As we left Anchorage we were informed that the RR forgot to put on an additional passenger car. Go figure! So, the passengers who were not assigned a seat are placed in one of the dining cars. This limits who can go where and when to eat. After a short wait our car's attendant takes us to an available dining car at the front of the train where we have our breakfast. Peggy asked me if I left bread crumbs to find our way back. We were surprised to find that meal prices are not out of line with what restaurants charge.
It was a cloudy, rainy day along much of the route to Seward. We passed through the western parts of Anchorage and paralleled the Seward Hwy along the north shore of the Turnagain Arm of the Cook Inlet. The train stopped in Girdwood to pick up more passengers, and we are on our way again.
Once past the Portage Hwy we entered new territory to us. We see different glaciers, rivers, mountains, and other sights. But we never seem to tire of looking at cloud-draped and snow-covered peaks and the chance to see wildlife.
Shortly after 11:00 we came into Seward. We were forewarned that with the approach of the 4th of July that Seward will be bustling with the influx of tourists (like us?) because Seward has a big celebration including the infamous Mt. Marathon race to the top and back down. This is a big event here in Alaska and will be televised on an Anchorage TV station. All five train cars' passengers helped to add to the temporary population increase of Seward.
One very nice thing that Seward provides was a free shuttle bus service throughout the day. We boarded the bus which becomes a teeming mass of people and took it to downtown Seward. We then go to purchase our bus passes to ride to the Kenai Fjords National Park so that we can do a hike up to Exit Glacier. Our bus time is 1:30 which gives us some time to explore Seward.
We walked main street where in some of the parking lots and alley spaces booths are being erected for the Independence Day celebration. As we pass parks and parking lots along Resurrection Bay RVs are being squeezed in. If there is 3 feet between each, it is what looks to be a large space.
We then headed to the harbor. Typical of places like Whittier and Valdez, Seward's harbor is full of various sizes and shapes of boats. Most appeared to be used for fishing. There is a line of small shops lining the shoreline of the harbor making it look very quaint.
We decided that we needed to eat something before heading to the National Park. We found a bakery/cafe across the street from the harbor where we had a delicious bowl of chicken/wild rice soup. While we eat I'm entertained by a 5th wheel trailer trying to negotiate traffic. He takes a wrong turn into a parking lot and then has to back out of it onto the traffic laden highway. Made me glad we chose to take the train here!
We caught the shuttle back to downtown and walked the couple of blocks to where we got on the bus going to the National Park. There are about 12 people who took the ride the approximately 20 miles. The ride is pleasant, but as we rounded a curve going into the National Park the large parking lot comes into view and it is full of vehicles. There are going to be a lot of people here.
We enter the NP's visitor center and get some info about the glacier and the trails going up to it. The ranger jokingly says the trail is just fine and you don't need a map. Off we go!
The first part of the trail is blacktop. After about 1/2 mile the remaining mile of it is gravel which is in good shape. We meet lots of people coming and going up and down this trail which is the shortest route to Exit Glacier. There is another trail that takes you up to the top of the ridge upon which the glacier begins, but that is a 6 mile hike one way. We finally arrive at the terminal end of the glacier. It is quite impressive both in size and the fact that you get fairly close to it. You are not allowed to actually get on the glacier without having signed up for a guide service lead hike which is more time consuming than we have available.
Exit Glacier is part of the Hardy Icefield and was so named because early explorers of the area got up on the Hardy Icefield and found this glacier as the way down to the valley floor. Thus its name- Exit Glacier.
We hiked down taking a different trail which took us to the meltwater outflow. The amount of water coming from this glacier is very impressive and helps us grasp that many glaciers are retreating at a fast rate.
Back at the park visitor center we caught our bus back to Seward. We walked to the shuttle stop only to find that street blocked off in preparation for the 4th, so on we went to the next stop. The shuttle took us back to the train station where we got our boarding passes taking us back Anchorage.
To our surprise we were upgraded from standard class to "first" class and seating in a domed car! (We used our TripSaver 50% off coupon which was only good for standard class.) Remember the missing passenger car in Anchorage? This was the RR's answer- add a Gold Class car to accommodate. Why we happened to be upgraded we will never know, but if you can't be good, be lucky! The only minor problem was that many passengers who got the upgrade got tickets printed with Car A, Row 13, Seat A. Peggy and I had been assigned this along with Seat B, but we happened to be first onboard. Possession was 9/10 of the rule, and the others had to find alternate seating according to the car attendant.
Once underway we went downstairs to "our" dining car and had a very good dinner of roast beef, etc., concluded with excellent chocolate desserts. Afterwards we return up to our dome and saw moose, both a black and a grizzly bear, and even a porcupine!
We arrived back in Anchorage around 11:15 p.m. tired but very happy for the experience. We got back to Wasilla around midnight and immediately crashed in bed!
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