Alaska - Seward Beach Ride

by: Equitrekking host Darley Newman

Who would have thought about beach riding in Alaska! I rode with Bree Bardarson, who was born and raised in Alaska. She took me horse riding through the beautiful natural areas surrounding the town of Seward on Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula, as well as through areas of devastation caused by the 1964 earthquake.

We had a short canter along the shore, before reaching a beach inhabited by hundreds of Arctic Tern. This migratory bird flies all the way from Antarctica to the Arctic, approximately 25,000 miles, to lay their eggs, have their babies and then fly back. That’s a long trip! They are quite territorial about their nesting ground, especially if you are higher off the ground on horseback. We rode at a safe distance from their nesting habitat, but Bree’s dog, who came with us, decided to check out what the birds were making a fuss about. The birds proceeded to dive bomb her retriever. Ouch! Good thing Bree was riding a large and mighty Percheron Quarter horse mix, Max, while I was on Orca, whose name (an Orca is a killer whale) was probably enough to scare the birds away.

Thankfully, we didn’t however scare the bald eagles away from their nest in a tree further along the trail or the wonderful lupin, the bright, purplish blue wildflowers, which were in bloom all around us. Alaska is truly a wildlife lovers riding destination, and if you like salmon, I highly recommend hitting Bree’s favorite salmon bake later in the evening. Because it’s light almost 24 hours a day during the summer, you have plenty of time to do it all.

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