Whether you are walking along the famous iditarod trail running towards Seward, exploring the quaint town itself, or stumbling across rare golden spruces in the woods, Seward is a must see for any Alaska visit. Heidi and I spent four days around the town and using it as a jumping off point for boat trips into the Kenai Fjords and hiking trips in the surrounding hills. We stayed for 3 nights at the Naughti Otter Inn, a quaint and friendly little hostel with private rooms, and we camped for a night under the nearby Exit Glacier...hoping for a moose or bear to walk through our camp at night.
Our trusty Chevy Spark rental car zipped us around and was just able to contain the few bags we had with us. It got great gas mileage though and managed the long uphill sections with only a little extra effort. The drive over from Anchorage was beautiful with hikes every ten miles so we drove back to check some of those out. We were surprised to find that many of them connect with the larger Iditarod Trail where dog sled teams race in the winter over snowy terrain for 1,049miles to finish in Seward.
The town itself is surrounded by snow capped peaks, alpine lakes, glaciers, and deep fjords. A day trip into the fjords is a must, although next time maybe a longer kayaking camping trip into the fjords would be on the agenda. This time we had things to see and miles to cover as we still had to pack a trip to Homer in before our break came to an end.
We met up with one of Heidi's coworkers who also happened to be on break and living in Seward. The Seward Brewing Co. was the hot spot to meet in town with delicious beer and one of the best burgers I've had. Our favorite place in town was the Sea Life Center with one of the most immersive bird enclosure I've ever experienced. Puffins, murres, aucklets, kittiwakes, King eiders, long tailed ducks, and pigeon guillemots all buzzed around and swam right up to you. A volunteer stationed inside constantly had to remind people not to pick up the birds. They were that close. Seward was a big hit and now its on to Homer!
Check out the location here on pinmapple: [//]:# (!pinmapple 60.10572 lat -149.45040 long Seward d3scr)
And as always, Keep traveling!
-Dai Mar