Oscar the Bear

Amazingly we got to sleep in the first day that we were with Russ. If any of you know him, he is an early riser, especially when he is excited about something. It being his first full day in Alaska, I was expecting little rest. However, it appears that having a late night the previous night (it was 2a.m. his time before we went to bed thanks to jet-lag) we were able to sleep until about 8:30a.m. After we loaded up the van we hopped on the Seward highway with only the goal of making it there before tomorrow. Today would be one of only a few "travel days" which Russ has alloted for us to make our way from place to place on our own terms. We had checked out the Milepost the night before and starred a few hikes close to the Anchorage area along the Turnagain Arm. The first of these trails started about 10 miles down the road from Anchorage. We pulled over and got ready for what would turn out to be an 8 mile hike. This was a great hike which took us along the side of a mountain, occasionally

offering picturesque views of the Turnagain Arm. Most of the trail was forest hiking with the visible range only being about 50 yards at the most open areas, aside from the viewpoints. However there was one thing that we saw plenty of... Bear Scat! It was everywhere! In all of our hiking Katie and I had not even seen one pile and during this hike we had to see about 30 droppings! It was ridiculous! All of this but no bear. Especially with these signs all around us, Russ' hopes were very high that we would see a one, but it was not in the cards just yet. We did see some guys along the trail picking june berries and while we were talking to them Russ spotted 2 bald

eagles on the side of the cliff. We caught a few pictures and tried to get close but as we did they took flight and we couldn't snap any more. After the hike we drove a little farther down the Arm and stopped off at Beluga point to see what we could see. Unfortunately it was low tide and there wasn't much. We headed down the road again and found out some info about the bore tide. This is a huge tide that comes in twice a day and sometimes produces waves up to 6 ft. We were hoping that we could catch a good showing on our return journey. Again we moved on, this time stopping in a town called Girdwood. Russ had heard from some locals that there was a great place to eat on top of a mountain that overlooked the Cook Inlet as well as had a view of 7 different glaciers. The place was part of Alyeska Resort which is one of Alaska's most popular ski resorts in the winter. In the summer they run tram rides to the top of the mountains where you can hike or eat dinner for 50 bucks a plate. We opted for the express lunch instead, but we still got to enjoy the amazing views and some beers at the top of the mountain. The place even had a disc golf course!!! I wasn't able to get out on the course, but Katie and I may be making a stop there on our way back to Seward :) After lunch we decided to stop stopping and get some miles behind us. There was a few things in Seward that we wanted to do before we had to turn in for the night. We drove until we got about 5 miles outside of Seward where the Milepost told us of a river, Bear Creek, in which the salmon could be easily viewed. We pulled off the road to have a look and were instantly amazed what we saw; fish everywhere.

They were so thick that you could literally walk across the water on their backs. Russ did some makeshift fishing and ended up picking up about 4 out of the water with his bare hands. It was an incredible site and something that you had to witness in person. (And take my word on since for some reason my camera did not save any of the pictures) We checked into our hotel and then headed straight to Exit Glacier in Kenai Fjords National Park. We took a trail that

lead up to the edge of the glacier, an amazing sight. To my dismay, we were not able to get up close and touch the glacier. There had been some recent activity so the park service deemed it unsafe. I wanted to hop over the rope and risk the $5000 fine, but Russ and Katie had their way and instead we headed for

some food. We passed a sign on the way in to the national park that advertised "cheap beer, lousy food" so how could we resist. The place was called the Salmon Bake and in my opinion it had kind of expensive beer and great good, so I guess you can't judge a book by its cover, especially when the cover is a marketing ploy. We started talking to the waitress about how much Russ wanted to see a bear (he had been itching all day during our hike and drive down to Seward) and she casually joked that we could go out back and see the one that eats out of their dumpster. At first we thought she was joking, but then a dog started to bark and she said to us that he was probably there now.

After our meal we drove around back to check it out. As we pulled around the corner, there was another car with their cameras out, looking at an empty dumpster. We asked them what they were doing and they said that a bear had just jumped in and they were waiting for him to come out. Sure enough a couple seconds later a big old black bear popped out his head out of the dumpster just like oscar the grouch. He looked around for a second and decided he didn't like us watching him so

he effortlessly popped out and walked away. Russ was tickled to death that he got to see his first bear on the first day in Alaska, this bear made number 10 for Katie and I, but still it was the closest and biggest bear we had seen yet. We went back to the hotel to rest up for our big day tomorrow. That night we had our first clear night in I don't know how long, so I decided to stay up late to see if I could see the northern lights. Alas, it was also a full moon that night, so I saw nothing except for a few of the brightest stars and a big moon. I still have faith that we will see them when we make it up to Fairbanks though.