Alaska Family Vacation: Day Two

Catching up? You may see a recap of our travel to Alaska and the first day of our Alaska family vacation here: Alaska Family Vacation

We remained in Seward for day two of our Alaska family vacation but took a day trip to Cooper Landing to fish on the Kenai River. On our way bay, we headed out on a short hike to Exit Glacier and then spent some more time enjoying views of Resurrection Bay as we explored Seward again in the evening. A full recap may be found  below!

Alaska Family Vacation: Day Two

Morning: Salmon Fishing on the Kenai River (Cooper Landing, Alaska)

Talk about an absolutely gorgeous way to begin our second day in Alaska!

Salmon Fishing

One of the top “must dos” on Ryan and Chase’s Alaska wish list was salmon fishing on the Kenai River. The Kenai River is a stunning teal-blue color due to glacial silt, tiny particles created when glaciers grind against bedrock, and is unlike any river I’ve seen in my life. Parts of the river are crystal-clear and a rolling current helped push our boat down river where the salmon battle to head upstream to spawn. I’ll never forget looking over the edge of our boat only to see hoards of salmon flying by!

(Can you spot the bald eagle?) 

Early Monday morning, we drove a little over an hour from Seward to Cooper Landing, Alaska, to meet up with our guide, Jason. I know the seemingly endless sunlight can be a headache in the summer months in Alaska. But we liked it far more than we anticipated during our trip. (Sunset was around midnight while sunrise was around 5 a.m.) The sun was always shining before we were awake, even on our early morning fishing days. And it was nice to have stretches of longer sunlight when we were out later in the evenings — especially on our long travel day. Eye masks and noise machines worked well for us for sleep!

Soon after we parked, Jason arrived and greeted us with waders and water-proof boots in hand. We slipped into our fishing gear. And, after loading up our small boat, were ready for our salmon fishing adventure to begin. Jason told us no motors are allowed in the section of the Kenai River where we were. And he rowed us about 3o minutes down river through some light rapids to our first fishing spot. The rapids were an unexpected highlight of this experience for all of us!

We saw bald eagles and a couple of owl hawks as we made our way down the Kenai River. It was quiet and serene and felt like we were truly immersed in Alaskan wilderness.

Fishing time!

Once it was time to fish, Jason dropped anchor and Ryan, Chase and Ryder got in the water to fish. (I stayed in the boat with Rhett.) We could see salmon zooming by us which was unreal and had Chase itching to reel in his first catch!

Chase’s love of fishing is strong. And he does not have an off-switch when he’s on the water with a rod and reel in his hands. Fishing is certainly his happy place and he is very focused when he’s out on the water. I say this only because the fishing we did on the Kenai River is not something I would necessarily recommend to kids who love to fish unless they can handle a fly rod (very different and not easy) and are prepared to stand out in cold, rushing water in waders.

Our guide said he prefers kids to be 12+ years old to try the kind of salmon fishing we did (flossing). But he took a chance on Chase and said his abilities were better than 90% of the adults he takes out. (Again, I truly do not say this for any reason other than to share that this kind of fishing is very involved. And would hate for anyone to book this kind of experience with young kids and find themselves overwhelmed or disappointed.)

Ryder had fun being our guide’s “assistant” but fairly quickly opted to hang out with me and Rhett in the boat where the hand warmers and snacks I packed provided ample entertainment. Spotting bald eagles and salmon from the boat also thoroughly entertained the younger members of our crew.

Our catch

Our second stop on the Kenai proved to be more successful when it came to catching fish. And Chase and Ryan caught sockeye salmon and even a rainbow trout! The flossing method of fishing was new to both of them (you don’t use bait but rather try to hook the fish as they swim past) and watching their technique and success rate improve was a lot of fun.

We ate lunch on the boat, then fished a little more. And, after wrapping things up in the early afternoon, began the drive back to Seward.

Afternoon: Exit Glacier Hike

The route back to Seward from Cooper Landing took us right past the entrance for a hike out to Exit Glacier so we parked our car and joined a lot of tourists on this adventure.

The Exit Glacier Visitor’s Center was a helpful stop before we set out as it allowed us to identify the trails that would work best for our family.

(Crocs are not our first choice for hiking shoes — haha! The hike wasn’t too long and we didn’t initially plan to do this hike on our second day until we realized it was directly on our route back to our house.)

The Exit Glacier hike began on a rough note with a complaining 4-year-old but I started talking about the nature plotlines in a book I recently read (Wild Dark Shore) and I’m not lying when I say Chase, Ryder and Rhett were absolutely captivated. (For anyone who has read the book, they loved the stories about the whales, seals and seeds and I think I re-told every single one. The breeching humpback one had them riveted.) The distraction worked like a charm and everyone was psyched when we made it to the lookout point to see the glacier!

After making it back down to the parking lot, we loaded back in the car and made the rest of the drive back to the house to cook up some more of the fish we caught for a super early dinner before heading out to explore.

Evening: Waterfront Park + Explore

One of the huge perks of the house we rented in Seward was its location and walkability to stunning views of Resurrection Bay, restaurants and shops. And the harbor as well as a waterfront playground our boys thoroughly enjoyed.

After spending several hours on a boat in the beginning of the day, we figured the kids could use a little free play time and walked to Waterfront Park. The boys ran around for an hour or so while Ryan and I chatted and looked out over Resurrection Bay, watching a sea otter who periodically surfaced and flipped onto its back to snack before diving back under water. (Adorable and, again, sooo much larger than I expected!)

We then explored the beach of Resurrection Bay (the smooth rocks were made for skipping!) before walking a little more than a mile toward the harbor.

Seward’s harbor is quite large and home to a ton of fishing boats and tour boats. (We also saw a large cruise ship docked in the harbor most days during our visit.) The harbor was bustling but never felt too crowded. And we loved watching fishermen filet everything from salmon and cod to enormous halibut while a harbor seal popped up below in the water hoping for scraps.

We enjoyed browsing around the harbor front shops (Coho Joe’s was great for coffee and hot chocolate — a recommended spot by our boat captain from Monday — and I bought some local spices to season our fish back at the house) and of course our family had to stop for ice cream.

Eventually we followed the same waterfront trail back to our house and crashed into bed after a very full but very fun second day in Alaska.

Day three recap coming your way soon!