We couldn't have asked for a more beautiful place to
celebrate Independence Day than camped on the waterfront of Resurrection Bay in
Seward, Alaska. The city of Seward has a mile long campground on the area
where fishing and harbor businesses stood before being washed away by the 30
foot Tsunami waves following the Good Friday, 1964 earthquake. About
300 RV sites face the water with only a wide paved walking/biking path and then
a strip of sand separating them from the rocky shore. People build fire
rings and start campfires and sit out along the water around the clock. We
arrived at the campground on June 27 to be sure that we got a space, as the
campground is always full by July 3rd. Our view from the RV was the bay
and the snow-capped mountains on the opposite side. Behind us, not a mile
away was another range of mountains with the City of Seward in between. A
new harbor has been built at the end of the bay, and the city and harbor were
both within easy walking and biking distance. We watched the fishermen
bring in their catch (halibut, lingcod, and silver salmon), hang it on hooks to
be weighed and photographed, and then clean and filet
it.
Seward
has a population of about 4000, but on the 4th of July they expect about
10,000. I'm not sure if that many arrived, but the campground was full by
the 3rd and the streets and shops were crowded. We'd had weeks of
fantastic weather. And - wouldn't you know - on the 3rd it became overcast
and drizzly. The fireworks were shot off at midnight on the 3rd into a
thick fog that rolled into the bay almost on cue. Many people lined
the waterfront, huddled around campfires in the misty rain, but boats headed
back to the docks. Some of the fireworks showed up only as a aura of color
around the clouds. Even with the heavy clouds and fog, it wasn't really
dark out. The big event on the 4th is the race up Mount
Marathon. The race is 1.5 miles each way and the mountain goes from sea
level to 3000 feet elevation and from trees to cliffs to brush to gravel and
snow. 300 men and 300 women run in separate races. Kids from 10-18
run half way up in an earlier race. The record time is 43 minutes.
This year's men's winner (3rd consecutive win) did it in 45:07, the women's (7th
win and on the US Olympic Cross Country Ski Team) in 59:59. The racers
tape the tops of their shoes with duct tape to keep rocks from getting in and
wear gloves to protect their hands as they climb or slide down the rocks.
The cloudy weather kept it cool (55*) and the rain the night before was just
enough to water down the dust. One guy was dressed like Elvis and another
as a "birdman" and participants were as old as 70. We joined the
spectators lining the race course through town and then watched with binoculars
as the racers scaled the mountain. Various churches and other
organizations made sure we had our choice of food booths. The best, in my
estimation, was the Methodist pie and coffee booth which never appeared to run
out of a wide choice of flavors. (I had Mossberry - yum!)
In the
several days before the 4th we had browsed the shops, tried some restaurants,
biked and walked around town, visited several art galleries and the library and
chatted with locals about fishing and the big race. Sandee went for a walk
on Monday (the 2nd) after lunch and the rest of us "passed" as we had other
projects in mind. A while later we all communicated on our walkie-talkies
and realized that Sandee had been inspired by some of the practicing racers
she'd met and had started up Mt. Marathon herself. Tom and I and Jacques
went on with our plans for the rest of the afternoon, ate dinner, watched
Sandee's progress through the binoculars and talked with her over the
walkie-talkies. None of us realized how long it would take her, or what
she had gotten into. We met her at the bottom of the mountain at 12:45am
(just as the streetlights came on). She had a big smile on her face, was
covered with dust from head to toe and her jeans were in shreds as she had slid
down a good part of the rocky slope on the seat of her pants. It took her
so long because she knew her own limits - and went slow and easy.
Meanwhile, on the ground, we were getting a little worried as people passed her
going up and again coming down and there weren't too many people left up
there. A kind man and his son walked the last hour or so with her.
So, now, Sandee has a big challenge to her credit and some black and blue marks
and a new T-shirt to prove it. Seward will "stick out" in our
memories!
On
July 5th we drove back to Soldotna. We were stopped for construction quite
a while and then also stopped for lunch at one of Everhart's favorite
restaurants from previous trips. Gwin's is an old Alaskan log
roadhouse...and the food was good, too. There were lots of fishermen
around, some talking in German to the guides and charter operators. We
settled in once again at the Fred Meyer parking lot which is even more crowded
than the last time we were here.
Sandee after her hike up Mt. Marathon
Seward, Alaska on Resurrection Bay at the base of Mt.
Marathon
Mt. Marathon with racers running to the top in the clouds.
Half-way up the mountain is where the gray starts.
"Elvis" and the "birdman" after the race.
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July, 2001 page 2
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On
July 6th we moved the RVs to the City of Soldotna Swiftwater Campground, where
we remained for quite a while. The campground is appropriately named as it
is along the Kenai River, which is a rapidly moving river. The water is a
beautiful milky emerald green and comes from glacial and snow melt in the
mountains and therefore is quite cold. We were among the many campers
here who were patiently waiting for the "second run" of the red
salmons. Several times each day the fishermen walked the banks of the
river and cast their lines for a while and realized there were still very
few fish in the water. We occupied the rest of the days by tuning up the
fishing equipment, swatting mosquitoes, dodging raindrops (only one day without
them in 10 days), watching workers build a new section of campground, taking
walks, hauling water (as we have no hookups, and by adding a little each day
we'd avoid running out), napping, shopping, laundry, a little cleaning and of
course eating and playing dominoes. On Friday afternoon (the 13th!) we
attended the ribbon cutting and grand opening of the new boat launch and
fishwalk along the bank of the river. It was built as a cooperative
project with the US Army Corps of Engineers and is a great boardwalk and
platforms for fishing so that people don't disturb the riverbank to get to the
water. The campground has no maximum stay limit and allows campers to pay
by the day. We paid for several days at a time, hoping that the fish would
arrive, get caught, and we'd be on our way. The campground was also
full. That meant that we had people stalking the road, checking the
permits, and even knocking on our door to see when we were planning to
leave. In other words, it was a pretty quiet week here in Soldotna...that
is except for Thursday night...around 11:30pm Tom and I had just gone to bed
when we heard a strange thumping and scraping sound that appeared to be on the
side of the RV bedroom. When we pulled up the blind, there was a cute and
cuddly looking black bear snooping around. It checked out the RV and our
screen porch, then wandered over to Everhart's car where he put his paws on the
trunk and stood up to look around, then wandered back to the other side of the
porch, our car and under the front of the RV. He ran off into the woods
after Tom honked the horn. We got several photos, although with cloudy
skies and all the trees it was pretty dark.
The Bounder with its screen porch attached, nestled in the woods at the
Swiftwater Campground, Soldotna
The Kenai River at the Swiftwater Campground, Soldotna, AK
So, as
this is posted to our website on July 16, we are pleased to announce that the
fish have finally arrived. Tom and Jacques have been fishing a good part
of the last 24 hours, sometimes taking turns at a spot on the river. Mary
and Sandee have been working on projects for the BOA Rally in September and
helping clean up after the guys cleaning the fish...oh, fun! The fishermen
are starting to come in by the van load and the "race is on."
The
week of July 16 to 23rd found us doing much of the same that had occupied us the
week before. The guys continued to fish at strange hours of the day
(mostly the night or early morning) once they learned the habits of the other
fishermen around us and the fact that it really was too dark to keep track of
hooks, lines and sinkers between 1 and 3am. We've developed a crazy
schedule and some strange habits, but since the guys are here to fish, it
doesn't really matter. When the fish are "running" there is a great
camaraderie among the people on the riverbank. They help each other net
the fish and share in the pride when one is landed and the anguish when "the big
one" gets away. The weather has been pretty "yucky" most of the week with
rain off and on, and the roads in the campground turning into a sea of splashing
mud. We took advantage of one sunny day to take down the screen room and
get it put away while dry and to take some photos. There is still constant
traffic of campers in search of a campsite and foot traffic back and forth to
the river...with all the fishermen checking on each other's catch. We've
made several more trips to the fish processor and will have some
salmon to share with folks at home. Our night-time visitors this week were a
moose and her calves. We frequently see moose during the day in and near
the campground as well. As we start the next week, we plan to head toward
Anchorage once more and then on to the rest of the State of Alaska. The
Kenai Peninsula has been great fun!
Jacques and Tom fishing on the bank of the Kenai River with other
fishermen. Soldotna, Alaska 10pm July 17,
2001
Tom holding up his first two fish of the night.
11pm July 17, 2001.
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July, 2001 page 3
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After a stop at the laundromat to wash away all the
fish slime and mud, we left Soldotna on Monday July 23, heading to
Anchorage. South of Anchorage we drove out to the Portage Glacier and then
through the Alaska Railroad Tunnel to Whittier. Until a year ago, the only
access to Whittier was by sea, air or railroad. At that time they
remodeled the railroad tunnel to allow cars and trucks to drive through, and now
the tunnel is shared. Traffic is one way at a time, usually changing
direction every half hour, unless delayed by a train. The town of Whittier
itself is interesting as there are no houses. The entire population (300 or so)
lives in one of two buildings that are part of the structures left by the Army
after WWII. An interesting place. Continuing on, we stopped
along Turnagain Arm to watch the "tidal bore" and were disappointed that the
"wall of water" rushing in after the low tide was but a few inches high.
In Anchorage we had a delicious dinner with Mary's cousins once again and a fun
evening sharing stories of Alaska. On Wednesday, we drove North and
stopped at the Iditarod Headquarters and Museum and learned a lot about the
great sled-dog race. We spent the night in Houston...Alaska, not
Texas...in a full service park for a change...giving us the opportunity to fill
our water tanks, dump and even wash the coaches. Of course within the
first several miles on Thursday we encountered gravel, mud and
construction. Thursday's stops included Talketna, Mary Carey's Lodge (site
of an early Alaskan homestead made by a woman) and a rest area along the Parks
Highway.
Friday we arrived at Denali National Park and settled
into a campground within the park itself. The campground had paved roads,
but no other facilities. In trying to preserve the wilderness we were
asked to use busses rather than cars, so we took the bus or walked
everywhere. The rain continued quite heavily, so we did not attempt any
major hikes, but did attend ranger programs, sled dog demonstrations, and took a
12 hour , 93 miles each way, trip into the wilds. On that trip we saw lots
of wildflowers, spruce trees, glacial paths, hoary marmots, snowshoe hares,
golden eagle, ptarmigan (the Alaskan State bird), moose, herds of dall sheep and
caribou and half a dozen grizzlys. At the end of the road we even had a
few minutes of sunshine and a glimpse of part of Mt. McKinley...which until that
point we could only trust in the rangers who said it really is in this
park. They tell us that only about 30% of the park visitors ever see part
of "the mountain." Our bus driver/guide was a classy lady, Gloria, who I
would guess is 60-ish. She has been here for seven years after giving up
the corporate life in Colorado, selling her home, and moving here into a cabin
with no running water or electricity. She hauls her own ice and water and
says she is happier now than she has ever been. She spent last winter
"living it up" --working and living in a place with hot showers and
electric lights - Antarctica!! Like we mentioned before, there is a whole
different breed of people who live in Alaska. It is also amazing how many
acres and acres of wilderness are here and that people back around 1900 saw that
it needed to be preserved and started working toward that end.
It's
hard to believe that July is over. We certainly haven't seen much "summer"
weather where we are. And the people here in Alaska tell us that this is a
"most unusual summer." In fact, the rangers at Denali told us they don't
usually see herds of animals this early and in the places that we saw them and
that the fireweed (wildflowers) have "topped out." These are signs
of an early winter. They expect the first snowfall in about two
weeks. We'll have to check back. Next stop Fairbanks.
Huskies pulling a sled at the Ranger Demonstration at Denali National
Park
A
grizzly bear that wandered through the Visitor Center area and across the
road in front of our bus at Denali National Park
The
"clump" of cloud-like colors in the center of the photo is what we saw of Mt.
McKinley from Wonder Lake in Denali National Park.
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