I woke up relatively early (about 5:00 am) to get ready. We have a "major" excursion today - Resurrection Bay Half Day Kayak Tour guided by Kayak Adventures Worldwide. We had pre-booked this excursion well in advance to secure the time and date we would like to do this tour. I had chosen Kayak Adventures' tour because the Half Day Tour is offered as a privately guided family tour if parties have children ages 6-13. The tours are offered in both the morning and afternoon. We chose the morning tour because the water is generally calmer in the morning.
We had complimentary breakfast at the large mess hall. There was a large group of teens on a tour together. We were quickly surrounded by some pretty rowdy teenagers from all over lower 48 chatting about their days.
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| View of Seward Harbor from our room, 5:23 am |
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| Are the pancakes ready yet? I'm starving |
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| Not bad for pandemic breakfast |
Kayak Adventures Worldwide
We had scouted Kayak Adventures Worldwide's location the night before so we had no problem finding the location today. We got there shortly before our scheduled meeting time of 8:00 am and we were promptly greeted by the staff at Kayak Adventures. They found our reservation quickly and introduced our guide - Shauna to us.
Shauna greeted us warmly and asked for our names and where we are from. She also told us a bit about herself. When she's not working as a guide in Seward, she works as a ski instructor. Shauna has a real passion for the outdoors and also for the delicate eco-system of the Resurrection Bay Area.
The first part of the tour is get suited up. We were provided dry bags to store our valuable items. She taught us how to use the dry bags and we were also told we would not have access to items in the dry bag while we are kayaking. Next Shauna provided us with water proof pants. Since we already had functioning rain coats we only needed the water proof pants. The pants are made of rubber material and it took some work to get them over our bulky hiking boots. Next we were out-fitted with Kayak skirt. This outfit was interesting to us because we had never seen a kayak skirt. It is worn like an overall and is designed to completely seal the opening of the kayak seat so water does not get into the kayak. Lastly we were outfitted with flotation vest. Once we got fitted, we shared a van with another family from Southern California and headed to the launching location with Shauna and another guide.
In the van ride, we found out that all the guides live at the little guest house where Kayak Adventures is located. I think there were 10 or 12 guides living in that same house. There is real camadarie among the guides.
The drive took us south along Third Street and passed the Alaska Sealife Center to Lowell Point Road. We followed the Lowell Point Road and ended up at Pinnacle View Road. At the end of this little road was our launching point. There isn't any more roads south of this area.
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| riding to the kayak launching spot |
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| kayaks ready to go |
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| The view of Resurrection Bay at the launching point is unreal |
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| MM fashioning her waterproof pants |
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| Shauna demonstrating how the skirt works |
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| Red kayak and black sand beach |
Shauna also had to educate us about how to maneuver a kayak. The key feature of the type of kayak we used was the rudder system. The person in the rear of the two seater kayak controls the rudder. There's a right pedal and a left pedal. Stepping on the right pedal turns the kayak right and stepping on the left pedal turns the kayak left. The position of the pedals had to be adjusted to fit our height. It was quite a bit of work for Shauna to get the kayaks adjusted so we felt comfortable using the rudder system.
We finally got seated and ready to be launched. Once we were all seated and skirt properly sealed the seating bowl, Shauna picked up the front of the kayak and launched us into Resurrection Bay. Despite the water temperature is about 45F and the depth of the bay can get close to 1,000 feet, we felt quite safe since we had an expert guiding us.
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| Maneuvering through the gentle wave of Resurrection Bay |
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| MM trying to follow Shauna's instructions |
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| Shauna's well composed shot |
As moved south from the launch point and Shauna was giving us tips along the way to properly steer the kayak. We got the hang of the motion in a reasonable time and was able to take in the scenery around us. Shauna pointed to an otter bobbling in and out of the water. We kayaked along the shore line to keep an eye out for wildlife. Eventually, we made it to a shoreline with a waterfall. Shauna guided us to this shore and we would take a brief walking tour of the area only accessible via water.
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| Shauna pulling in our kayaks at the shoreline |
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| Made it to the rocky shoreline fashioning the spray skirt, water-proof pants, and life jacket |
After getting on shore, Shauna was showing us some of the species in this area. She pointed to us that the area has been invaded by some foreign specie of clam. These clams are attached to the bottom of the rocks and are everywhere. We walked to the area closer inland and Shauna showed us the geological sediments exposed likely from past seismic activities. There is a fast moving stream (or perhaps a river) flowing into the bay. We walked along the right bank of this river and made it to a foot bridge over this river. Shauna pointed to us that this area receives tremendous amount of rainfall and is one of the largest temperate rainforest in the world. As we crossed this bridge Shauna pointed to us a patch of dead trees at the river outlet to the bay. This patch of dead trees was a result of the major Valdez 1964 earthquake that shifted the grounds by several feet. These trees were then submerged in sea water which resulted in their death.
We continued walking on an elevated wooden plank and into the rainforest. Shaun had prepaid hot chocolate and granola bars from Resurrect Art Coffee House. We tried to enjoy the hot drink and the bars but were overwhelmed by the mosquitos in the forest. We packed up and retreated back to the shoreline after the quick break.
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| Landed on the rocky shoreline |
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| Group shot on the shoreline |
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| Shauna pointing out the invasive specie |
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| Black clams are stuffed in the rocky crevasse |
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| Shauna guiding us on a walk along the shoreline |
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| Shauna showing us the geological sediments |
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| Walking along the narrow path by the river to the footbridge |
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| Looking back at the bay from the footbridge, the patch of dead tress are on the right except for one |
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| Walking on the plank |
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| GG attempts to enjoy the granola bars in the rainforest |
After the short hike and snack break at the rainforest, we headed back to the shore. Shauna loaded us up in the kayak and we made our way back to the launch point. On the way back I spotted several bald eagles on top of the trees along the shoreline. We took in the serenity of being in the middle of the bay and slowly made our way back.
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| Making our way back, this photo was taken by Shauna |
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| A pair of bald eagles on top of the trees (try to spot the two tiny white dots) |
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| Another bald eagle on top of the tree |
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| Photo with our incredibly awesome guide Shauna |
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| $2 per person is donated to a conservation society of choice by the company |
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| Back at the company HQ, this was one of the best excursions we did this trip |
Seward
After getting back to our hotel, we got out of our hiking boots and swapped them with our walking shoes. We finished up our instant ramen purchased the night before for lunch and headed out to explore the town. We had no particular destination in mind except we were looking for some ice cream options.
After enjoying the sweet treats, we continued walking along the main drag (4th Street) until the end of the road. Located at the end of 4th Street is the
Alaska SeaLife Center, a nonprofit marine life research and rehab center but also operates as a public aquarium. The Center was on my radar to visit but it wasn't necessarily a "must-do". Since we had some time to spend before our dinner we decided to check out the SeaLife Center.
The ticket was not cheap ($29.95 for 13+ and $17.95 for 7-12) but we actually enjoyed the visit very much. The exhibits were well curated and the center balcony has a commanding view of Resurrection Bay. Our most memorable sea life friend was the giant octopus named Agnes.
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