Kenai Peninsula (pronounced "Key-nigh")

After the wilderness of Denali we were ready to enjoy the finer things of an urban environment: libraries (Cara worked on her curriculum for the fall, museums, and of course movie theatres to see Cars 2). It was a beautiful day in Anchorage and nice to hang out around the city. One day was enough, we were ready to head south for more outdoor adventure on Kenai Peninsula.

We arrived in Seward, AK and booked a one day ferry into Fjords National Park to see tidewater glaciers and A LOT of marine life. We camped at the Exit Glacier campsite and cruised the following day. On our six hour cruise we saw: humpback whales, dall porpoises, stellar sea lions, harbor seals, puffins, and a pod of killer whales!
















Within the first 30 minutes of setting out from the Seward harbor we came upon 4 hump back whales. You can see the dorsal fin of one of the whales on the right side of this photo. Their was a newborn who was taking lessons from mom on how to slap the surface of the water with it's fins to scare their food into easily eaten tight schools. We also saw a few breaches, which was amazing!














Ashley and I taking in the icebergs in Aialik Bay. All of these chunks of ice dislodged from Aialik glacier.
















Aialik Glacier. The scale is hard to tell in this photo, but it was about 0.7 of a mile wide and 300 ft. high where it flows into the water.

















After our cruise I had some energy to burn so I ran/hike the famous Mt. Marathon which overlooks the city. It is about 3,000 feet up to the summit in a little over a mile. So pretty much it is straight up. After reading the warning sings posted at the base of the mountain about the runner's trail I headed up. It was a beast, but well worth the effort for the great view and also the thrill of steep scree running on the way down.















Kenai Fjords NP is unique because most of the park is made up of the Harding Ice Field (the largest in North America) and the glaciers which flow down from it and is only accessible by one trail or by water. Amazingly, the whole park is free. There is no entrance fee and the one campsite at Exit Glacier is also free.















A view of the wild flowers and Exit Glacier on our way up to the Harding Ice Field. It was a 4-mile trail hike up to the ice field.















The Harding Ice Field. Can't tell the scale here either so here are some stats:

• Named after President Harding because after a visit to Seward he expressed his love for the area.
• Over six miles long and a mile deep in some areas
• Receives between 400 and 600 inches of snow per year
  

Team MMR loves ice fields!














Our next stop was Hope, AK. A small town just off the Seward Highway on the way back to Anchorage. From Hope we rafted 6mile Creek with a river guiding outfit. It was fun getting into some white water and the views from the canyon were amazing. Best of all, they had complimentary hot cocoa and a hot tub for us to use after. We justified the cost by thinking we paid $99 for a hot tub soak and received a free river trip.

After the river and hot tub we found this amazing campsite in the Chugach National Forest overlooking Turnagain Arm. Ashley built us a raging fire and we enjoyed our last night of camping together reflecting on our journey.















This is what 11:30 pm looks like in Alaska.















Huge thanks to Ashley "River Otter" Black for joining us on this part of our Alaska adventure. Her perfectly timed singing, jokes, hugs, and magic tricks made this a memorable journey. We sincerely look forward to our next adventure as Team MMR.

On to Haines to begin our journey down the southeast coast of Alaska and back to the contiguous.

-T