Bye Seward, Hello Girdwood
~Thursday, July 28, 2022~
Day 774 (Travel Day)
Day 38 of Alaska Trip
It’s so strange to be looking at our Alaska itinerary we planned so many months ago, and actually visiting and experiencing what’s on our list. I think at the time, it all seemed so daunting of a task after hours of looking over maps and internet research, to come up with the ideal plan; not to mention the shear worry of towing a trailer into the HUGE unknown. Now that we’re experiencing everything we set out to do, we are so thrilled that we didn’t let intimidation get the best of us. Being over a month into the trip, it was absolutely worth all the rough roads, the many hours and miles it took to get here! The best part is not feeling rushed with our stops. Road tripping Alaska is absolutely the way to go if you want to immerse yourself in each city.
Opening the shades to a gorgeous day and seeing a cruise ship docked in Seward’s port was quite a sight (we couldn’t tell which cruise line it was), especially with the surge in COVID cases this past week.
I’m sure they’re requiring all passengers to wear masks when disembarking the ship.
We’re sad to be leaving the epicness of Seward and the Kenai Peninsula…….the wildlife, the tremendous beauty, the mountain views.
Everything about it beckons you to explore it. We could have easily spent another day or 2 here. But we have to keep up with our schedule if we’re going to be out of Alaska before the ice/snow begins.
Woo hoo!!! I’m really digging these shorter driving days. Man, I’ve never seen so many RV’s. With the short, good weather window up here, it’s no wonder. I guess the high price of gas isn’t keeping people away from this part of Alaska. Today….only 90 minutes to Girdwood, rated one of the 10 most beautiful towns in Alaska, and quite an active one I might add. We had 2 options in mind for lodging in this charming town……either on a lake on Portage Glacier Road or near downtown in a gravel parking lot at the Alyeska Ski Resort for $20/night with neither having hookups. We drove to the ski resort lot first to see if we would like it. Absolutely!! Nice that it’s in full sun which is good at this time of year in Alaska with the days hovering around the upper 60’s. And the views of Alyeska Mountain and the Glacier Valley were just epic! Definitely not your ordinary parking lot camping. At the time of arrival, there were about 10-12 RV’s and room for at least 50 more. We found the perfect level spot, made a light lunch and had been in our set up mode for about an hour until someone from the resort apologetically told us we had to move. Evidently, cones had been set up earlier in the day blocking the section where we and a few others were camped. He wasn’t sure who moved them, but Jeff thinks they were never put up in the first place. Who would move 15 cones? The reason we had to move was due to a helicopter rescue training session they would be holding tomorrow in a section of the parking lot, right in the spot we had chosen. From our front row seats so to speak, that will certainly be a fun one to watch!
There was a nice trail behind our campsite, leading to the ski resort itself. While I prepared some horsederves, Jeff took Sadie for a nice jaunt. Within 5 minutes of their walk, they came across a “danger” sign warning hikers of unexploded artillery shells they may find on the mountain and to report any that are found.
These shells help mitigate avalanches in the winter, but in the summer months, one might come across several of these while hiking the trails. Sort of like a “dud” firework, sometimes they launch artillery that doesn’t explode at the time, but is still “alive” so to speak. Supposedly, they’re not hard to miss since they’re fairly good size. These mountains are incredibly steep, with most ski runs at the resort being double black diamonds, so it makes complete sense that they would try to circumvent any potential avalanche danger. With mountains like these, I think I would stick to the bunny slope zone in this neck of the woods.⛷