Kenai Fjords National Park, Alaska
Sunday, June 13, 2010
We got on our way around 10ish, a little later than we originally planned, but that seems to be the way of things recently. We had planned to take basically the whole day to enjoy the drive down the
Seward Highway, another quite well known national scenic byway. We drove down through Girdwood and stopped to look for beluga whales at 'beluga point' (we didn’t see any cuz the tide was out) and viewed the huge expanses of mudflats as we drove around potter’s marsh and the turnagain arm that flows out of cooks bay and the kenai peninsula. I had been talking about gold panning and we just randomly passed a gold panning mine, the Indian valley mine, as we were driving down the road so we decided to stop and try to strike it rich. It was actually pretty fun! After about an hour we had scored a few gold flakes and some small chunks of garnet and learned about the history of some of the mining in the area from the resident prospector and owner of the mine. We drove on a few more miles down the hwy to the
Alaska wildlife conservation center, which they had recommended at the visitor center for seeing some of the Alaskan wildlife up close
. They also rescue and help injured animals and there are rangers and interns on duty to dole out info about the wildlife first hand. We thought it was a little overpriced for what was actually there, as it is a pretty small complex, but the money goes to a good cause so it was ok. We also struck up a conversation with a guy who was there with his family from Texas. He had overheard us say we were from New York at the gold panning mine and after talking about the drive, he was very eager to hear all about our adventures. He had lived in
Alaska for a few years as he was in the military and we talked about being on the road and traveling around the country for quite a while. From there, we drove through small towns or settlements until we came to exit glacier. We turned off and were surprised at the good condition of the road. On the map it had said it was unpaved, but it was paved and had speeds of around 40 mph. it’s just a short drive down to the glacier which is basically the only part of kenai fjords national park that is accessible by land. We almost drove right by the campground road that we had seen on the map of government campgrounds that we got from the visitor center. It’s a very small only semi marked road just before getting to the glacier area entrance. We drove in to see what we could get and were pleasantly surprised to find a small quiet campground nestled alongside the glacial wash. The campsites were pretty primitive and only had room for your tent as you had to keep all your stuff in your car or in the bear locker and had to eat all your meals in the kitchen area, but the best thing of all was the campsite was FREE
! Couldn’t get much better than that. We set up our tent at camp and then drove down to the glacier visitor center. We took a look around and then did the mile hike out to the glacier itself. It’s a pretty easy hike that takes you fairly close to the edge of the glacier. According to some of the other people who had visited about 10 years ago, the path had actually taken you close enough to touch it, but it has obviously receded substantially in the last decade. You could hike further into the wash and go up to the very edge, but you had to cross through the river and we weren’t really prepared so we sufficed to see it from the path. It’s really amazing to see a glacier up close and think that it has been there for 10’s of thousands of years before you. We also marveled at the first explorers who discovered the glaciers in the first place and established the park for the public. It really is a good hike and so easily accessible for all people, if you have a chance you should check it out! We went back to the campground and started up some dinner. We’ve really been enjoying the camaraderie of these smaller primitive campgrounds, the communal kitchens really give you a chance to chat with some of the other visitors and share travel stories. We got to talking with an Alaskan couple who had a really cute baby with them and there was a friendly but somewhat rowdy group of irish students who were interning in
Alaska for the summer there as well. Unfortunately, these rowdy groups seem to be following us as the irish group really started up the party right about the time everyone else was going to bed. As this was really out of the way there were no rangers on duty and therefore it’s really left up to personal responsibility of respecting the quiet hours and the other campers. The party went on into the night and although we slept pretty well aside from a few loud yells that woke us up occasionally, other campers with families were not so tolerant and rangers were called
. Needless to say, most of these people packed up and left the next day and on the following Sunday night we had the camp pretty much to ourselves. We didn’t bother with getting up too early as
Seward is just a few minutes drive from our camp. We drove into town and checked out a few of the local shops. It was about this time that we realized you can really only truly experience this park from the water, so we caved and decided to take a 5hr boat tour out into resurrection bay to view some of the Kenai fjords peninsula from the water. We debated on doing some sea kayaking for a more adventurous tour, but it was a little windy and we wimped out. It really could not have been a more perfect day to be out on the water. The sun was shining and it was not too cold. The scenery was unbelievable, the snowcapped mountains and fjords jut out into the crystal blue water and you really think …"now this is
Alaska!” We saw about 15 bald eagles from different vantage points nesting high in the trees or soaring out over the bay. We also saw puffins and other sea fowl alongside stellar sea lions and sea otters. Mountain goats grazed high up in the cliffs and everyone on the boat scanned the shores for bears and other wildlife. Then when we reached the mouth of the bay, we sighted three humpback whales as they surfaced for air and a quick hello before sinking back in to the ocean. It was a majestic and magnificent sight! We had seen whales before down in mexico a few years back but there’s nothing better than viewing these huge animals in such a setting
. Our onboard ranger said it was quite a day as far as the wildlife sightings went, even she sounded extra excited about the things we had seen. The boat took us past bear glacier as well, a glacier that feeds off of the harding ice field on the opposite side of the range from exit glacier. We didn’t see any of those signature chunks of ice falling into the water, but I’d say overall the day was pretty exciting. We arrived back at the dock right on time around 5pm and strolled around the shops a little while longer and watched the fisherman bring in their catches of HUGE halibut. We stopped to talk to a guy who had caught a 79lb halibut and was having it cleaned and filleted right there on the dock. Perhaps on our next visit we’ll have to try a fishing charter?? Back at camp we tried our hand at the campstove pizza again and it was a SUCCESS! Yay! I added a little less water and used more oil in the pan this time instead of cooking spray and also poked the dough in the bottom a little which I didn’t do last time and they came out perfect…another camper even commented that she was jealous :) All the noisy campers were gone and replaced by a really nice adventurous couple from georgia (keith and paula) who we chatted with into the evening about
Alaska and travels elsewhere in the country. we sat around the fire for a bit longer then had a good nights rest.
