“USA 🇺🇸 Alaska in Seward ~Resurrection Bay and Fox Island Tour Plus Scenic Drive to Seward from Denali”

• June 23, 2023
• By Pen
• 2 Comments

Five-Hour Resurrection Bay Boat Tour, with Lunch on Fox Island

Fantastic!!!

Boat Name: Nunatak

Seward’s Resurrection Bay and Fox Island ⬇️

From sky-high rock walls and tumbling waterfalls, to ginger-beaked Puffins and abundant marine life, the natural wonders of Destruction Bay extend far beyond its shoreline. It is where Mountains, Ice, and Oceans, meet.

Just beyond the shores of Seward, Alaska, lies a land where the scenic beauty is endless and the wildlife is abundant. In fact, the wildlife thrive in these icy waters and lush forests around this vast expanse of ocean. The Sugpiaq people relied on these resources to nurture a life entwined with the sea. 

This area is home to wildlife like a Humpback Whales, Dall’s Porpoise, Orcas, Sea Otters, Steller Sea Lions, Coastal Mountain Goats, Puffins, and American Bald Eagles. The best way to scope out these resident creatures and land formation is on a boat tour, which allows unprecedented viewing access.

American Bald Eagle

⬆️ Town of Seward, as seen from the bay

⬇️ My attempt to photograph the Dall’s Porpoise. They look like mini Orcas, but they are smaller than the Killer Whales. The Dall’s Porpoise are a muscular version of the most commonly seen dolphin. They move like a torpedo underwater

Dall’s porpoise is the largest of all porpoises. They are very active and incredibly fast; reaching swimming speeds of 34 miles per hour.
In fact, they look like a black and white blur as they shoot past. They can grow up to the six feet long range.

Coming in to Fox Island 

Renard (Fox) Island hosted its first fox farm in 1901, established by Alfred and Billy Lowell. Until 1965 the island was used, intermittently, for fox farming; primarily blue foxes.
I read a book with all the details of early life, on this island. It was Very interesting.

We got a table near a fireplace stove, inside the lodge. The weather is definitely not summer-like, and we had continual rain, and mist.

We wore all our layers and we were fine, but it is the kind of cold that goes right through to the bone, when in a boat. It reminded me of Oregon weather, where I grew up. There is both indoor seating on the boat and outdoor seating, if warmth is your priority. We enjoy taking photos, so it was outside for us! 

The beach on Fox Island is loaded with flat rocks. Beach combing for a heart-shaped one, and eating lunch on the island took up our one-hour stop, there.

All aboard once again, and we were off for three more hours of boating. It just kept getting better and better, in spite of the low hanging clouds. Fortunately, the fjord is very deep, so we could get right up close to the wildlife and the beautiful rocky formations which had the clouds disappearing for a bit. 

Resurrection Bay has a maximum depth of 972 feet, near the coast at Caines Head. It contains many deep coves, most notably Thumb, Humpy, Bulldog, Pony and Derby Coves. To the west, Resurrection Bay is bordered by the Aialik Peninsula and the adjacent Aialik Bay.

There was a dangerous storm in the Gulf of Alaska in 1792. Russian explorer Alexandr Baranov was forced to retreat into the bay for safety. When the storm settled it was Easter Sunday, so the bay and nearby Resurrection River were named in honor of it!

The Steller, or Northern Sea Lion are the largest member of the family Otariidae, the “eared seals,” which includes all sea lions and fur seals. Steller sea lions are named for Georg Wilhelm Steller, the German surgeon and naturalist on the Bering expedition who first described and wrote about the species in 1742. While they are the only living member of their genus, they share parts of their range with a smaller related species; tbe California Sea Lions.

Steller Sea Lions’ impressive low-frequency vocalizations, sound more like roars than California sea lions’ roar.

Historically, Steller Sea Lions were highly abundant throughout many parts of the coastal North Pacific Ocean. Indigenous peoples and settlers hunted them for their meat, hides, oil, and other products, and today sea lions are still an important subsistence resource for Alaska Natives.

We definitely got to see a lot of Steller Seals. They are an endangered species, so this is quite special! We even heard them make their growling sound. 

PUFFIN
The biggest differences between the Puffin and the Penguin include flight, size, and beaks. The penguin is famous for being a flightless bird.

Males and female Puffins look alike. Puffins are between 11.5 and 13.5 inches long, with a wingspan of 21 to 24 inches. They have white underbellies and cheeks, with a black spread along their back, neck, and crown.
I think they look like miniature penguins, when out of the water 

We got to see Puffins in their natural nesting habitat, as well as watch them on the water, diving for fish. This was a first for us.
They are so tiny, it’s hard to believe they can thrive in these icy waters! 

The most notable feature of the Puffin is their large, brightly-colored bill. Early sailors referred to them as “sea parrots,” due to their triangularly shaped beak, stocky body, short wings, and reddish-orange feet.

⬆️ We were also fortunate to see one Coastal Mountain Goat! 

The white head of the American Bald Eagle could be seen quite regularly, along the rocky coastline. 

Moving on out in to the Gulf of Alaska, to look for Whales

This was a Humpback Whale. We kept waiting for the breaching, but we’ve never see that, before, though we’ve been Whale Watching many, many, times. 

Orca Whales call this place home, also, during this time of year. They feed in the mornings, along the rocky coast, so most likely have come and gone by afternoon. I have seen the Killer Whale in the wild on a few occasions.

⬆️ Jelly Fish 

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Driving From Denali National Park to the Kenai Peninsula ⬇️

First Camping Stop of Three, on the Peninsula:

Seward, Alaska

We made it to the Kenai Peninsula, from Denali! It was two long drive days for us, with one boondock night, somewhere around Houston, Alaska.

We are so grateful to finally be here!

We are staying at the Seward KOA Journey Campground. 
We have a view of the Resurrection River, and as soon as we arrived and were getting camp set up, I looked outside and saw one American Bald Eagle. It was pouring down rain and blowing. The Eagle was still as a statue.

Also looking, directly in front of our camp space is a very tall tree. The gigantic Eagle’s nest is in it, near the top! The camp host said there are no Eaglets, yet, but hope there are eggs.

By our first evening, we saw the adult Eagles flying above us, one with a fish in its claws, coming back from the river, and they both ended up at their nest.
Pretty cool!!

🤣🤣🤣🤣

Anywho, low clouds do not allow for the normally fantastic views. Seward literally is surrounded by beautiful mountains. According the weather forecast, we are unlikely to see any mountains, though here for a week!

The Salmon Bake Restaurant 

With inflation, on top of a place with already a higher cost of living, eating-out is limited. Just can’t justify the cost.
Thankfully, we are perfectly capable of cooking for ourselves. Grocery shopping was almost $250, as it was! 

The food was pretty good. We shared a cup of really yummy seafood chowder and we each got fish n chips. We drink water…. $85, before tip.

⬆️ Pickle Barrel, with juicy pickles inside. Comes with the meal, and one’s helps themselves 

⬆️ Moose Bone Wind Chimes 

⬆️ Original Trapper-era Bear Safe Food Cache

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Day ONE of TWO ~Driving From Denali to Houston  ⬇️

Actual time was about 4.5 hours

Wowza, we got hit hard with Mosquitoes at our boondock stop, around half way!  Finally figured out how they were getting in. It was nuts. I finally got my arsenal of essential oils going and that helped! 

June is Mosquito Month in Alaska!

As we travel south, in Alaska, its gotten a little warmer overall, and definitely, there are more ‘squitos!

Boondocking is ruff with them, but hooked to shore power, we can run A/C full power and get rid of them. I’ve never had mosquitos inside a Motorhome, before……now I know how the dust gets in!

Daryl wrote this and I want to share it!

The Seige of the Military Mosquito

“We passed a river, looking for a pull-out for the night. We slowed down the train, as six cars are behind us and we finally pull off, surrounded by trees and a river on the other side of the road. Happy people speed by us now, unrestricted. Outside our windows, the Marines (the big ones) are bouncing, bobbing looking for weaknesses in our defenses.
Little bastards are getting in as I sit next to my open window with a screen. The little bastards are slow so I clap them mid-flight. For a minute, I feel like I am making a dent, but they just keep coming.

I go after one on the screen but Houdini just crawled through that impenetrable screen. I could not believe my eyes, then two more Houdinis penetrated the screen.

We retreat to the bed and closed the door. We feel safe, but that was a misconception. Bunny eventually escapes back to the living room couch, with a fan on her, full blast.

When I wake up, swarms of the little bastards are in the coach. I realized the slide-outs have small gaps, and now we have bumps all over us, from bites.”

Day TWO of TWO ~Driving From Houston to Seward ⬇️

Another, almost five hours of driving

The weather on day two was awful! It stormed all night at our boondocks stay, then the whole drive, on this final day; it just got worse and worse. This is definitely not normal weather for down here, this time of year, but it is what it is, and we will make the best of it. This two-day drive can be done in one day, if you are in a car and pushing it. The roads are not good, and we are 62’ long, with our tow vehicle. That’s a lot of feet to cross each broken piece of road, very S L OWLY, so as not sustained damage.

It sure takes longer to get where we are going, but I have allowed this time in our schedule, and we are retired and have the whole summer to enjoy Alaska!

My first trip to Alaska had me visiting this Peninsula, around this same time of year. It was actual summer weather, and so beautiful!

….heck, Jasper National Park (we drove through it, coming up through Canada to Alaska) just got a freak snow storm, dumping the white stuff and impacting travel for visitors, trying to get up here, from down there, with icy roads!

not my photo (dm me for credit)

I’ll take the rain, here in Seward!

Weather patterns have changed, exponentially all around the world. We all see that.

The roads were, once again, were very broken on this day going over the Turnagain Pass, on the Seward Highway; Hwy 9. Plus,  plenty of road construction. It’s doable, but only if going super slow.

I’ve read accounts on a group page on FB, about those who travel Alaska/Canada, and those who do this trip; year after year. We are reading reports from several, that the roads have NEVER been this bad, ever!
It makes sense to me, because there were at least two summers, during the lockdowns, where no road repairs got done. That’s hard to catch up on, now that crews are back at it, because summer months are very short up here

My latest, favorite saying, these days, because people drive too fast and have zero patience for those of us who don’t…….

“I’m Not In YOUR Hurry!” 

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Our weather forecast for our week in Seward. Not so great. 🙃

Kenai Peninsula ⬇️