Kenai Peninsula 2010

This is the third and final portion of the Alaska trip. Ice is the dominant feature of this region. Out of Seward, we hiked 3,000 feet up and 8-miles round trip to the massive Harding Icefield (300 sq.mi) from which some 40 glaciers are formed. We spent several days at a heated public use cabin, listening to the glacial thunder and creaking and groaning at Kenai Fjords National Park's Aialik Bay and watching lots of seabirds and marine mammals, including 6-7 Humbpack Whales bubble net fishing (rare for south central Alaska) and two colonies of endangered Stellar's Sea Lions.
We paddled a couple of times out on the bay between rain showers. One day we approached the Aialik glacier. Five miles across the bay, it is 1 mile wide and 1,600 ft tall, but we kept our distance. It was eerie to slide alongside the small icebergs that had calved from the glacier. Another day we paddled by the Pederson glacier and toward the Holgate glacier.
The bay is over 800 ft deep, but the water was smooth and calm. The real danger was losing our bearings--on the way back, fog rolled in and we could not see land behind or before us. The combination of a compass and GPS verification kept us on course. Harbor Seals like to haul out and rest on the floating ice. We collected some small chunks to chill the cheese and Chardonnay--now that's roughing it!
Out of Homer, we visited the Peterson Field Station on Katchemach Bay and saw bog species, such as White Swamp Orchid, Star Gentian, and the carniverous Sundew plant, and many intertidal creatures--I even felt the grip of a Giant Pacific Octopus!