Seward Horse Ride, AK

Today I went out with Bree Bardarson of Bardy’s Trail Rides. Bree was born and raised in Alaska and will take you through the beautiful natural areas surrounding the town of Seward on Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula, as well as the areas of devastation caused by the 1964 earthquake. On our ride, we also rode on the beach. Who would have thought about beach riding in Alaska! Be prepared to take in a variety of wildlife on this ride and be on the lookout for bears.

I rode a five-year-old Tobiano Paint horse named Orca, who was wonderful. Bree rode Max, a big, black 16-year-old Percheron Quarter horse mix. We rode by Resurrection River on our way to the beach. As our crew filmed, Bree talked about growing up in the small town of Seward and pointed out Mount Marathon, where there is an annual Fourth of July race up the mountain and back down. Yes, people do travel here to run up and down a mountain. It’s a tradition. Bree has run twice now. I don’t know about that one, as that mountain looks pretty treacherous.

In 1964 Alaska was rocked by a giant earthquake and then tsunami. The Good Friday Earthquake was a 8.4 on the Richter scale, and it devastated the small, harbor town of Seward. We rode by some rusted old cars, which had been thrown into an area that used to be residential and was now only woods. Bree told me stories of people who survived the natural disaster and of some who did not. Down by the water, only one old green building still stands.

Bree carried a gun on our ride, something new for me. It was in case of any run ins with bears, one of which charged Max, the horse that she is riding in the above photo, a couple of days ago IN the same area where we were riding. Her horse Max, as you can see from the photo, is quite large. Bree told me that Max did exactly what you want a horse to do if charged by a bear... He charged back and then Bree and Max were able to escape unharmed. Yikes! Bree and I didn't see any bears on our ride and were glad about that. Our crew carried bear mace just in case.

Bree and I were on the lookout as we passed through a section of woods. Bree said that even though we didn’t see the bears, they were probably watching us, which made me feel a little nervous.

We rode up to an eagle’s nest and saw two eagles. They had just had a baby and so were flying around and keeping watch over the nest. I have seen more eagles in Alaska than I have ever seen before in my life!

Bree took me through a marshy area and we had a short canter on one beach before heading to a farther beach to see the hundreds of Arctic Tern. The Arctic Tern is a bird that flies all the way from Antarctica to Alaska, approximately 25,000 miles, to lay their eggs, have their babies and then fly back. That’s a long trip! These birds aggressively protect their eggs by dive-bombing any potential predators. They did this when Bree’s dog and Greg, our cameraman, got too close. Greg almost lost his hat.

From the beach, we could see the small harbor town of Seward, where we would spend the next few days, in the distance. We headed back to the woods, riding through lupin, these bright purplish blue flowers and other wildflowers in bloom. The wildflowers make Alaska so pretty in the summer, especially when juxtaposed with snow capped mountains. Stay tuned for more adventures in the wilds of Alaska!