We could've stood for another hike around Kachemak Bay, but we had another part of the peninsula we couldn't miss--Seward and Kenai Fjords NP on the southeast side. This park had led us to pick the Kenai as our honeymoon area, and was the capstone of our trip.
On the way back around, we headed back through Soldotna, though since we had been lacking in brewery excursions, stopped at the Kenai River Brewing Co., which had a solid stable of classic styles.
Our arrival in Seward brought some bad news. We had scheduled an overnight kayak excursion into the National Park, with a water taxi bringing us into one of fjords, then paddling up close and personal with the large marine mammals, then camping on the rocky shores. It was a part off the trip we were really stoked about. However, when we showed up at the outfitter for our brief the best morning, we learned that heavy winds off the glaciers made conditions too dodgy to guarantee that we would actually get to do any real kayaking. The people at Kayak Adventures were very up front, and offered us a refund of our 50% deposit. After much discussion, and scrambling to see if there was an available hotel room that night, we took the refund and punted to an alternate plan. Some times you just have to roll with it.
Instead of a two day kayak trip, we booked a full day-trip on a Kenai Fjords Tours boat. This was an 8 hour tour around several of the fjords on a boat that wasn't too large or overpopulated. It turned out to be a great day, as the knowledgeable and entertaining skipper brought us close to all manner of sea life and tidewater glaciers.
You can never see too many otters! Never!
And right off the bat, an orca!
My only regret on this trip was not bringing my zoom lens, because less than an hour into the cruise, we came up right along side a juvenile humpback, breaching over and over. It's one of the sights you'll never get tired of watching, and never forget.
Heading up toward the massive Ailik Glacier
We watched as it constantly calved into the bay
Leaving the bay we came up on another humpback. This one entertained us with barrel rolls and slapping the water
One last wave before he headed under
Some awesomely loud stellar sea lions
And some quietly napping seals
After what we agreed was a pretty darn good consolation prize, we headed out the next day to the inland part of the park, for a hike up along Exit Glacier up to the Harding Icefield. While you can't argue with the Exit hike being an excellent one (Bear Grylls joined Obama on it a few years back), Sarah and I had to push farther than 44 to see the amazing ice field that feeds all the glaciers on the Kenai Peninsula. It's an amazing expanse of white that stretches as far as you can see, more than a mile thick in places.
Exit Glacier spilling down the mountain
Some hopefully guided hikers out on the glacier
Up at the head of the glacier where it meets the ice field
It starts to look like Antarctica once it levels off
A hiker down below for scale
Looking back down Exit Glacier
With the canceled kayak trip, we had the entire next day to make our way back to Anchorage for our evening flight out. After a huge breakfast, we spent the morning walking along the shoreline in Seward, taking it all in one last time. When we entered the harbor, we were treated to one last surprise. We'd seen lots of otters from a distance from shore, and from the boat, but there were three of the guys just lounging around in the boat slips. I ran back to the car to get my camera, and we just watched them frolic for an hour. They are adorable creatures, and I think they're now my favorite animal (they've been Sarah's favorite all along)!
I was told once that Alaska is like an addiction--once you go there, you want to keep going back. The place is utterly magical, and has a draw that you have to see to understand. Sarah and I have a long list of places to go just in this state, and I encourage everyone to experience this land in some way.