A Soaking-Wet Rest

The inevitable Alaska rain caught up with us on our adventure to Seward. Thursday morning (May 29) was another early morning for us. We had a 7:30 a.m. flight to catch from Juneau to Anchorage and we were definitely still dragging from our 3:30 a.m. wake-up call the day before. We were up by 5 a.m., picked Chelsea up at her place an hour later and were off and running to the airport.

We figured that we could cut things fairly close at a small airport, but that doesn’t work in your favor when their computers are having problems. Thanks to a series of obstacles we had to give Chelsea a quick hug goodbye and run to make our plane (and hope that our luggage would follow us to Anchorage.) Also, side note, I blame our delirious state for doing things like leaving our laptop charger in Juneau and my favorite wool hat at the Glacier Bay Lodge!

Thankfully, by 9:30 a.m. we had arrived in Anchorage with our luggage in tow. It already felt a little intimidating arriving in a “big” city again. We went to pick up our rental car that was going to be our friend for the next two weeks, which was supposed to be a small SUV, and the only one they had available was an upgraded, gigantic, Chevy Tahoe – so apparently we are now driving the biggest car in Alaska! Great for dirt roads, awful for our wallets.

It was dreary and drizzling when we got outside. It didn’t bother us though, we were already mentally prepared for Alaska to be wet and gray and we also knew that it would help contain the massive fire that the state was battling near Anchorage. But it was a bit disappointing, as we were about to drive two hours to Seward on what is supposed to be one of the most spectacular roads in the country.

We set off on our drive. Dave got his coffee, I had the road atlas, and we headed south on the only road out of town onto the Kenai Peninsula. I had also printed out a milepost description of the road, so we knew all of the great spots along the way.

Despite the weather, the road was grand. But we did hope that it would be clear on the drive back in a few days. As we looked around, we had a sense that the extreme beauty was being cloaked under the weight of the clouds.

To be honest, it was a tough drive. The further we went, the more it rained. It was completely socked in, and all we saw were hints of the landscape. Dave and I were so tired from our Southeast Alaska adventures and the several early mornings, that we struggled on the way to Seward. We pulled over a few times to take in the fresh (wet) air and wake ourselves up.

Finally, we arrived on the coast in Seward at lunchtime and headed straight for the local brew pub. By then it was soaking rain and very chilly. We huddled inside with beer and comfort food and started recovering from shivers and fatigue.

The original plan for the day had been to pick up sandwiches on the way down and to stop at Exit Glacier to hike the steep trail up to see the spectacle that is the Harding Ice Field. But not only would that trail have been dangerous in the rain, but pointless in the clouds. So, instead, we headed to our B&B to see if it would be ready early.

We were booked at the Paddle Inn. It was a few miles outside of town in a beach area called Lowell Point. You had to drive a fairly beat up gravel road along the edge of the shoreline (and under some impressive former rock slides) to access it. Once we got out there, it was a tiny area with a bunch of camp sites, some small houses, an RV park, tents and a handful of kayaking companies – and forests, beaches and wilderness.

 

We pulled up to the place around 2 p.m. and Allison, one of the owners had just finished preparing for our arrival. As we unpacked and unwound, we chatted with her about the history of the place. She and her husband, Alan, are just about our age. They met down on Lowell Point many years ago when they were both there working as kayak guides together. Years later, after they were married, they bought land on the Point with the dream of starting the inn. At the time, there was nothing on the property. Alan is a carpenter and led the building of both a beautiful small home for them and then the two-story inn property. Each level is a rental unit (low tide and high tide). We had the lower level. It was beautifully done – the level of detail on the woodwork was impressive. There was a big kitchen area with a fireplace, couch and a breakfast counter situated along a huge window overlooking Resurrection Bay. Then there was a cozy bedroom and large, beautifully-tiled, bathroom off the back. The kitchen was stocked with do-it-your-self breakfast fixings, including everything we needed to make our own waffles. It was a perfect, no-fuss, location.

The first thing we did when we got there, was start the fireplace, grab books, make tea, curl up on the couch and promptly fall asleep. When we woke up, it was still bright, but still pouring rain and blanketed in clouds. We knew the place had a gorgeous view, but all we were getting was the soggy view. However, we were stir crazy since we had to cancel our hike, so we decided to bundle up in rain gear and explore Lowell Point a bit. Lowell Point neighbors state park land, so we headed out for an hour-long walk around the area – up the back roads into the forest and then down on the beach to walk along the black sandy coast line.

On our first night up in the Southcentral Alaska we were already noticing how much later it stayed light. So around 8 p.m. on the beach, in the bright – but dreary – light, we realized that we better make our way back into town for dinner before everything closed. We found a great little Thai place and loaded up on curry and noodles. A yummy, warm, end to a sleepy, chilly day. When we got home, we fell asleep almost immediately and slept a solid 10 hours as the heavy rain and thick clouds continued to envelop Seward.

***

We woke up to a steady sheet of rain. It served us well. We lounged in bed. We ate breakfast by the fire. We dozed. It was just what we needed to refuel. It wasn’t until around Noon that we decided to venture out. And for the next five or six hours we explored the Southern section of the Seward highway. 

Views of the bay from the Paddle Inn on a rainy day.

We had no grand plans, no hikes in this mess, we just decided to go moose hunting in the marshes and bird watching in the lakes. Unfortunately, everyone else decided to stay home too. No animal sightings for us. We also went to check out the views of Exit Glacier. While we had a sense of how grand everything would be, it was all veiled in the heavy clouds and soaking rain. Later in the evening, we called it quits and returned to our books and the cozy couch. We also spent some time Skyping with Dave’s parents. Then a few hours later, we headed back into town to the well-known fish restaurant – Ray’s. I decided to splurge on the King Crab legs. They were delicious and it was totally worth it.

At the trailhead for Lost Lake, the trail we had planned to hike that day.

Kenai Lake

Exit Glacier

After being thoroughly stuffed, we rolled back home to our little Paddle Inn and had another relaxing night sheltered from the heavy rain. That night, the rain fell the hardest it had been yet. We fell sound asleep again. But this time, we were excited, because – rain or not – the next day we were getting on a four-hour boat ride to our wilderness lodge out on the Kenai Peninsula. Thanks to rainy Seward, we were now well-rested and ready to go!