helpful, so we went to eat in downtown Seward.  Dorrie and I headed back to the glacier and we set up a meeting place for later.

Back at the glacier we found a parking place and walked the 0.9-mile trail to the edge of the glacier.

Part of the Harding Ice Fields above Exit Glacier

Close up of the ice field

The trail started off on a nice level paved path but soon turned into an uphill gravel and rock trail.  At one point we were passed by a young couple – the girl was wearing a sandal type shoe with about a 2 ½ or 3-inch heel.  The jackets soon came off – it had cooled down as we got close to Seward.  The closer we got to the glacier, the colder it got and the jackets were back on.  There were markers shown were the glacier had been at different years.  It was very interesting.

We returned to the camper and the dogs were happy to see us.  They both came down the steps – Sadie was on aspirin at this time.  She will not eat much and we have decided that she has to go to a vet on Monday if she is not better.  She still has chills and seems to run a fever until the aspirin kicks in.  Right now she is lying in my left arm as I try to type with only my right hand, the computer on my lap.  But this is our normal position when I try to write.