Oh my god. Alaska is spectacular.
In Seattle, we found out the Jeeps transmission needed repair. Rather than fixing it in Seattle, I was hoping it would last another 3 months (and another 10k miles), until we got up to Alaska, and back down the west coast where we could stay with family and get it fixed up.
Since Sabrina had to fly to the east coast for a work meeting, my friend Joe and I made plans to meet up in Alaska in 5 days. Just 5 days to drive from Seattle, WA to Anchorage, AK. For reference, thats 43 hours of driving, crossing 2,260 miles. The same amount of time it takes driving from Seattle, WA to the Atlantic Ocean. Coast to coast in 5 days, oh and I had to work while doing it!
It turned out, the drive itself wasn't too bad! I drove two 16 hour days back to back and got to Whitehorse, YT. I spent 2 days here, working and checking the town out. I then finished the drive to Anchorage and still had time to do laundry, shower and wash the Jeep!
Joe landed in Anchorage a little past midnight, we headed right over to Seward, AK. The drive via the Seward Highway is alone worth the trip. You watch the mountains merge with the inlets, and ocean and see signs of glacial activity everywhere. We chose to go to Seward as its the closest town you can get to the Kenai Fjords National Park.
Fjord: a long, narrow, deep inlet of the sea between high cliffs, as in Norway and Iceland, typically formed by submergence of a glaciated valley.
Kenai Fjord NP by Foot: Harding Icefield Trail
Seward is a small town that sits right on the coast on the Kenai Peninsula. Originally built to support the Alaska railway, today it is the gateway to the Kenai Fjord National Park, and numerous boat tour companies call it home. We stopped into the Kenai Fjord NP Visitor Center and got some great advice on things to do, and places to camp in the town! The ranger recommended the Harding Icefield trail, 4 mile trail that had 3 evenly spaced out vantage points, as well as a private boat tour of the park from the coast. We decided to make boat reservations for the following day, and do the hike that day.
At the Exit Glacier Nature Center we filled our 4 nalgenes with water, put on our hiking boots, filled our backpacks with snacks and soylent, grabbed our bearspray and grabbed a map before starting the trek! The map showed the 4 mile trail gaining ~3k feet of elevation, a strenuous hike!
For the first half mile, the trail was flat and shaded, but around the half mile mark, that quickly changed to stair-like hiking. It stayed shaded as we climbed in elevation for ~1.5 miles until we reached the tree line. The burning in our legs was dulled by the beauty that surrounded us. Exit glacier protruded into the valley as we hiked along side it.
We stopped about halfway for 'lunch', we gulped down our Soylent, a liquid meal replacement which we love for hiking, and took in the might of the glacier and valley below.
The final stretch of hiking got steeper, more rocky and difficult, oh and it started raining. By the time we reached the emergency shelter, my legs were visibly shaking from exhaustion and we were getting soaked. We did some stretching, yoga, waited for the rain to leave and carried on to the top!
The overview of Harding Icefield cannot easily be described in words, and pictures don't do its might justice. It's as if you are overlooking Antartica. The icefield stretches for miles in all directions with massive crevasses that give the field the feeling of motion.
Although we were at the end of the hiking trail, we hadn't touched the icefield yet... so... we hiked another mile, ~1,000 feet down, to see if we couldn't stand on it! There was no official trail, just a faint path where others preceded us. This was the most challenging part of the hike, it alone took us several hours but was well worth it!
All in all, the hike took us the greater part of a day, ~7 hours, we were both exhausted and craved a hot meal. It goes in my 'top 5' best hikes I've ever done. We went back into the town, grabbed a beer, food, and found a place to camp for the night... it's a good the next day was a relaxing boat tour!
Kenai Fjord NP by Boat
We woke up at 6am to get ready and be at the docks by 7. We were pretty slow that morning, so it took us a bit longer to get up and moving. The day prior, we elected for the 6 hour ($160) boat tour, which took you right up to the glacier and had chances to see wildlife.
The boat left promptly at 7:30, and right from the beginning, I knew this was going to be an awesome experience! Seeing Seward from the water, the Fjords on either side, was pretty cool! As we left the harbor, the boat captain pointed out several wildlife sightings; a bald eagle nest and mountain goats.
Through the tour, the captain gave us the history of Seward, the park, and the greater area, all while pointing out sights and wildlife. We were able to freely walk around the boat and take in the sites from all sides.
The main destination was Holtage Glacier, a branch glacier off of Harding Icefield. As we approached the glacier, we passed the USCGC Healy, the largest ice breaker in North America, and a group of about 8 kayakers! The kayakers helped give us a sense of scale of the massive glacier. We hung out and watched the glacier calve (break off and fall in the ocean), the sound of the falling ice filled the valley.
On our way back, we got supper lucky when the captain saw a small pod of orcas! Apparently, we were really lucky to see them, since most of them had moved to warmer waters by this point in the year. They are amazing animals. We also saw; otters, a humpback whale, sea lions and puffins... such wildlife diversity in this area.
The entire experience was incredible and well worth the time & money. I've never seen those animals in such detail in the wild before. If you're considering on going, make sure to bring either binoculars and/or a telephoto lens. If you don't have one, you can rent a pair of binoculars onboard for $10.
Conclusion
Although the park is only accessible via foot or boat, it is amazing and well deserving to be a National Park, and obviously well worth the time to explore! If you're in the Anchorage area, do not miss your opportunity to see this wonder. If your knees can handle it, I highly suggest doing the Harding Icefield hike, otherwise the boat tour is incredible on its own.
Whats your favorite Alaskan National Park? Is there anything else we should checkout in this area?
