Today I’m taking you all along on a boat tour to see glaciers and wildlife in Kenai Fjords National Park!
Honestly, my only request for this trip to Alaska was to see a glacier. I promised I wouldn’t complain about spending my entire vacation fishing if I got to see a glacier. This cruise was our solution, so Thursday morning we made the two-hour drive to Seward to catch our Kenai Fjords National Park cruise.
We chose the 7 ½ hour tour from Major Marine Tours. We ended up booking through Alaska Tour & Travel because they offer a deal that includes the all-you-can-eat salmon and prime rib lunch (normally an additional $19/person). The tour was really well organized and we also really enjoyed the food. Next time we’d probably only take the 6-hour tour because my boyfriend was getting pretty antsy by the end of the tour. That might be a better option if you are taking little kids too. Although, we had some kids on our boat and they seemed to really enjoy it…probably because we saw so many animals. Anyway…
While we were walking along the dock my boyfriend spotted a jellyfish. It was just floating in one of the empty boat slips. It was the first wildlife we’d seen on our trip (not including salmon), so we thought it was pretty cool.
Once we boarded the boat, we found our seats inside the cabin (Major Marine assigns everyone seats/tables inside the upper and lower cabins). We decided we’d rather sit outside while the weather was nice, so we grabbed one of the seats on the back deck (the seats outside are first come, first serve). I’m glad we decided to sit outside because right as we were pulling out of the harbor we saw a couple sea otters. So cute!
Not long into the trip, I saw my first glacier! Actually, three glaciers – from left to right: Prospect, Spoon, and Porcupine glaciers! These glaciers are called alpine glaciers and they don’t extend to the valley or water’s edge like the ones we’ll see later.
A few minutes later we saw a pair of humpback whales! I’d never seen a whale before, so I was pretty excited. We also saw some fin whales later on the tour!
Eventually we made our way into Aialik Bay to eat lunch and see Holgate Glacier.
The captain turned off the engines while we were stopped in front of the glacier so we could hear the ice cracking and breaking off (called calving). It sounded like loud thunder. We saw a few chunks break off while we were there and I got some great action shots.
While we were stopped, the crew pulled up a chunk of glacier that was floating in the water and made margaritas out of it! Of course I had to try one =)
Our next stop was Aialik Glacier, which is a tidewater glacier like Holgate Glacier.
It’s always hard to tell how large something actually is in pictures, so I’ve circled a tour boat in the picture below. You can barely see it, but it’s a great way to show scale in this picture and show you how large this glacier actually is.
Nearby we saw a large group of seals lounging on some ice chunks. We also saw a mama sea otter swimming her baby around on her stomach! It was definitely a great day for viewing wildlife!
As we travelled out of Aialik Bay we saw a smack of jellyfish in the water. There were thousands of them in the water!
We also had a couple Dall’s porpoises approach our boat. I’d never seen or heard of them before, but they kind of look like small killer whales. They were really cool and it was fun watching them play in the boat’s wake.
And finally our last stop, the Chiswell Islands, is home to puffins and stellar sea lions! Now, I’m going to be completely honest and tell you that I don’t like birds (actually I’m kind of scared of them), but I love puffins! I think they are the cutest little things! The park ranger told us that sometimes puffins will eat so much food that they aren’t able to fly! We actually saw a couple struggling to get into the air. How can you not like little fatty birds?!
And on another island, a group of stellar sea lions were busy sunbathing on the rocks.
Except for this guy – he’s king of the rock and had to keep an eye on things while everyone else rested.
After we finished watching the sea lions, we headed back to the harbor (we did see more whales on the way) and then drove back to Soldotna. It was a long day, but it was a great way to see another part of Alaska and see some amazing wildlife!
Today we’re talking about my favorite part of our trip – fishing! Now for those of you who know me, you might be a bit surprised because I’m not really known for being an outdoorsy person. I go fishing with my boyfriend every once in awhile (he goes pretty much every weekend), but I’m not a huge fan of fishing or any other outdoor activity and I hate camping (I’d rather sleep in my own bed thankyouverymuch). But I do like exploring new places and trying new things, so I jumped at the chance to spend a week fishing in Alaska. And you know what? I had a great time!
We arrived in Alaska late Monday night and then drove to the small city of Soldotna the following morning (read more here). Later that day we met up with our friends and we joined the rest of our group at the river. I’m so thankful we knew someone who had been there before. They showed us a great spot to fish that we would have never found on our own. It was down a couple dirt roads and then a mile or so hike to the perfect spot on the river. Otherwise, I think we would have had to hire a guide.
We fished until late Tuesday night – most of these pictures were taken around 10 p.m. I ended up catching my limit (3 sockeye per person per day) plus one pink salmon! I caught more than my boyfriend…and yes, I rubbed it in a bit =)
The following day we tried another spot on the river, but it was really crowded. We had to wait for another group to catch their limit before there was enough room for the four of us. I didn’t catch anything in that spot, so I was glad we didn’t go back there.
But my boyfriend caught one of the biggest fish of the trip there, so he wasn’t complaining.
Later that night we tried another spot close to where we fished the previous day. The water seemed way colder in that spot and my legs were freezing by the end of the night (even with the waders and 2 pairs of leggings). I didn’t catch anything there either. That’s what I get for bragging the day before…
Thursday we had reservations for the Kenai Fjords National Park cruise, so we didn’t do any fishing that day. I’ll share all of the cruise details next week. Anyway, Friday morning was our last chance to fish so we went back to our original spot. I caught four sockeye salmon, but one got away like two feet before I could get it on shore. That was kind of a bummer, but I’m still telling everyone I caught eight fish on our trip…close enough. Everyone else caught their limit too, so it was a very successful morning and a great way to end the trip (despite the rain).
By now I’m sure you’re wondering what we did with all that salmon we caught…
After we finished fishing each day we cleaned and filleted the fish by the river. Although, I didn’t do any of the filleting because a couple people in our group were way more experienced (don’t want to waste any meat). Then we bagged up the fillets and took it to the processor. They cut it into meal size portions and then vacuum sealed and froze it for us. They also held the fish for us and packed it for travel.
We ended up bringing home 45 pounds of salmon! Two shelves in our freezer are now packed with fish. We’ve already cooked up a couple portions and it’s delicious. Definitely a lot fresher and more firm than store-bought salmon!
Long story short – I’d definitely recommend salmon fishing in Alaska even if you aren’t outdoorsy! And we're going to be eating salmon every week for the foreseeable future!
I’m back from Alaska and I’m exhausted! We had an amazing time, but it was definitely the most physically demanding vacation I’ve ever been on. There was a lot of hiking whilst wearing heavy, uncomfortable waders and sore shoulders from fly fishing for hours, but it was all worth it. I’m still sorting and editing pictures from our trip, so today I’m only going to share the first couple days, including our drive from Anchorage to Soldotna. Next week I’ll share all of our fishing stories and pictures and the following week will be all about our Kenai Fjords National Park boat tour.
OK, let’s recap:
We landed in Anchorage around 9 p.m. Monday night. It was almost 10 p.m. by the time we picked up our luggage and rental car and made it out of the airport…and it was still light outside! We knew it would be, but it was still really strange. It completely messed up my internal clock during our trip and I never seemed to know what time of the day it was. We checked into our hotel and turned in for the night. We were tired from traveling and my right ear never fully popped during our flight so I was pretty uncomfortable. Luckily it felt better in the morning and popped during my shower.
The following morning we checked out of the hotel and went to Cabela’s to buy some fishing gear. We had bought waders ahead of time and we already had fishing reels, so we really only had to buy fishing poles, flies, and our fishing licenses. Once we had everything we grabbed breakfast and drove out of town.
We headed towards Soldotna, where we would be staying for the remainder of our trip. It’s a small city along the Kenai River and is a popular spot for salmon fishing. It’s about a three hour drive from Anchorage. I have to say that it has to be one of the prettiest drives I’ve ever been on. The first part of the drive is along the coast with the bay on one side and mountains and trees on the other side.
The rest of the trip is through the mountains, surrounded by trees and rivers. We stopped at one point to walk down to the river to take some pictures and stretch our legs. Alaska really is one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been.
We arrived in Soldotna in the early afternoon and explored the town a bit. We also went to check out one of the lakes in the area, but never ended up fishing there. Trout just didn’t seem that exciting to catch once we started fishing for salmon.
We ended up fishing that night and Wednesday night/morning. Thursday we drove to Seward to take a boat tour of Kenai Fjords National Park. Friday was our last day in Alaska so we fished in the morning than drove back to Anchorage in the evening for our 2 a.m. Saturday morning flight (ugh). Anyway, I’ll be sharing more details over the next couple weeks.
Before I wrap up this post, I do want to talk about a couple of my favorite meals while in Alaska. For dinner Wednesday night I had a caribou burger and it was delicious! The following night I had a reindeer sausage chili cheese dog. That was also delicious. Neither was gamey at all. I ordered both of them at Buckets Sports Grill, so if you are ever in Soldotna, I recommend trying at least one of those dishes.
I’m in Alaska! Our flight left Phoenix yesterday afternoon and we arrived in Anchorage last night. By the time we got our luggage and rental car it was almost 10 p.m. and it was still light outside! I knew it would be, but it still throws you off and is totally strange. Anyway, in celebration of our trip I pulled together ten fun/interesting facts about Alaska. Hopefully some of these are new to you and you can say you learned something today. If not…well, aren’t you a smarty pants! 17 of the 20 highest peaks in the United States are located in Alaska. Mt. McKinley, the highest peak in North America, is 20,237 ft. above sea level.
Alaska is the largest state in the United States (it’s twice the size of Texas). When a scale map of Alaska is superimposed on a map of the 48 lower states, Alaska extends from coast to coast.
Juneau, the capital of Alaska, cannot be accessed by road. It’s currently only accessible by boat or plane!
In Alaska it is illegal to whisper in someone’s ear while moose hunting. It’s also illegal to wake a sleeping bear for the purpose of taking a picture. Although, I think the law is the least of your worries if you wake a sleeping bear!
Alaska boasts the lowest population density in the nation at 1.3 people per square mile. If New York City had the same population density as Alaska, only about 30 people would live in Manhattan. There are more caribou than people in Alaska.
Giant vegetables are common in Alaska due to the extremely long summer days. A world-record breaking, 138 pound cabbage was grown in Alaska in 2012. The previous record holder (126 lbs) was also grown in Alaska.
Barrow, Alaska is located just 800 miles from the North Pole. Between May and August, the sun circles above the horizon, but never sets – also known as the midnight sun. The sun finally sets in November, but won’t rise again for another three months.
There are approximately 100,000 glaciers in Alaska, covering about five percent of the state. Alaska has more active glaciers and ice fields than in the rest of the inhabited world.
Alaska has no native snake population. According to the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, the only native reptiles are 4 species of sea turtles. And for my single ladies - about 52 percent of Alaskans are men – the highest percentage of any state!
I’ll be back next week with the first recap from our trip plus I finally crossed another item off my living room to-do list!
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