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whale watching alaska

The Big Trifecta in Seward Alaska – Fishing, Glaciers & Whales

Spending time in Alaska can really skew one’s expectations of nature.  It’s such an abundant place with seemingly endless possibilities.  I would imagine some people could easily knock off half their bucket list in as little as a week up here.

I mean where else would you expect to see glaciers, whales, and catch fish like a pro all in one day?  It sounds ridiculous to even expect such a thing…but not at Resurrection Bay here in Seward.  We wanted the full Alaska trifecta and we weren’t the only ones.

Fellow RV’ers and Seward locals Ben and Rebecca of His and Hers Alaska knew Jason’s family was in town and offered to take us all out for a day on the water (I know, so nice)! There were still a couple of seats open on the boat so we offered them up to fellow RVing friends Lynn and Jeanette who were also in Seward and wanted to get out on the water (It’s a big state but there are only a few roads, so you’re bound to run into friends more than once up here).

We knew it was going to be an action packed day and we all had high hopes…but none of us were prepared for what was in store.

Pretty unbelievable right!  Not only did we get our Alaska Trifecta, we got seals, porpoises and eagles, oh my!  Eagles are as common on the coast of Alaska as pigeons in New York City.  In fact, bald eagles are found only in North America and are more abundant in Alaska than anywhere else in the United States. So Grab a flag & a frosty pint and say it with me now, ‘Merica!

eagles alaska

Kenai Fjords National Park

This park is only a little older than Jason, having been established in 1980, in order to protect the Harding Icefield and the incredible marine life found in these bays. To give you an idea of size, the park is about 88% as big as Yosemite National Park and it’s home to one of the largest icefields in the U.S. with nearly 40 different glaciers flowing from it.

The easiest way to visit the park is by driving the few miles from Seward to Exit Glacier (where we had our awesome ice climbing adventures) or hop aboard a boat in Resurrection Bay (or do both like we did).  There are lots of tours operating out of Seward and some have park rangers for guides (you can find a wealth of information on the National Park website).

If you want to see marine wildlife, the view from the water can’t be beat! There must have been hundreds of stellar sea lions perched on the floating icebergs scattered about. We also spotted some puffins, porpoises, tons of jellyfish and of course our very enthusiastic humpback whale!

Seeing all these amazing sights and incredible creatures in their natural environment reminds us of how important our parks are and how important it is to protect and preserve it all. The park rangers and park visitor center do a great job of teaching, and showing, how climate change is affecting our planet and reminding us to be responsible inhabitants.

whale watching alaska

whale watching alaska

whale watching alaska

seal rock

sightseeing sweard alaska by water

sightseeing alaska by water

Kenai Fjords National Park

Kenai Fjords National Park

Kenai Fjords National Park

Just in case you didn’t gather, we had one helluva day out here on the water!

Honestly, sitting here now, looking back at it all as I type these words, select the images and watch the video…I’m overwhelmed with warm fuzzy feelings. Jason’s next to me editing the video and I can see tears rolling down his cheek from laughing so hard! It was all so much fun!!! And the best part is we had the opportunity to share the experience with friends old and new, family and now you, which makes it all that more spectacular. We truly hope you’re enjoying these Alaska Adventures as much as we love sharing them.

Now here’s the big question, when are you going to Alaska?  Or maybe you’ve already been and want to go again. Share your tales and tips with us in the comments below, we enjoy reading every experience and comment that’s shared.

 

Road Report

Fuel Prices – Fuel was about 20 cents more per gallon in Seward than in Anchorage, so fill up before you head down.
Road Conditions – The Seward Highway is well maintained and was in great shape. However, traffic on Fridays & Sundays can get a little crazy with the locals coming and going.  Travel during the week was light and pleasant.
Weather – Highs in the mid 70’s with lows in the mid 40’s.  We had a mix of sunny and rainy days during our visit.
Dates Visited – July 22 – 28

See all our Alaska Travels and Tips here: #AlaskaBound

 

Hello there! I honestly don’t know what to say, so I am going to tell you a bunch of random facts instead. I'm a fish eating vegetarian who hates spiders and loves snakes. I almost never took vacations growing up. I wanted to be Pippi Longstocking (still do). I misspell about every other word I write and still struggle with grammar. I love splurging on a good high tea (which is really hard to find these days). And whatever you do, don’t tell me I can’t do something, because then I'll HAVE to do it!

Comments (25)

  • Marcelo Perroni

    Hi, there…..
    Greetings from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
    I’ve been checking many RV travel sites. And adding some more stuff to my already huge itinerary through the US.
    Even though I don’t have a specific date to start my trip, I love seeing the places I would love to go!!
    Alaska won’t be on this trip, but I’m saving many nice places for some other trip, since I’ll be living in L.A. again.
    Anyway……
    Did you get to meet Chris and G while in Seward?
    They were the first ones I got to see the vids with their travels from AK through Canada down to AZ.
    Then I kept running into many other sites and YouTube channels, like Happily Homeless, Technomedia, and yours.
    Great to see your adventures. And maybe, when I’m on my way through the US, we’ll get to meet.
    I’m planning a tour through the 48 states, over 250 main cities, and thousands of attractions.
    All that with a Thor Outlaw and a couple of Harleys.
    Let’s hope it doesn’t take too long to start this trip.
    Congrats on all your adventures and thanks for the great pics and vids!!

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  • Mike

    Yes , Ted we did hear thunderous sound and was told it was the Glacier coming alive and moving. Along with that we were close when the glacier’s started to drop Ice into the water causing mountain high splashes and loud thunderous sound to go with the splashes. Our biggest thrill was taking a chopper up onto the Glacier and going to a base camp for dog sledding. What a thrill to actually ride on back while the bride was in the sleigh. The dogs were easy to handle and steer but the sounds coming from the glacier was awesome but a tad bit spooky. As we pleaded around for over a hour we saw avalanche after avalanche fall onto the flat top of the middle of the glacier. On our trip back down it was awesome to actually see just how deep the ice fissures were. Alaska …America’s last Frontier for sure. Everyone should be blessed to be able to see all of Alaska’s beauty. PS…Jeff …did you folks ever find the drone? Fantastic job on the clip and such Thanks

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  • Mike

    This adventure reminded me of our trip from Upstate New York around the West Point Military Academy area to Seward back in 2005. This was my #50 birthday present from my bride Sharon. One of the reasons we wanted to take in Seward was the fact that Secretary Seward who set up the purchase of Alaska was born in the area of Florida New York, not to far from our home. With the clip that you made , we saw about the same area and those two baldies were sitting on the same branch when we were there…ha! Excellent footage and even though we did not see any wales on that trip we did on a trip with our two sons when they were just shrimps, the trip was Providenicetown on Cape Cod Mass. You have not seen anything so big and mighty until you see a whale breech the surface…wow factor plus! So guys I’ll close by saying excellent footage and to the others who read this plan a trip to Alaska it’s just the world the way it should be! 3/3/2016

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    • We went to AK for my mom’s 50th birthday as well. Alaska is such a wonderful place full of enchantment and beauty. Thanks for sharing.

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  • Tab McBlane

    When you guys were near the glaciers did you by chance get to catch any of the sounds of them moving? We were there in 2013 and every time I quite taping THEN the glacier would release a loud gun shot of thunder. I never was able to catch it. Unless someone heard it for themselves they would probably never believe the enormity of the experience. 🙂 You guys did some awesome stuff while there, thanks for taking me back and to new adventures we didn’t get to experience!

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  • Deborah Kerr

    That was such a fun trip!! Thanks for sharing! It’s on my “someday” list!!

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  • Nice having a charter boat for your trip and I love the shots you got of the whale breaching (you might want to check out my sad story regarding this subject in the Humpback gallery on my site…just for laughs)! The good news is I was able to see the Humpbacks Bubble Net Feeding along with all kinds of other wildlife experiences…I would recommend that all make the trip to Alaska and now that I am Full-timing I will be planing a trip up there again, this time in the RV!

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  • Tommy Traveler

    Totally awesome.

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  • Sue

    What a perfect day

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  • Hi Nikki! Love following your blog and your trip to Alaska sounds amazing! My husband and I are a young couple that just started RV’ing and Alaska is definitely on the list. You gave me the great idea of tipping storage bins so you can see what’s in them-brillant! Happy Travels and maybe we will see each other on the road! ~Jennifer and Brad at roamingfreeinarv.com

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  • Steve Leonard

    2015 was supposed to be the year for our Great Alaska RV trip, but instead we decided to spend the summer building our small retirement house in Newfoundland on the other side of the continent. The scenery is certainly not as rugged, but just as beautiful and instead of fishing,glaciers and whales, we got fishing (cod), icebergs and whales. The cod (averaging 12 lbs, with a 5 fish daily limit) we caught with a jig which involves hauling the fish up from 100 ft down with no rod – google it. A very different experience. We also saw Humpback whales with their amazing shows, although mostly from shore and our many photos and videos cannot come close to the quality of yours. Newfoundland is a wonderful place with the friendliest and most generous people we have ever found in all of our travels. We have rescheduled our Alaska trip for 2018 and are really enjoying all your videos and appreciate all your research.

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      • Steve Leonard

        Our 2-bedroom “cabin” has a wonderful view of the North Atlantic and South Bird Island close to Bonavista. You would love the quiet setting. If/when I see that you are planning to head to the Rock, I will send you some suggestions of where and when to go. When is important as June is the best time to see icebergs. The whales follow the caplin into shore around the beginning of July and its fresh lobster from the boat season. Recreational cod fishing is at the end of July and berry picking is late August into early October. Hard to pick.

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    • jason newsom

      Steve, my wife and I will be full timing in about 2 years and our first trip will be the Newfoundland. Her mother was born in St. Johns and her grandfather was a fisherman there and in Glouster, Mass when they moved stateside. My father-in-law always called them the “sea sick” Irish since they didn’t make it to Boston. We plan on heading out in early June, stopping in Mass. to pick up some brothers and sisters and heading to SJ’s for a week are so. Can’t wait to be a Newfie for a week. Alaska is definitely on the list for the second year on the road. So grateful to Jason and Niki for rekindling our desire to hit the road.

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  • John S.

    J: “I learned a valuable lesson today”
    N: “What?”
    Mom: “Listen to your wife!”

    Jason (the video editor), knowing that we only get to see a small part of your day’s video I’m glad you left that part in. But you were REALLY thinking of something with cameras weren’t you?

    Take care,

    John

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  • Oh my gosh, this brought back so many memories! What a fantastic day that was. SOoooo happy I was able to be part of it and now, thanks to you, have a video to remember it by. Oh man, that whale footage actually got me all teary eyed too. This might be the last footage and photos of me with two good legs!!! Haha!

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  • William (Bill) Weaver

    I always talked about going to Alaska, but it might as well be the moon. I stumbled across a Craigslist ad for a week long small boat fishing and sightseeing trip. I casually mentioned it to my wife and she said “why don’t you go”? I mentioned it to some friends and they were in. The boat was 85 ft with 6 passengers and 3 crew. We stayed on the boat and anchored in a different cove each night. Watching your video brings back many memories of that trip. As I looked at the views all around me and tried to take it all in, it overwhelmed me. I wept several times a day and kept saying to myself, “to think that I might not have come to Alaska in my life”. What a mistake that would have been! I could go on and on about the diverse experiences we had. If you are thinking about going to Alaska, do yourself a favor and go. I just booked my 6th trip for next year. There is no where on earth that I would rather go. NO WHERE!

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    • Steve

      Wow Bill, thanks for the great share. I was lucky enough to visit Anchorage with my dad and uncle when I was 14. Now that I’m twice that age, I wish I could go back and really appreciate the beauty that I vaguely remember seeing. Your comment just bumped Alaska up pretty high on my list.

      As for the Wynns, thanks for sharing that beautiful video. It’s breathtaking. Sorry about the drone. That fish looked amazing. 🙂

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