Day 11 Seward Tuesday 9/2/2014

Kayak Trip to Bridal Veil Falls

                                                  

Our guide "Trampus"  Is that his real name?

                              

We didn't get a chance to partake the hotels excellent looking complimentary breakfast, just grabbed coffee and juice and off we went on a taxi ride to Lowell Point for our kayak trip from Miller's Landing! Taxi driver was originally from Washington State. (I asked him if he'd ditched a girl in Talkeetna but it was not him!). We had booked a 4 hour tour to Bridal Veil Falls.The weather was clear and sunny and the water was calm. A perfect day for kayaking!

                                                   

This is the top part of the Falls!

 Bridal Veil Falls Trail is located South of Tonsina Point. At the next ridge line as it meets the bay is  a small stream that flows from the Harding Ice Field. The trail follows the stream a very short distance back to a multi tiered water fall that is very scenic. The amazing thing to me is the stream is very small...you would think that with the amount of the water coming down the mountain, the stream would be raging!  Trampus said that the water goes underground and comes out in the bottom of the bay.

 

 

 While out kayaking , a loud siren went off. We weren't concerned, figured it was a fire siren echoing across the bay. Trampus informed us it was a Tsunami Warning Siren (we thought he was joking)  They have a test once a month on Wednesdays. But wait...this was a Tuesday! He quickly radioed for more information.
            

              Kenai Peninsula Borough Office of Emergency Management issued this statement :

Seward, Homer, Port Graham, Nanwalek and Seldovia were activated earlier this morning. We have confirmed that the activation of tsunami sirens was in error. The National Weather Service was replacing equipment and a live code was sent instead of the test code. There is no tsunami danger.”    

              

 

A harbor seal swimming along with us!

  Looking across the Bay. The white building is part of Seward Ship's Dry Dock and Ship's Chandlery. They provide shipyard services to all types and sizes of vessels in the marine industry  ranging  from Oil tankers,tugs, barges, commercial fishing boats and transportation industry vessels to the U.S. Coast Guard and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration ships.

 Mike Ritz and his wife Tiffany work here. (Mike's grandfather, John Ritz, was Old Forge Postmaster before Bob Pashley)
Interesting to note , that just beyond the Dry Dock is Spring Creek Correctional Center. It's  a maximum security, state operated adult correctional institution that  has a capacity of over 500 male inmates. A large portion of the prisoner population consists of "hard core" felons who committed violent crimes. Robert Hansen, a serial killer convicted of killing numerous (17-21) women in or near Anchorage from 1971-1983, was sentenced to 461 years with no possibility of parole. He was incarcerated here from 1988 until his death in August 2014. There have been many tv movies and shows based on Robert Hansen over the years. The latest, "Frozen Ground" (2013) stars John Cusak as Hansen and Nicholas Cage as the Alaska State Trooper who worked to convict him.

That's Godwin Glacier in the background. In 2001, Troopers uncovered an escape plan that called for conspirators to hijack a tourist helicopter and force it to land in the fenced yard of Spring Creek Correctional Facility, where Jon Phillips, convicted murderer, would make his way to the helicopter.
Troopers said participants discussed shooting weapons at the guard tower to keep guards from stopping the escape. The helicopter then was to take off for a location about 100 air miles from Seward, where hostages and the helicopter pilot would be disposed of and Phillips and his companions would head to Yakutat, Phillips' home town.
The date coincided with two events: the release from prison of the unnamed other prisoner, and the last day of flights by Seward's only regularly scheduled flightseeing helicopter tours to Godwin Glacier for Dog Sled Tours.