Kenai Fjords National Park

Steward Harbor on the Kenai Peninsula

For once my planning wasn't awful. I'd booked an AirBnB cabin near Seward for two nights. And on line I booked two different tour companies to experience two slightly different pelatic trips for wildlife viewing. I'm condensing the two days into this one post to cut y'all some slack.

One of several glaciers spilling into blue waters near Seward

Before boarding the boat on the first of two days, I made up a hand written list of the bird species I hoped to see. When a crew member asked if anyone had things they especially wanted to see, I raced over and gave him my list. Turned out that he was the captain and was thrilled to get an 'I wanna see' list. I got all embarassed at what a fuss he made over my list, and he assured me he would let me know if any of my target species popped up.

Both days the weather was pretty good but the first day had the best, sunny skies. On day two, although there were hours of gray sky that made the waters appear gray, there were also large spans of time with blue sky & equally blue waters. And wildlife on both days? OMG!

Humpback Whales blowing

Humpbacks waving hello with their fins &....

And waving bye-bye with their flukes

I totally lost track of the numbers of Humpbacks I saw on the two days. There were dozens and dozens of them.  And yet, their numbers paled in comparsion to the Orca pods we ran across.

Girlie Orcas cruising by

Male Orca on the left with its impressive dorsal fin

There were both Resident & Transient Orca pods around. The Residents are the 'usual gang' of whales, and they specialize in eating Salmon. The Transients are Orca from out of the area, and they specialize in eating seals and other whales, for ex., Gray Whale calves, seals and sea lions. The Transient Orcas are slightly physically different, having larger heads.

And there were other mammals as well, the giant Stellar's Sea Lions on the rocks...

Adorable, plump little Harbor Seals, 'sunning themselves' on blocks of ice in a glacier field.

Note female with her cute little pup on the right

Furry & busy Sea Otters.




And if you're feeling a little sea sick, there were a couple of Mountain Goats - a Nanny and her Lamb, high up on a hill side.





And birds... lots of wonderful birds. I was warm and snug in the dining area when the captain announced, "There are rare birds! The lady who had a list of birds she wanted to see, get up to the front of the ship, pronto!"

I flew.

HOLY CRAP! There, floating peacefully, were three Kittlitz's Murrelets.
Kittlitz's are found in waters off glaciers so DUH! I ought to have had them on my radar.

Breeding plumaged Kittlitz's Murrelets

This was a lifer species for me, a totally 'can't happen in a million years' lifer.

I still can't believe that I now have better photos of Kittlitz's than of Marbled Murrelets.





Another unexpected species I was lucky enough to see was a Red-faced Cormorant.

Along with the 'rarities' were the expected birds. The Pigeon Guillemot.

Fair number of Baldies to be seen

Cliff Nesting Black-legged Kittiwakes

Flying Tuffty Puffins

And nook dwelling Horned Puffins

As well as loads...

And Loads...

and loads of beautiful Alaskan scenery 

  And not to forget the several magnificient glaciers with that amazing blue ice.

You want glaciers? They got glaciers

As stated, I traveled with a different company each of the 2 days. On the 2nd day, the voyage included a trip to Fox Island, which is south of Seward on the edge of

the Pacific.

Fox Island is the bit with the red marker

Everyone disembarked onto Fox Island

Gigantic Orca skull

The Dining Room

The Fox Island stop included a prime rib dinner buffet. My *little din-din is pictured to the right. It included Alaskan King Crab legs which were extra, but well worth the expense.

*definition 'little din-din', i.e., didn't go back for fifth helpings

After the 'eats' I birded of the large back patio area that overlooked a pond. 

What will be best remembered from the 2nd day's cruise is the friend I made. I often sat inside as the wind was fearsome. Inside, all sat at large tables, mostly along the windows. At first I had a big ole table to myself, but then a cute, elderly couple sat across from me. Yeah, they were probably my age, but my brain still believes I am 32 years old. The couple were Asian, and appeared to speak no English. I speak no Chinese so we were even. As newbies on such pelagic cruises often do, the couple fell asleep, so snoozed the first several hours of the cruise. I woke them when our lunches were served tableside. They nodded their thanks and ate. I noted they often looked behind us, up a short flight of stairs where a large family group was settled - parents, kids and I assumed, grandkids. They were all one group in two different seating areas.

The Chinese lady and I were shy to catch each other's eyes to start. As the trip progressed, we began smiling at each other and communicating through pointing and exclamations of "Ahhh!" as cool critters or scenery was passed. Jovially we pointed out birds and whales out the window. The older gentleman left to settle in upstairs, and the Asian lady had fallen asleep again. When she woke, she looked around and seemed startled. She then gestured to me, "Where is my grandchild?" as one of the kids up the stairs was missing. I gestured back, with lots of hand motions, "Her daddy took her to the rest room."

She nodded at me happily, and settled back down. Soon, the father and daughter passed by as they returned. The lady looked over to me and suddenly we were laughing our arses off.

Yes! I can communicate in fluent Chinese/American hand signals.

As the trip neared its end, the lady called over her daughter and spoke excitedly to her. The daughter turned to me and smiled.

"My family and I are from Indiana", she pointed up the short staircase. "My parents here flew in from China to visit the family. We thought they'd enjoy visiting Alaska so we all flew up here. My mother wants me to tell you how much she enjoyed this cruise with you. She is tickled that although you two do not speak the same language neither of you had any trouble communicating. She is very happy she to have made friends with you."

I was so touched! The lady and I held each other's hands, heartily shaking them as our smiles signaled the International symbol for "What a great day we shared my friend!"

Denali to Um... Where the Heck Am I Again?

Today was a casual travel day for me - The drive is a long one, but thank heavens it is interesting, if for nothing else the signs.




The only goal being to drive south from Denali, south past Anchorage to the tiny town of Portage. There I had an AirBnB reserved for one night, the following day to drive down to Seward for a couple of nights.

Along the way I stopped to kind of pay my respects to Eklutna, a little Russian/Native town Ila and I visited in 1997 on my first trip to Alaska. Eklutna is quite the same, and yet, quite different. I could feel how much older it has grown in the last 22 years.

There was a tour in progress, but as I took it 22 years ago, I passed on a redo. 

The entrance is a little souvenir shop and gateway to the cemetery

St Nicolas - a Russian Orthodox Church, active since the early 1830s

The area was the center of numerous Athabaskan villages. Over the years, the Athabaskan traditions mingled with those of the Russian Orthodox missionaries. The Athabaskan culture for their dead morphed into one that buried their dead, then built Burial Spirit Boxes over them. The brilliant colors and symbolism of ridges on the boxes and patterns, were unique to families. 

The boxes are purposefully allowed to decay - instead of being kept up - because ashes to ashes and dust to dust.

The decorations on the Spirit Houses denote family ties

On this visit I did not enter the graveyard but did view the highly colorful Spirit Boxes.
After revisiting Eklutna, I wended south past Anchorage, stopping briefly at a favorite spot of mine.

Cook's Pass, a great place to see wild Beluga Whales, the ice cream chunks of the sea!

It faces the Cook Inlet, and it is a spot where in 2000, I spotted what looked like 'ice cream' chunks floating past. The pass is infamous for its Beluga Whales that swim pass.

'Ice cream chunk', swimming by

My 'ice cream chunks' were in fact, Beluga Whales swimming by but I couldn't believe my luck that I was seeing real wild Belugas.  I've stopped at the pass several times but never again saw any wild Belugas at Cook's Inlet. I guess it was beginner's luck working for me.

The 'view' from my window. 

Arriving in Portage, I found the AirBnB I reserved. It serves as a popular Ski
lodge in the winter, but this time of year it serves the oddball tourists who visit out of season. You know. Those like me.  After checking in to my cute & somewhat tiny room 'with a view', I took off for a little exploring.

Overturned gallon jugs made for chess pieces in the park

I enjoyed an excellent meal at a Thai Restaurant, run from a little tent and a building of some sort -  next to the park. Not much ambiance to spare, but the food was excellent.



So all in all, with the driving I had to do, it was a low key day, rest up day. I have myself signed up for two days of pelagic wildlife touring out of Steward.

Lovely array of pansies from Eklutna