Alaska. Exploring the Rugged Kenai Peninsula
For a large state, Alaska has relatively few highways. Departing from Anchorage you have three choices: northeast towards Glennallen, north to Fairbanks, or south to either Seward or Homer. My itinerary called for south towards Seward and Resurrection Bay. Resurrection Bay (aka Blying Sound) is a massive fjord located on the south facing side of the Kenai Peninsula. It was named Voskresenskaya Gavan, meaning “Resurrection Harbor,” by Alexander Baranov, who used the bay as refuge from an Easter Sunday storm in the Gulf of Alaska. Ice-free in winter, the bay has deep channels, shallow coves, and numerous beaches and estuaries. Surrounding the bay are hills of tall Sitka spruce.
Departing Anchorage, it took 2½ hours to reach Seward (population 2,700). With an economy focused on fishing and tourism, Seward is an important commercial fishing port and a popular departure point for cruise lines such as Holland American and Royal Caribbean. It’s also known as the starting point for the famous Iditarod Trail. The city’s namesake is former U.S. Secretary of State William H. Seward who helped negotiate Alaska’s purchase from Russia in 1867. The city has suffered setbacks such as a 9.2 magnitude earthquake in 1964 that destroyed warehouses, fish processing plants, oil tanks, and other structures along its waterfront.
Established as a national monument in 1978 by U.S. President Jimmy Carter, Kenai Fjords became a national park two years later with passage of the Alaska National Interest Land Claims Act. Covering an area of 2,711 km2, the park’s landscape has been shaped by the Pacific Crustal Plate pushing below the North American Plate. A central feature of the park is the enormous Harding Ice Field. Covering 1,813 km2, the icefield feeds 38 separate glaciers. Slightly more than half of the park’s land surface area is covered with ice. Along with glaciated areas, the park protects a narrow corridor of coastal rainforest separating the mountains and the ocean. Wildlife found in the park ranges from black and brown (grizzly) bears to moose, mountain goats, sea and river otters, and gray wolves. In addition, the bay’s nutrient-rich water serves as habitat for king and silver salmon, among other fish species.
Kenai Fjord’s Exit Glacier is among the most accessible glaciers in Alaksa and can be reached using a spur road connected with the Seward Highway. With its white and deep blue colors, Exit Glacier was named by backcountry travelers who believed it resembled a natural ramp for mountaineers wishing to leave the Harding Icefield. Rather than being smooth, the glacier is fluted with large crevasses. I had an important task to complete before beginning my exploration of the area. The free NPS campground near Exit Glacier is first-come-first-served so we timed our arrival for mid-morning, the approximate time when tent campers from the previous night would be packing up to leave. After pitching a tent to reserve our site, we packed for a hike that would take us to viewpoints above the Harding Icefield.
The park’s Harding Icefield Trail is a strenuous 13 kilometer round-trip hike with an elevation gain of nearly 1,066 meters. Parking near the small NPS visitor center, we passed signs representing Exit Glacier’s terminus at various times in the past, beginning in the 1800s. Today, the glacier retreats about 38 meters per year. Just in front of the visitor center is an enormous glacial erratic. Erratics are rocks that travel long distances while embedded in glacial ice. Departing a trailhead behind the visitor center, we reached Marmot Meadows which offers views of the massive outwash plain below Exit Glacier. The trail then becomes a series of switchbacks through spruce forest before finally emerging above the tree line as it parallels the glacier. Farther up the trail, Top of Cliffs offers spectacular views of the upper reaches of Exit Glacier as it spills out of the Harding Icefield’s basin. The trail then curves to the right across the tundra. We passed a small emergency cabin topped by a metal roof before reaching a place with the best views of the icefield. That evening we drove a few kilometers toward Seward to a restaurant called Exit Glacier Salmon Bake. A sign mounted on a small wooden tower near the road promised “Cheap Beer & Lousy Food.”
The next day we left camp early so we could arrive on time for our six-hour boat tour of Resurrection Bay. I anticipated that temperatures on the deck of the concessionaire boat would be chilly, so I brought a hat, parka, and warm gloves. Departing Seward, the boat took us around Cape Aialik for views of Holgate Glacier. Classified as a tidewater glacier because it terminates in open water, Holgate is a popular destination to see “calving” where massive chunks of ice break off and fall into the bay. After lunch, we motored towards the Chiswell Islands (part of Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge). We were fortunate to see groups of Stellar sea lions along the rocky coastline. Returning towards Seward, the captain maneuvered the boat for views of a pod of orca (aka killer whales).
Before returning to Anchorage, we decided on a detour that would take us to Homer, the self-proclaimed “Halibut Capital of the World.” Homer is located on Cook Inlet and about 270 kilometers southeast of Seward. Our drive took us past villages with names like Clam Gulch and Anchor Point. After reaching the town we continued on Lake Street and Ocean Drive to a parking area near the end of Homer Spit. Extending several kilometers into Kachemak Bay, the spit resembles a thin sandbar. We parked near the famous Salty Dog Saloon and continued on foot past the marina to Seafarer’s Memorial, built to honor fishing crews that left but never returned.