Alaska – Breakfast, Hope, and the Exit Glacier

We slept quite well after a fun first day and dinner. There was nearly nineteen hours of sunlight during our stay and it was bright as noon when we finally got around to waking.

Breakfast was included in the price of our room at the Alyeska Resort

It was a pretty nice spread.

So the Missus and I got a plate……the cured salmon was quite good.

And the Missus and I decided to share an omelet. I made sure to put some reindeer sausage in it. Since I had to wait a few minutes for my eggs to cook, I had a nice chat with the guy at the omelet station. Who was from…….California of course!

Nice folks all around as they even gave us cups of coffee to go in take-out cups.

We checked out and made one more stop before heading toward Seward….at this place. We'd find that folks in Alaska have a great sense of humor as the name of this shop indicates.

The woman working here was very friendly; I watched her help a German couple with directions and recommendations for wildlife tours. We got a small gift for one of the Missus's coworkers. After looking at my credit card; she started talking to me in Japanese…..you gotta love it.

I've had more than one person tell me that the Seward Highway was the most beautiful highway they've driven on. Even on a slightly drizzly, overcast day, I can see why he said that.

We decided on a couple of detours on our way to Seward. The first was taking the Hope cut-off and driving to the little down of Hope. Gold was discovered in nearby Resurrection Creek in 1889 and then in Six Mile Creek. At first a collection of miner's tents, Hope became Alaska's first Gold rush town. By 1899, many of the folks had headed off to the Klondike. Today Hope is a collection of ourdoorsy types, campers, hikers, and rafters.

Our next stop was just outside Seward. At mile 3 of the Seward Highway, you make a turn and head up about eight and a half miles to the Exit Glacier at the end of the road.

From here we took two of the trails to explore. There are many signs along the way like this one.

These signs indicate where the exit glacier used to be in years past.

In fact; back in 1987, you'd be able to view the glacier from this pavilion.

It was quite a sobering experience.

The glacier itself is quite beautiful.

On the way back down we went to the outwash plain.

You could hike right to the edge of the glacier from here. But we decided just to enjoy the view from here.