Alaska 2012: Exit Glacier and eagles

July 13, 2012 Exit Glacier and Eagles

We started the day with a trip to the Exit Glacier in Kenai Fjords National Park. We spent time at the Visitor's Center then took a short hike closer to the glacier. I asked the Rangers about the name of the glacier, and they said that it was named by scientists when they first crossed the Harding Ice Field in 1968. Thirty named glaciers, including this one and several that we saw on the cruise yesterday were produced by the Ice Field. When the scientists were looking for a way down from the field, this was the easiest way, so they called it the Exit Glacier. It is receding rapidly, and signs throughout the park show where the "toe" of the glacier was at various times. It is shocking to see how much smaller it is today than it was just 20 years ago.

Exit Glacier

Blue glacial ice

Exit Glacier

After leaving the glacier, we visited the memorial to the designer of the Alaskan flag.
The flag was designed by a 13 year old Native American student from Seward, Benny Benson. Seven gold stars represent Alaska's gold-mining industry and form the shape of the Big Dipper on a field of blue which represents the sea, the sky, and the forget-me-not (the state flower). An eighth star, represents the North Star and symbolizes Alaska's far north location. The flag was adopted in 1927.

We had a great fish and chips lunch (halibut, of course) at the Marina restaurant, then visited the excellent Seward Museum. They have many artifacts from Seward through the years, and a lot of information about the effects of the earthquake of 1964. It is a small but very well done free museum located in the Seward Senior Center.

We discovered that there is a road that goes part way down the side of Resurrection Bay across from Seward, so we decided to check it out in hopes of seeing some wildlife.

Seward from the opposite side of the Bay

What we saw was eagles---lots of eagles. There were eagles flying around, landing in trees, and sitting on the ground. When we turned around in a parking area, three immature eagles were eating a fish and bullying some sea gulls that were trying to get some of the action. They were fun to watch, and not very afraid of us. That was a very interesting end to an interesting sightseeing day.