Kenai Fjords National Park
Day 1 Aug 30, 2023
There is only one main established trail in this park which is a short drive from Seward. The trail leads you either to an overlook of Exit Glacier or up to the glacier and potentially onto Harding icefield. The overlook ends at where the glacier face was in 2010. With how far it has receded, I would guess that it will be just another waterfall coming off the ice field in 30 years. I walked out onto the outwash plain which is jumbled rocks from where the glacier used to be. Thinking of black sand beaches in Hawaii; Alaska has plenty due to the glaciers. I spent the night in Seward in a cute little cabin next to a creek. There were a bunch of pink (humpy) salmon spawning and a couple sockeyes.
Day 2
There are several operations that offer boat trips to see the Fjords. I decided to go with an all-day ride that included lunch. It was raining heavily and the ocean swells were decent. This did not allow for very good views but there were many waterfalls being fed by the intense rain. We were able to go up Aialik Bay to Holden Glacier which is a tidewater glacier. It is not very wide and did not calve while were there but there was good view of Surprise Glacier to the side. Due to the bad weather, we skipped the other tidewater glacier and took a route back around some islands to see several puffins, a few sea lions, seals and sea otters. Kenai Fjords is rather like the step-sister of Glacier Bay. It may have pretty mountains, lots of glaciers and sea life but it pales compared to the beauty of Glacier Bay.
Total Cost: $456.32
