HIKING THE TONSINA CREEK TRAIL

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We arose early on our second full day in Seward to get going on a hike I’d been excited for since planning this trip a few months prior. It wouldn’t be as rigorous as some of the hikes I’d done, but represented an opportunity to hike a completely different environment than I had before. The Tonsina Creek Trail starts from Lowell Point, just a short drive on a mostly unpaved and heavily potholed road from the southern tip of Seward proper. After dropping our parking fee in the USForest Service envelope, we walked to the trailhead and began our day’s hike. 

Immediately, we walked into a dense and humid forest. The conifer’s needles coalesced above to block out most of the light, and bright green moss clung to most tree trunks and carpeted the ground. It was beautiful. We hiked for the next few miles over gradual undulations in the ground beneath us, eventually coming to a small creek which we crossed in the usual fashion hopping from one rock to the next. The trail then led to a series of switchbacks losing elevation down a mountain face to our left, largely made up by net-covered wooden boardwalks over otherwise uneven terrain. The nets were an attempt to provide some traction on what otherwise would’ve been damp and mossy wood. Very clever. 

As we reached the bottom of the switchbacks, we were led onto a bridge which crossed the outlet of Tonsina Creek as it deposited its waters in the bay. From here, the dense tree cover was no more and we hiked over a wide black sand beach along the coast. In no hurry to get anywhere in particular, our hike now turned into more of a meander as we let ourselves be immersed in the surrounding beauty and take in the incredible views. Back the way we came, the conifer covered mountains stretched into the sky, blanketed by fog. Looking back to the north, we could barely make out the little buildings on the southern coast of Seward, separated from us by miles of the bay. Boats of all sorts drifted over the waters heading out for a day of fishing. Dramatic mountains covered in snow provided a grand backdrop to all of this. 

At what would be the terminus of our hike, we sat on a log, ate a snack, and relaxed into the environment. And after we’d had our fill of the surrounding views, we turned back toward the car.