Kenai & Seward Exploration
After a short 3-day trip to Denali (where Priya and I saw two griz on foot, finally achieving one of my Alaska dreams...thankfully more than a quarter mile away, but still), we headed down to the Anchorage Jamboree frisbee tournament, followed by what was originally intended to be a 3-day sea kayaking trip. Sticker shock cancelled the 3-day trip, so we ended up doing the 30-mile Johnson Pass trail, then spending a day kayaking. In between, we also checked out Seward and the Root Glacier at the base of Kenai Fjords National Park.
Incredibly, the trail we went on traversed 30 miles of mountainous terrain without climbing more than 1000'. I'm not sure how that worked, but after two days of hardcore ultimate, I wasn't unhappy about the break.
After about 7 miles, the hike turned into a walk next to this meandering river. It also led to a few pretty big lakes (a seaplane landed in one while we were there). Swimming was a possibility we briefly took advantage of, but I can say from experience that even in July those lakes are remarkably cold.
Reflection made for a postcard, or to be bogarted by Microsoft for a background image or something.
Can't complain about that view.
So talented.
Little piece of the Exit Glacier. Almost as impressive as the ice were the signs on the drive in indicating how far the glacier used to extend.
This is the beach where we launched our kayaks from. While I would have thought the water this far out from the bay would have been bitter cold, it was actually quite nice. It was warm throughout the day and I ended up taking a dip right before we left that felt great.
We didn't kayak by any glaciers on this trip, but spent a lot of time ducking in to little coves checking them out. This one had a cool waterfall at the end of it. There was still plenty of snow on the mountains to feed the falls.
Another cool little cove. Overall, it was a sweet trip. Sea kayaking remains one of those things I wish I had more experience in. Guess I'll just have to go out and get it.
Incredibly, the trail we went on traversed 30 miles of mountainous terrain without climbing more than 1000'. I'm not sure how that worked, but after two days of hardcore ultimate, I wasn't unhappy about the break.
After about 7 miles, the hike turned into a walk next to this meandering river. It also led to a few pretty big lakes (a seaplane landed in one while we were there). Swimming was a possibility we briefly took advantage of, but I can say from experience that even in July those lakes are remarkably cold.
Reflection made for a postcard, or to be bogarted by Microsoft for a background image or something.
Can't complain about that view.
So talented.
Little piece of the Exit Glacier. Almost as impressive as the ice were the signs on the drive in indicating how far the glacier used to extend.
This is the beach where we launched our kayaks from. While I would have thought the water this far out from the bay would have been bitter cold, it was actually quite nice. It was warm throughout the day and I ended up taking a dip right before we left that felt great.
We didn't kayak by any glaciers on this trip, but spent a lot of time ducking in to little coves checking them out. This one had a cool waterfall at the end of it. There was still plenty of snow on the mountains to feed the falls.
Another cool little cove. Overall, it was a sweet trip. Sea kayaking remains one of those things I wish I had more experience in. Guess I'll just have to go out and get it.
posted by Slim at
7:01 PM
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