Kenai Fjords National Park
- MilwVon
- First Reviewer
- 4 out of 5
- Avg. Member Rating
- 4
- Reviews
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24
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Kenai Fjords Boat Tour
- December 13, 2008
- Rated 5 of 5 by
Seaotter71 from Monterey, California
A boat tour of Kenai Fjords is an awesome day trip from Anchorage. I signed up with Kenai Fjords Tours. For about $250 I went on the 6 hour "National Park Cruise." It included land transportation between Seward and Anchorage (2 hours each way) and lunch aboard the boat. Don’t get your hopes up, the "healthy chicken ceasar wrap" left a lot to be desired. But you’re not there for the food.
The onboard naturalist was good and helped us spot numerous humpback whales, a sea otter wrestling an octopus, and a couple of bald eagles, and several stellar sea lion rookeries. It was late in the season so we didn’t get to see too many birds. But we did get to see a puffin, "We’re so lucky," the naturalist proclaimed. "The last puffin of the season." We saw several other last puffins of the season that day, but apparently not the large numbers we would have seen earlier in the season.
The scenery is spectacular. Rugged islands, snow capped mountains, and moody glaciers. The trip culminated at Aialik Glacier – A truly awesome sight. The engines are cut, the crowd falls into a hush, and you just drift. Listening to the snap crackle and pop of the ice, straining to hear the crack of calving ice, you realize just how beautiful ice can be.
From journal Anchorage in the Fall
Editor Pick
Kenai Fjords National Park
- July 19, 2006
- Rated 4 of 5 by
dcdc75 from Vancouver, Washington
The Kenai Fjords National Park's dramatic glaciers and abundant wildlife is best viewed from a cruise ship. I recommend the longer 8- to 10-hour rides because they bring you deeper into the park, although they are priced at about $150++. We went with Major Marine Tours because they include a national park ranger on every boat. The only thing was, we went in the off-peak season, so we got a smaller boat and the sea was really super-choppy. No one really got to enjoy the free prime-rib lunch they served that day! Quite a few people puked and two girls actually fainted. It would have been better if I had remembered to take my seasick pills. Other than that, it was a really great experience. Nothing beats the feeling of awe and excitement when you see the orcas and humpback whales jump in the water and swim by your boat!!!
From journal Alaska: The Final Frontier
Editor Pick
Kenai Fjords National Park
- July 11, 2006
- Rated 4 of 5 by
MilwVon from Milwaukee, Wisconsin
What started out as just an leisurely afternoon drive on the Kenai Peninsula, landed us down in Seward and at the National Parks office for Kenai Fjords. As a national parks annual pass holder, we always try to work in visits to the US Parks whenever possible. This was a relatively unplanned visit as we thought you had to take the boat tours to see the Kenai Fjords and glaciers that make up this national park.
The visitors center is in downtown Seward, right near the small boat harbor. There you can take in a short documentary movie about the glaciers and fjords, as well as shop the really cool gift shop. There is always unique posters, postcards and books in the park shops. For us, we really enjoyed looking at the beautiful candid photos of the wildlife of not only the Kenai Peninsula but all of Alaska.
After snooping around there, we headed out to Exit Glacier. Just about 15 minutes from Seward, it was a nice drive in as we approached the glacier. While you can see it as you approach, you cannot really get the perspective of the size of this piece of ice until you get out of your car and do the hike up the short 1.7 mile trail.
If you are concerned about the slight incline, don't let it worry you too much. I am asthmatic and was able to do it alright. If you are just not able to, there is a shorter .5 mile flat surface walk that you can take to the bottom of the glacier. The higher/longer trail goes up a bit so that you have the perspective "on" the glacier even though you are roped off from being able to get too close.
If you are really industrious and in good shape, there is a longer 7+ mile trail that goes all the way up to the top, approaching the Harding Ice Field. It was on that trail that a momma black bear and her three baby cubs had been observed earlier in the day.
We didn't see any wildlife ourselves, only the signs they had been around. There were several piles of moose scat throughout the trail we took. The stuff looks like larger pellets and when it breaks down, looks like sawdust. Anyway, probably more than you wanted to know about moose poop. But just in case you are really interested, I'll include a photo with this journal.
From journal Alaska - The Last American Frontier!
Editor Pick
Kenai Fjords National Park
- July 10, 2006
- Rated 4 of 5 by
MilwVon from Milwaukee, Wisconsin
If you have a full day to explore the Kenai Fjords National Park, you should really consider taking one of the boat tours that takes you right into the deep fjords throughout the Gulf of Alaska. Unfortunately, we only had a half day so we just got to visit and experience the Exit Glacier.
Exit Glacier is at the end of the Harding Ice Field and was named because it was the point where Harding exited the ice field. This is the only accessible glacier in the park that is approachable by auto and foot. You can either take the one-half mile foot patch to the base of the glacier or the 7/10's mile loop trail that goes up along side of the Exit Glacier.
There is a roped off area to discourage visitors from venturing into the danger zone. Unfortunately, there always seems to someone or a group of people willing to risk their lives by disobeying the rangers' warnings. We caught a photo that will help to put into perspective just how HUGE this glacier is. (It is attached to this journal.)
At the base of the glacier is the silty run-off that moves at a pretty fast pace. On this particular day, it was warm and sunny so there was a very swift current off the glacier. Unfortunately, the glacier is melting at a very quick rate. As you walk up the footpath, you will pass signs along the way to indicate where the glacier used to be in a variety of years, dating back to the early 1900's.
On the day that we visited, there had been two black bear sightings. One right at the main entrance to the Exit Glacier area near the old guard's toll booth. The other was up on the 7 mile trail that leads to the top of Harding Ice Field. The report was that there was a female along with her three cubs, all of whom climbed a couple of trees when humans approached their area.
If you do head to the area and plan on walking up to the glacier during the summer, be sure to take bug spray as the mosquitos were very thick!
From journal Experiencing all that is the Kenai Peninsula