After spending three nights in Seward, we are making our way back to Anchorage today. Before departing Seward, we'll have to make two stops - Resurrect Art Coffee House & Gallery and the Exit Glacier area of the Kenai Fjord National Park.
The Resurrect Art Coffee House is located 3rd avenue adjacent to Kayak Adventures. We had wanted to try the Art Coffee House after our Kayak tour but decided to try it the day we depart Seward. It is located at an old church building. The menu is full of all the brewed caffeinated wonders you can think of and freshly made pastries. Works of local artists filled the wall of the warm and inviting interior of the coffee house. We ended up ordering three unique drinks, a muffin, a bagel, and a scone. We sipped our drinks and soaked in the rainy weather of Seward before departing this unique little town, which has been my favorite town in this whole trip.
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| Our order at the Coffee House |
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| Works by local artists filled the interior of the coffee house |
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| No shortage of items on the menu |
After getting our gourmet caffeine fix, we headed back to hotel to get our second breakfast. We freshened up, packed up and checked out of our hotel for the Exit Glacier.
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MM enjoying the complimentary breakfast before checking out
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Exit Glacier
The Exit Glacier area is the only area of the Kenai Fjord National Park that can be reached by road. This area is not plowed during winter so summer is the only time that a vehicle can drive into this area. We followed the 9 north out of town and made a left turn onto the Herman Leirer road to the Exit Glacier area. We passed several lodges along the way and soon we entered the glacier valley. The drive traverses upstream along the north bank of the Resurrection River. We spotted the National Park sign quickly into the drive and shorty passed the sign we observed the first post marking the location of the glacier. The first post we observed was the 1894 post. It marks the location of the glacier at the year l894. We followed the posts along the drive until we reached the parking lot and the visitor center.
Our goal is to hike the Exit Glacier Overlook Trail, which is only a 2.2 mile loop. This relatively easy trial is also the beginning of the strenuous 8.2 mile loop Harding Icefield Trail. I tried to convince everyone that this 8.2 mile Harding Ice Field Trail is actually quite easy but no one took my words for it.
We finished the 2.2 mile loop in almost no time. The hike was easy and enjoyable and our rain coats shielded us from the persistent rainfall effortlessly.
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| The Exit Glacier can be observed shortly into the drive |
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| Reaching the National Park sign |
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| The first marking of the glacier position is spotted - The 1894 post |
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MM at the Exit Glacier Parking area
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| The Harding Icefield Trail, elevation gain of 3,812 feet and 8.2 miles total, should be a piece of cake |
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| The trail is nicely paved, MM showing us the 1917 glacier marking |
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| Walking in the rain |
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| Last call for the Harding Icefield |
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| MM crossing a stream via the make-shift bridge |
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| After a short ascent, we reached the edge of the glacier |
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| Learning about the glacier |
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| A pictorial explanation of the glacier markings |
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| At the 2005 marking |
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| Taking in the view |
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| Looking like real tourists |
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| Great view of the Exit Glacier at end of trail |
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| Getting close to the outwash basin to observe the small ice chunks |
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I did it!
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After completing the Exit Glacier hike, we made a quick stop at a nearby lodge to use the restroom before making the approximate 2 hour drive back to Anchorage. We took in the views of the immense Chugach National Forest and the snow-covered peaks on the way back. When we got to Girdwood, we stopped at the Ice Cream Shop again to get our fix before winding our way back along the Turnagain Arm back to Anchorage.
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| MM getting the usual at the Ice Cream Shop |
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| We are back for more! |
We were able to check in to our accommodation a bit early. After getting settled in at Holiday Inn Express Anchorage, we set out to explore Anchorage further.
The Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center
The Anchorage Museum is a hybrid of museum of modern art, native artifacts, and current event exhibits. We saw a number of special exhibits the day we visited including Women of the North, Northern Soundscape and Black Lives in Alaska just to name a few. The most informative permanent exhibit is the First People of Alaska Exhibit.
We learned quite a bit about the natives from the videos and artifacts from the First People of Alaska Exhibit. One of the most unique items we saw was a cape made from intestine sinew. It belongs to the Unangan culture and is dated around 1880's.
After perusing the museum, we had worked up an appetite for Moose's Tooth.
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| The Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center, located on the corner of W 6th Ave and C St. |
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| MM playing with a self-pulley art exhibit |
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| Women of the North Exhibit |
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| The exhibit |
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| The First People of Alaska permanent exhibit |
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| Colorful native artifacts |
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| Learning about the native people's origin |
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| Exhibit on Native Activism |
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| Native Parka |
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| The "Alaska" Exhibit, it tells the story about modern day Alaska |
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| Antique machineary |
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| Aviation is a big part of Alaska |
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| Artwork representing the pipeline |
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| A modern Alaska |
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| The emergence of statehood, the 49th state |
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