We boarded the bus to Seward at the cruise terminal in Whittier. We began by walking from the hotel to the cruise terminal. While the tunnel was fine, after leaving it the wind was fearsome, pelting us with a stinging fine rain in spite of rain jackets. One important note, if you’re catching the bus to Seward, it’s important to know that the bus loads at the cruise terminal that is active that day. We went to the pier where we disembarked from Holland America. But the next day when we left, the bus was leaving from a different pier. There is a free shuttle from “downtown” Whittier but you need to build in time for it.
We flagged down a passing shuttle driver, who graciously picked up 3 hitchhikers on his way to the correct pier for the day (which was probably a mile and a half past what we already had walked).
Aside from a ship or boat, the only practical way out of town is via the tunnel. It’s a one way tunnel for cars, buses, and train that reverses direction of travel every half hour.
So you need to be on time… otherwise you have to wait till the traffic flow changes again.
After making it through, of course, there was a glacier. And more waterfalls. Because, why not?
We arrived in Seward in the late morning to a windy day. We had booked a dry cabin at a campground 3 miles outside of Whittier. The campground also was an outfitter for local hikes, kayaking, and fishing trips. There were whitecaps on the water when we arrived, and all the water activities had been cancelled for the day. We sat for a bit watching dust devils in the parking lot and ate lunch in the store/office/restaurant until we could check in. With a kayaking trip booked for the next morning, we were a little nervous.
The dry cabin was a first for me. It was a small Gothic arch building from the front side, with a rectangular “tower” loft added on the ocean side at some point. The view of the water was great, as it sat a few feet above high tide mark.
It had a wood stove for heat (although we were disappointed to realize it didn’t have a cook top to allow for hot food). The campground had hot showers, bathrooms, and a coin laundromat. The shower was also coin-operated. Each coin got you 2 minutes of warm water. One word of advice…don’t be cheap/efficient and try to use your last token to shower. Having to put your dirty clothes back on to go exchange another token because you can’t wash off the soap is funny in retrospect, but not in the moment.
The wind had calmed by the next morning. Little Koi was mortified to learn the time that we were supposed to meet our kayak guide (and still didn’t love the aesthetic of the spray skirt on land). Our guide was also mortified at the early hour, because when we walked to the office/boat launch he was nowhere to be found. We’re pretty sure he was still asleep when the clerk called him from the office, but he arrived promptly and did a good job.
In talking to the kayaking guide and others, we realized that a lot of people working in the tourist industry in Alaska weren’t from Alaska. Our kayak guide was from a town in Texas. One of the office clerks was from Louisiana. The shuttle driver was a retired teacher from New Jersey. Because we were in the extreme shoulder season, everyone was talking about their plans to leave in the next week.
We survived the kayaking (a short paddle with about 1 hr walk followed by the paddle back) and took another hike in the afternoon. We walked from the camp to a neat tidal creek. The area in front of Little Koi is completely dry some points during the day. As is our custom, we had a guide on the first time out in a new place. We learned about the formation of the alluvial fan where we were hiking, the salmon that were returning in the creek, and some of the local berries (to me, the watermelon berries tasted more like a cucumber/watermelon hybrid).
We stumbled into a dead-end tidal channel that had formed from overflow from the adjacent stream during storms (there was no stream flowing into it any more). I guess the smell/composition of the water was similar enough to the actual stream that it was confusing some of the salmon, who were swimming into this inlet and becoming stranded when the tide went out. Kinda sad way for them to end their journey, but the local wildlife was enjoying the bounty.
Meanwhile when we got back to the actual stream channel, we found someone else enjoying fresh salmon. Needless to say the salmon wasn’t enjoying it as much…
Salmon, watermelon berries, otters, eagles, sea gulls…. Kayaking, hiking, sleeping by the ocean. Not a bad day. But, there’s more adventure tomorrow!
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