Exploring Kenai Fjords National Park

June 23, 2016

Glacier in the clouds

Harding Icefield

Exploring Kenai Fjords

When I was 22 years old I flew from New York to Japan in what seemed to be an ever-present sunset glow. As we chased the sun around the earth I glanced outside at a frozen land with what looked like frozen rivers running through it. 13 years later I find myself finally flying over the same frozen landscape on my way to explore the Kenai Fjords National Park in Southcentral Alaska. On this peninsula nearly 40 glaciers slowly slide down from the Harding Ice Field. If Denali is Alaska's crown jewel north of Anchorage then this must be it's crown jewel to the south. And now, after working in Alaska's inside passage I have a newfound knowledge and interest in these glaciers, icefields, flora, and fauna that encompass this amazing national park.

Lazy Harbor Seal

In the icy waters surrounding the peninsula we find seals, sea lions, humpback whales, orca chasing salmon under our boat, and birds of all kinds. Puffins, which are rare to see in southeast Alaska fly in the dozens around our boat. Jagged, wave battered rocks mark the entrances to deep fjords where the glaciers calve into the water. We took one of the boat tours out of Seward's small boat harbor to get a closer look at some of the wildlife and glaciers. Major Marine Tours is one of the big names and they carry a national park ranger just like we do when we visit Glacier Bay down in the SE. $150 got us a six hour cruise which turned into a wildlife bonanza and up close and personal with a couple of glaciers, although it would be hard to get closer than our Exit Glacier experience or being inside a glacier like at the Mendenhall Glacier Ice Caves.