After spending several days seeing the major attractions in Anchorage, we started down the Kenai Penninsula. We were headed for Seward and then Soldatna, Homer and Seldovia. The weather turned wet and we had a week of clouds and showers and cooler temps.
On the way through the mountains to Seward we spotted a pull-over spot with a sign that said fish viewing. So, we donned our rain gear and followed a trail through the woods to a small stream where we saw sockeye salmon at the end of their spawning run.
We have had several opportunities to see the salmon on their journey and it's exciting to watch them charge upstream. The unfortunate reality is that these fish stop eating after they leave the salt water. They swim upriver to spawn and then their life is over. The upstream creeks are littered with the stark evidence of the completion of their journey.
We pressed on to Seward through the rain and found an overnite spot at the end of a small service road for the local air strip. The next day we went, again in the rain, to visit the town and look around. Seward is a very small community set in an almost fiord-like setting with gorgeous mountains all around. On a clear day it would have been spectacular. But we didn't have a clear day and had to make due with views such as the opening shot. Seward is a deep water port that serves as a terminus for several cruise lines and one was in port while we were there. There is a small strip of shops that serves a large marina. Seward is one access point to get to Prince William Sound which is known for its fishing and its glaciers. We didn't fish but we did get to see glaciers later in the week at Whittier.
There was a Silver Salmon derby in progress that weekend and there were also many charter fishing boats going out. The Silvers were hitting well. Here is one couples' morning catch.
Outside of the fishing and the shops and restaurants, the one big thing to see in Seward is the Sea Life Research Center. It is a large aquarium and exhibit space that highlights the area species and the research being done to sudy them. It's very well done and has some excellent tanks and viewing opportunities. Here's a Stellars sea lion.
This guy was trim and slim at 1600 lbs. after his breeding season wieght of 2400 lbs. He had this tank to himself.
Artwork is plentiful in the seaside communties. This sculpture was outside the Sea Life Center.
Many communties also use murals to dress up and set a tone. Here are two we saw in Seward.
One of the charter offices also showed some creativity with the work on their siding.
We had parked at the marina and used a free shuttle to get around town. After the aquarium we stopped at a local restaurant for an early dinner of fresh halibut and cold beer. Not a bad day in spite of the weather.
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