Capturing the Moment

  Epic Alaska kayaking. Glassy calm water, temperate rainforest, and snow capped peaks coming right down to the water. Wow. I wanted to show people just how good kayaking can be in some of these secret little bays and inlets in this part of Alaska. After a morning of exploring a glacier, I took them to a place called Cedar Bay, in the northern part of Prince William Sound. It is called 'Cedar Bay' because it is the northern and western-most place you can find Alaskan Yellow Cedar trees. One of my favorite parts of kayaking here, is that the big boat anchors in the outer bay, then you kayak through a shallow narrow part and enter a massive back bay, that you would never even know was there. There are waterfalls cascading down from snow capped mountains, a salmon stream, and little nooks and crannies to explore. The light colored granite rock and calm waters make the scene almost tropical when you look down. And it can be a great place for birds like bald eagles and mergansers. M...

  My hiking group, feeling accomplished, after hiking to the face of Meares Glacier, here in Prince William Sound, Alaska. Meares Glacier is a beautiful, yet mysterious glacier at the head of Unakwik Inlet in Prince William Sound, Alaska. Unlike nearly all of the other glaciers around here, Meares glacier is advancing. It has steadily moved forward since it was first described in 1905. As it pushes a mound of earth in front of it, the glacier bulldozes through old growth forest, upending trees with abandon. Today this is the wild area that we were exploring on our expedition cruise. Even though it was late May, it felt like winter in Alaska has hung on a bit too long. That didn't dampen our spirits, in fact, after our morning adventure we all took a refreshing dip in the waters of the fjord. But first it was adventure time, and we could choose between kayaking, skiff tours, or a bushwhack hike through the forest, to the face of the glacier. The winter rains and snow melt made our f...

  I love kayaking here in Alaska, and especially when we can kayak around ice. This day was especially good, with glassy calm conditions and a never-ending floating ice garden to explore. Discovering a new place to take our guests for adventures is always a good feeling. It is so nice having the flexibility as expedition leader, to search out these places and add them to future trips. Last week, we were iced out of our visit to Columbia Glacier, here in Prince William Sound, Alaska. So we instead went to a bay adjacent to Columbia fjord, in hopes that some of that ice would be there for us to walk around and paddle around. It was super low tide, so tons of big icebergs were trapped on the rocky shore, separating the bay from the fjord. I was excited to take people back, although this time I was prepare to explore by kayak. Only four people chose to come with me, but after this wild adventure, they all thought they chose correctly. We ended up paddling over 6 miles, way up a beautif...