Alaska: Kenai Peninsula

[nate]

Pics are here:

http://www-personal.umich.edu/~olmsnj/images/outdoors/alaska_kenai_0810/

I'll have the second part (Alaska: Denali National Park) posted before long as well.

All I can say is wow. Best time and vacation I've ever had. The wildlife was no disappointment, and it's the most beautiful terrain I've had the opportunity to hike (and kayak).

[Pete]

awesome shots, I'm sure there is nothing quite like being there, but wow it looks beautiful.  Hopefully I can make it some day.  It really looks like one of those places that you would literally be inspired by about everything you look at.  When you get settled back in, please take some time to tell us the details about where you were, hiked, etc.  I know at the very least Ben and I would enjoy that.

[nate]

We did a bunch of stuff down on Kenai. The highlights are below.

The Harding Icefield trail is in Kenai Fjords National Park. It's ~8 miles round trip but gains somewhere between 3000 and 4000 feet in elevation so it is pretty intense but well worth it for the view of the icefield. Black bear are active in the area but we didn't run into any. The first half of the trail is vicious but after the climb through the rockfield right after the halfway point the trail adopts a more gradual elevation profile to the top with just a few more wicked sections.

Mt Marathon was awesome. There are 3 trails: Race Trail (up), Race Trail (down), and Jeep Trail -> Hiker Trail. They run a race up and down it annually on the 4th of July on the race trails up and down. We took the Race Trail (up) to the summit and it was basically straight up the mountain -- very steep the whole way, and a big part of the trail is in loose scree but footholds aren't terrible to find. It's just a lot of energy to get up it, and loose scree does not help. We made our own path down the back near Marathon Bowl and followed along a mountain stream, crossing a couple of times, etc, and then cut through the bush and intersected with the Hiker Trail back down. It was very strenuous but well worth it for the eagles and view. Distance and elevation are unknown (at the moment).

We kayaked in Resurrection Bay, in Humpy Cove, which is where the waterfall was along with other cool stuff. The wind and waves were picking back up that day.

[Ben]

Wow, love the icefield ones, is an eyefull, thats a hell of a trip!

[nate]

I was really glad we spent as much time on the trail (and water) as we did. Didn't really want to go up there and just screw around. The stuff we hiked and saw was awesome. It'd have been depressing to go and do lame tourist stuff for 2 weeks.

[Ben]

i agree, when i went to Acadia National Park in Maine and thats all it was there, really ruined it for me, i left a day early. Hugely disappointed after everything i heard about it

[Pete]

load up your kayaks and come to MN, Voyageurs National Park/Boundary Waters Canoe Area for the win.

[busyfixin]

I've been up (and down) Mt. Marathon as well.  I almost got trampled by a bear just before I went over the first stream on the way down.  It was pretty cool to get to the top and have a snowball fight on the backside in the middle of August!  We also did some salmon fishing and went on a halibut charter as well.

[nate]

Heh, yeah, the snow in August thing was awesome. Seward was bright and sunny and getting off of the loose scree and onto green grass on Mt. Marathon was a great feeling. I dropped my pack, found a nice spot, sat, and ate some chow. It was crisp but not cold enough to warrant a jacket. Perfect temps up there.

There are a couple of those awesome moments outdoors that stick with me. Getting onto the grassy section at the top of Mt Marathon was one, getting onto the beach at Lake Superior in Piro for the first time was another. Finding the absolute perfect camping spot (after my intended spot went belly up) on Manitou was another. Anyway, stuff like that sticks with me.

Halibut are some ugly fish, aren't they? Saw one in person for the first time during our vacation. But, still fun to fish for I bet.

[busyfixin]

Halibut are pretty ugly.  Like big diamonds with both eyes on one side of their head.  Cod are even uglier though.  Mount Marathon is one of my favorites as well.