July 2018

Kenai Fjords was established as a National Park in 1980 and covers about 700,000 acres on the Kenai Peninsula in Alaska. We visited the park on two occasions during our stay in Seward, Alaska, once on the water and once on the ground.

Our first trip into the park was on a 7.5 hour boat cruise with Major Marine Tours on the Glacier Express. We left at 10:00 am from the Small Boat Harbor in Seward on a beautiful sunny day, cruising up Resurrection Bay.

We saw lots of beautiful scenery on our way to our first stop at Aialik Glacier. We also saw quite a few humpback whales and a Minke whale but they are really hard to get pictures of.

 

When we got close to Aialik Glacier Captain Sarah (and her all female crew) slowed the boat down to dodge the icebergs and got us nestled up close to the glacier. It was amazing to hear the creaking and booms, like fireworks, when she turned off the boat engine and we could hear the glacier’s movements!

When we slowed down someone spotted this bear among the flowers on a nearby island munching away on the plants. I love this picture!

Next we made our way past Pedersen Glacier to Holgate Glazier with lots of beautiful sights along the way.

We worked our way through the Chiswell Islands on our way home and spotted some Steller sea lions, lots of birds, including Puffins, and more whales.

Back at the dock we got to watch some sea otters playing in the harbor. They are so cute!

It was a perfect day and a great way to visit Kenai Fjords National Park.

The next day we went on a hike into the park at Exit Glacier. It was another beautiful day and we really enjoyed getting out and stretching our legs!

This is a stunning park with pretty easy access if you are in the Seward area.