To Seward

I think sleep is going to be hard to find on this trip.

This morning I woke up at five o'clock; Dad had gotten up and started the coffee machine. I laid there for another two hours, but I never got back to sleep.

It was still raining from the day before. I went to bed at eleven, the sky twilight, dark only because of the cloud cover. It was the same the next day, still twilight. It doesn't get dark in Alaska for long I've learned; darkness only prevails for three hours during the night. My parents have been down because the weather has been overcast, but I've been thankful for it. Otherwise I think I'd have even less sleep.

After getting cleaned up and eating breakfast, we went into town to see the place my Aunt works at. Then it was out onto the road, taking the Seward highway down to... you can probably guess.

The highway runs down through the valleys between the mountains, first along an inlet (I really need to brush up on my nautical lingo) from the pacific, then along interior rivers and lakes.


As we drove along I rolled the window down, my preferred method of travel, and watched the scenery go by, snapping the odd shot at the mountains we were passing between.

Every so often on the side of the road there would be a long shoulder section where travelers along the highway could stop and take a look around. Seeing one that looked good, Dad pulled the car over.

Stepping out of the car, the first thing that hits me is the breeze, nay the minor gale coming in off the water. I made sure to hold on tight to my coat as I put it on.


The shoulder of the road was fenced in from the land that was just beyond. Not only did a major highway line the edge of the mountains, but a railroad as well. This particular part of the highway was, no doubt, chosen to have a shoulder spot for the cool piece of land that it sat next to; a small strip of flat grass that slopped down to a beach and to a large rock hillock that looked like it would be fun to climb. The only problem was that there was a no trespassing sign posted, no doubt to keep people from grievous bodily harm.

I climbed over the fence and ambled down towards the beach crossing over some railroad tracks. It was pretty cool down there, the sand was practically black, and was hard, pressed down like somebody had rolled one of those asphalt compactors over it. I wandered around, took a couple of pictures looking out onto the water, but shortly lost interest in the beach. There was a big rock next to me asking for me to climb it.


I took me a while to find a way up. A lot of the rock was steep, so I had to wander back and forth looking around. After a while I went out over the rocks near the water, which were a little less steep, but covered in seaweed from where the tide came in. I could tell a fair number of people had made their way up the same route when I found a trail about twenty feet up the side which led me up to the top. I wasn't entirely prepared for what I found when I got there.

I had run into a bit of a breeze before along the shoulder of the road, but it was nothing compared to what was coming over the top of the hill. I've always wondered what it would be like to feel a wind that was strong enough to blow a person off their feet. As I came up the side of the hill, I was thankful I was still partially crouched from having to clutch the rocks to climb. My coat, which doesn't have a zipper any more, just the buttons that I snap up in the front, was like a sail, and puffed up, temporarily giving me the physich of the Michelin Man.

It was great. I had to lean forward to keep from toppling onto my back as I worked my way towards the highest part of the hill. When I reached the top I straightened up to my full height one leg behind me, the other planted on a convineint rock. I stood for a while, but I was having to use most of my concentration to maintain my balance, so I sat down on the rock for a while so I could enjoy the view. Another guy was up there with me, he was down closer to the sea side of the rock his arms spread out and his head held up towards the sky, the wind whipping through his hair and shirt. We both staid up there for a while enjoying the wind and the view.

After a while I accepted the fact that I couldn't stay up there forever, so I started making my way back down. Dad noticed me and pointed the camera in my direction.


There's a good looking dude.

After I got back down I made my way back towards the car and we continued the trip towards Seward. We pulled in around mid afternoon and after checking into our motel, took a look around, sampling some local food, hitting up the Seward museum, and checking out random local places of interest. That evening after a full day of wandering around we went down to the harbor to check out the docks and watch ships sailing in and out of the harbor. Seward's pretty cool. If I hadn't already signed a contract with the Chinese government to teach english I'd consider taking up one of the many job offers around town for a while.

Well, its about time for bed. No doubt Dad will be up at the crack of dawn tomorrow.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Awesome pictures.

Do you know if Blogger will be allowed overseas?

If it is I may use blogger. I'm hoping WordPress will be allowed. lol

The Alchemist said...

Apparently it gets blocked and unblocked by the government every so often. It's not all that predictable.

Steven said...

When blocked you've always got the "Email to family / friend to post" method. Or, encrypted anonymized proxy connections. Whichever.

Unknown said...

Wait, there's work to be had in Seward, Alaska? What ho! Saddle up my elk, Reginald, we're going on a trip!

Post a Comment