When we travelled through Newfoundland (start with posts linked here), we learned that British Captain James Cook painstakingly surveyed and mapped the intricate and treacherous coast of the island, but this isn’t all that he did. In subsequent voyages, he mapped Australia, New Zealand and discovered Hawaii. He is, in fact, considered one of the greatest navigators and explorers of all time. The agenda of his third voyage (1776-1780) was to find a northwest passage. At what is now know as Cook Inlet in Alaska, he thought he may have found it as he traversed the large body of water for many miles only to realize that he was in very long arm. Turnagain Arm was named by Cook when he had to turn again, without finding the northwest passage.
We are surely not as adventurous as Cook nor have we logged as many miles, but we did take our time in Cook’s Inlet to seek out the infamous “Bore Tide”.
From Seward we tried to visit Exit Glacier, but it was overly crowded. Even relatively early in the morning there were no parking spaces so we settled for some distant views of it and moved on. We stopped next at fish hatchery (Bear Creek Weir) and saw no fish but we did see several eagles – bald and golden. (It’s times like these when I really wish I had a 35mm instead of just the iPhone)
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Our drive today along the Seward Highway flew by due to beautiful scenery. I’m starting to realize there isn’t a road in Alaska that isn’t a scenic byway!
We deliberately blew past our next stop, the Granite Creek Campground to just beyond Girdwood and the Turnagain Arm so that we could witness a phenomenon known as the Bore Tide. On certain days when there’s an extreme difference between low tide and high tide, the in-rushing water creates a travelling wave that sweeps up the Turnagain Arm and it’s called the “Bore Tide”. Tide schedules / Bore Tide predications can be found at girdwood.com. Additionally, there are overlooks along the Seward Highway to pull over, park, and watch the tidal wave roll in. We also saw several people surf it and we’ve heard that timing it just right can provide an up to 15-mile ride!
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It poured the following day at the Granite Creek Campground, but we just made the best of it and used the time to do some trip planning.
Although the clouds were low, the rain had let up by Sunday morning. Desperately needing some open space and fresh air, the three of us walked part of the Resurrection Pass Trail. It was pretty, but extremely overgrown with Queen Anne’s Lace – tall stalks of white flowers that can cause blistering for some people who touch it – so we didn’t go as far as we’d hoped, but it was nice to be outdoors.
Speaking of hope, our next stop will be a campground near the town of Hope and another chance to see the Bore Tide.
