Kenai Fjords Tour, Part 1 - (Sunday, June 8)

Click here to see a video of our Kenai Fjords National Park Tour

Breakfast time at the Sunshine House B & B had been set for 8 a.m. but Bob and I wandered down to the kitchen a little earlier. I sat and enjoyed a cup of coffee while Mike (the owner) put the finishing touches on our breakfast. He had checked the weather forecast and reported that he "thought" we would have an OK day.

Breakfast included sourdough pancakes with homemade honey/orange syrup, made to order omelets (with many choices of fillings), potato casserole, fruit, juice and even smoked salmon spread from salmon that Mike caught and smoked himself. We ate at the counter as Mike cooked our breakfast and had a nice time visiting. Mike & Marsha are both teachers so we had that in common. (Kent and Laurel are also newly retired teachers.)

We left the house with full tummies and full backpacks. Our Kenai Fjords tour was to last all day and we wanted to make sure we were prepared with extra layers of clothing, cameras, binoculars, water bottles, etc. It was a short distance from the B & B to the waterfront area. By the time we browsed through the gift shop and made one last stop in the restroom, a line had started to form at our tour boat...the Orca Voyager.

The Seward marina is beautiful set up against the backdrop of the mountains.

Holland America's Statendam was also docked in the marina getting ready to sail south. We met some people on our tour who would be boarding that evening.

As the boat pulled away from the dock, we could look back and see the multitude of RV’s parked along the shoreline. I felt a little sad thinking that such prime real estate was being used for a campground…but thanks to the commentary from our captain (Chris) I found out why! Following the 1964 earthquake and tsunami, a large chunk of Seward dropped into the ocean. Since that time, no new construction is permitted right along the shore. RV’s are allowed because they could be moved to higher ground if there was a threat of a tsunami. Makes sense now!

We had barely started sailing and we saw our first wildlife of the day…some cute little sea otters floating in the bay.

The Orca Voyager was a catamaran and could go FAST. We made good time getting across the bay, passing by a glacier on the way.

Throughout the day as we would come to something interesting, Captain Chris would pull up close and stop the boat so we could get a good look…and good photographs. 

Sometimes the view required sharp eyes, good binoculars or a camera with a long zoom! Can you see the mountain goats?

A little bit closer...

And finally, a much closer view.  A baby goat is hiding in the bushes too!

A couple of times during the day a group of Dall's porpoises raced ahead of our boat, playing and jumping.

I love how the rocks frame the spectacular view of the snow covered mountains!

While most others on the tour stayed inside the boat where it was warm, the four of use were front and center, not wanting to miss a thing!

Lunch was planned at a time when we were crossing open water. It consisted of a caesar chicken wrap, baby carrots, and a granola bar. They also came around with freshly baked, warm chocolate chip cookies. 

It was hard to sit down long enough to eat...I wanted to be outside taking in the views!

By the time we had finished eating, we were getting close to the Aialik Glacier. Kayakers paddled by among the families of sea otters and ice bergs.

Captain Chris took the boat in as close as possible to the glacier…being careful and moving in slowly because of all of the ice chunks in the water.

After seeing the enormous glaciers in Glacier Bay and College Fjord, I was afraid a smaller glacier would be a letdown...but I was wrong. Being able to get so close to the face gave a totally different perspective.

We saw some minor calving, but nothing too big...at least from our viewpoint. I'm sure the perspective of the kayakers might be different when large chunks of ice splashed into the water.

Harbor seals were lounging on some of the larger ice chunks. It almost looked like they were smiling when I took their picture!

Some of the ice bergs were very blue...

...while other chunks were snowy white, totally black...or even translucent.

After spending quite a long time at the glacier, the boat turned and started back towards Seward...but there was still much more to see. Check out Part 2 for photos from the remainder of our day in the Kenai Fjords!