Feb 25, 2013

Call of the Wild- Kenai Fjords National Park, Alaska where the ice age lingers!


Humpback whale gulf of alaska Kenai Fjords

My trip to Alaska has been a great experience.  Never happened to post articles about the amazing national parks, glacier hikes, cruise, and wildlife earlier to this! I think about Alaska and replay my experiences ... every moment of it ... the severe cold, sleepless nights because of no night hours, day-long cruise on a rough ocean and sea-sickness, spectacular wildlife, snow-ice-and-glaciers, cheap hostels, road accident and so on ... Believe me ... unforgettable!! Kenai Fjords National Park- ice fields, glaciers, wildlife and lush forests! A place on earth where the ice age lingers!

Exit Glacier, is the only glacier in the park that can be reached by road. I walked up to the terminus. I wandered around solo on the less travelled trails and so happened to see a black bear with its cubs ... sorry no pics ... I was alone in an unknown land, it was raining, taking out the camera from the backpack would make some noise and Mama-bear would not like a lady-in-bright-pink-jacket around its cute-little-cubs.

Humpback whale gulf of alaska Northwestern glacier Kenai Fjords

Hike up the Harding ice field trail wasn't advised to visitors that rainy day. I went up a bit and returned when my waterproof shoes with extra grip started slipping! On normal summer day one could go up this strenuous trail to see the vast expanse of ice! One can have panoramic view of Exit glacier spilling out. The ice field has around 40 outflowing glaciers.

I went on a cruise to North Western glacier which is near to the highest point in the park (6450ft). The cruise started from Seward and sailed through Resurrection Bay to Harris Bay. On the way Striation Island was adding beauty to the landscape around. Thriving marine wildlife in the Gulf of Alaska is one of the must see item in lifetime. The marine wildlife I saw were- humpback whales, orca, dolphins, seals, otters and many birds. A humpback baby was having fun. It was jumping up out of the water and performed for us for almost 5 minutes before its mother decided to swim away with its baby. Orcas and dolphins were so fast, one minute they are here and the next moment on the other side of the boat- like they swam under my feet!

Humpback whale gulf of alaska marine wildlife Kenai Fjords

Well, the boat ride on the rough ocean-water was tiresome. Almost 10 hours!! Reaching up to the North Western glacier was fun. Sighting of wildlife brought all the excitement. Though everything around was grey and gloomy, cold and cloudy ... it was unimaginable!! On the way back, I got sea-sick. I threw up in buckets into the ocean ... but it didn't seem to make any difference to the vast Pacific! When I reached back my stomach was totally empty. I felt very hungry ... I remembered reading ... the best nutrition- taking control of your life ... so, I found a Chinese restaurant to have sweet-corn soup and fried rice. That hot starch tasted so delicious in that bone-biting cold! What a day and what a park?!! Almost like a dream!
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Leave a comment to share your beautiful thoughts :)

Related Articles- More on Alaska

This post is linked to Our World Tuesday and Nature Notes.

If you want pictures please ask me :)
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Scrapbook- A Travel Blog by Kusum Sanu is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

56 comments:

  1. What an eventful trip! Wonderful pictures too!

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    1. Thanks Gauri! Yes, it was very eventful! Look for one more post for more fun!

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  2. Ah Beautiful photographs. First time I am reading about Alaska in a travel blog.

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  3. Wow! What a great looking place - yet another place to add to the list!

    Stewart M - Australia

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  4. Awesome experience! The wildlife, the cold and the glaciers definitely make Alaska exotic. Would love to head there someday.

    http://rajniranjandas.blogspot.in/2013/02/maha-kumbh-mela.html

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    1. Thank you Niranjan! Yeah, you should visit the place once in lifetime!

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  5. Fabulous picture -- Alaska is still on our wish list.
    Thanks for sharing.

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    1. Thank you Sallie, Yes, Alaska should be on the list!

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  6. What fantastic captures, Kusum!! Another place that I, too, always wanted to visit! Your photos are the next best thing!! Thanks for sharing! Have a great week!

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  7. Now you're in the wilderness!! Boom & Gary of the Vermilon River, Canada.

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  8. Such adventure and beauty! Good on ya for doing such a trip.

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    1. Thank you Dina. Yes, it was a great experience!

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  9. What an amazing place to visit. Lovely series of photos.

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  10. a once-in-a-lifetime trip. how fortunate you are.

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  11. Fantastic photos - what a great place to visit, as long as you can stand the cold.

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  12. Thank you for these impressions of a wonderful world. The air must have been great to breath. Please have a good Tuesday.

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    1. Thanks Robert! Yes, the air was much better!

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  13. Awesome shots of the whale! Something I have always wanted to see! Great post!

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  14. Wow, what an adventrue. I have always wanted to go to Alaska.

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    1. Thanks Karen, Yes, Alaska is everyone's dream!

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  15. what an awesome trip. glad you shared your experience with us.

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  16. Wow! What a place and fantastic photography for OWT ^_^

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  17. Your photos are amazing! We saw whales on our trip at Christmas but nothing like this. Thanks for sharing. Blessings, Debbie

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  18. Wow - what marvellous shots, especially of the whale!

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  19. Wonderful images. Alaska must truly be a "last frontier". Thankyou for taking us there.
    have a wonderful week. I am linking up to you through Our World Tuesday.

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    1. Thank you Jill! Yes, Alaska is magnificent!

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  20. Amazing captures of the wale!
    What an awesome place...
    Warm greetings from Holland,
    Anna :D

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    1. Thanks Anna. I hear Holland is beautiful too, would love to visit some day :)

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  21. what an amazing trip! You are so lucky to have seen these things in person.

    Mollyxxx

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    1. Thanks Molly. Yes, I feel fortunate, and I wish everyone should have the same opportunity.

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  22. How lucky you are to have seen all that! Beautiful images.

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    1. Thank you! The landscape of Alaska makes us feel lucky!

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  23. Thank you for sharing these amazing photos! You are very blessed!

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  24. Great shots! I've always wanted to take an Alaskan cruise some day.

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    1. Thank you Betty! Yeah, may be its time you took the cruise :)

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  25. The Alaskan wild is very much a dream of my husband's and mine!
    Oh - those whale shots! Stunning! What an experience! Thanks for sharing.

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    1. PS: love this so much, I'm a new follower. Can't wait to see your next adventure

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    2. Thank you Amanda. Hope soon your dearest dreams come true. Glad that you will join my journeys virtually on this blog!

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  26. wonderful trip...

    beautiful photos and nice write-up

    thanks kusum

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  27. Oh wow is all I can say. My husband has dreamed of taking a cruise to Alaska and my health is keeping him back. I hope he can do this as the scenery is amazing..amazing.. Michelle

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    1. Thank you Michelle. I am sure you and your husband are going to visit Alaska very soon. Keep the hope :)

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  28. That must have been an amazing experience. It must have been terrifying to bump into a bear. Glad you're ok. A friend of ours once got chased by a moose in the wilderness of Alaska.

    We got to do some whale watching (humpback to be precise) the year before last, this off Monterey Bay. Hoping to catch some Gray whale action later this year.

    Lovely pictures, Kusum. I getting the chills seeing these photographs; but they still make me want to visit Alaska. ;)

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    1. Yes Divya, it was an incredible experience. Bumping into wildlife is always exciting though very dangerous. Yeah, Monterey is one nice place for day-long excursions. Good Luck for a Gray!

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  29. very nice and a great post! Verily, you are adept in his job.
    thanks for sharing

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