River rafting
We must make quite an amusing sight: 50 adults attempting to squeeze our way into rubber overalls, slickers, life jackets and rain boots, and then load into rubber rafts along the banks of the Kenai River. This gear will keep us warm in case anyone falls into the chilly waters or in case it rains (always a possibility in Alaska).
After a night at the resort, we’ve made a trip to join Alaska Wilderness Adventures for a float trip down this beautiful glacial river. We began with a salmon bake on the riverbanks. Now that we’re fitted out in rain suits and briefed in safety procedures, we’re ready to begin our float down the river.
As we embark, our river guide, Gus, explains that the river’s color comes from fine particles of silt picked up by the surrounding glaciers as they slowly scraped along the sides of the surrounding mountain. The river gently snakes us through the towering evergreens of Chugach National Forest, which surrounds us on both sides.
Gus also spends much of the 90-minute trip pointing out some of the various birds and small animals that live along the river and telling us about the salmon run that will happen here next week. We pass a few fly fishermen along the way, but Gus says that next week, when tens of thousands of salmon return to these waters to spawn, sections of the riverbank will be packed with anglers elbow-to-elbow, creating an event known locally as “combat fishing.”
“Fishing isn’t just a sport here but a subsistence activity,” he explains. “During the fishing season, locals can catch up to three fish a day and stock up on it. We eat salmon all through the winter here.”
By the end of the trip, we’ve floated to a spot 10 miles downriver from where we started. Along the way, we’ve seen numerous fish and several bald eagles in the trees around us. The elusive bears and moose that live in the area did not make an appearance today, but the sun did, giving us a rare cloudless afternoon in the Alaskan wilderness.
Kenai’s crown jewel
It is one of those days I’ll always remember: The dramatic peaks and glaciers of the Kenai Fjords have lodged themselves permanently into my memory, alongside other natural wonders on the scale of Yellowstone or the Grand Canyon.
We arrive this morning in Seward, a small town at the southern end of the Kenai Peninsula that is the gateway to Kenai Fjords National Park. Although there are numerous jaw-dropping national parks in Alaska, Kenai Fjords is unique in numerous aspects, including that it is the only park visited almost exclusively by boat.
So our group boards the Kenai Explorer for a six-hour sightseeing cruise that will take us alongside the fjords for incomparable views of the scenery, as well as of wildlife such as puffins, seal lions and humpback whales.
A fjord is a geological formation that has been carved by a glacier, the captain tells us as we get under way, and the Kenai Fjords are massive stone monoliths and islands that sit on the edge of the Gulf of Alaska.
Behind the large stone formations sits the Harding Ice Field, an expansive range of snow-capped mountains where a number of active glaciers continue to move downhill toward the sea.
These two elements create a dreamy duality of scenery, and I am taken aback by the way the tree-topped rock formations in the foreground contrast with the snow-capped mountains climbing behind them in the background. This place where the mountains meet the sea is as beautiful as any other place I’ve seen on earth.
Our expedition takes us past Bear Glacier, where large icebergs have calved off the enormous formation.
“Those icebergs are easily 10 times as large as the boat you’re on,” the captain says. “Glacial ice is some of the most dense, most dangerous material ever known to man.”
Later, we approach Holgate Glacier, a 400-foot-high colossus of snow and ice that moves at four feet per day into the sea. The captain positions the boat so that we come face to face with the glacier, where large chunks of ice send up a trembling roar as they calve off the side and cascade into the water below.
The air is colder here, but everyone stands on the outdoor deck, hoping to catch another glimpse of this natural spectacle.
