GORP - Kenai Wilderness Cabin

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ACTIVITIES

Kenai Wilderness Cabin
Introduction
By Bill Sherwonit

Waterfall at Aialik Bay

The Kenai Peninsula's outer coast is notorious for its wet, overcast, and often stormy weather. So it's no surprise when we awaken, our first morning along the coast, to discover the sun has vanished behind thick gray clouds. At least the skies are dry and the air still. North Arm, a remote, fingerlike bay at the extreme western end of Kenai Fjords National Park, is glassy smooth. Perfect for coastal kayaking.

Trailed by swarms of white sox, those small but vicious white-legged biting flies, my brother Dave and I take our double Klepper for a short exploratory paddle along the arm's eastern edge. We turn into a small embayment, where seals and otters play hide-and-seek with us and a low-flying eagle spooks a large flock of mallards into flight. Then we watch as three dozen crows leave their roosts in old-growth hemlock and chase, in Keystone Cops fashion, a sharp-shinned hawk. Ducking into the forest, the hawk finally escapes its tormentors and the crows, with raucous caws, return to their beachfront perches.

Planning to Go

Continuing to the arm's northern headwaters, we approach a small creek that's drawn a mix of fish eaters: gulls, mergansers, crows, eagles, and two-belted kingfishers. Handsome, loquacious birds with big, shaggy heads, the kingfishers scoot across the water, grab a seat in an old spruce, and speak in their raspy, rattling way. Still several hundred feet away, Dave spots a black bear browsing in salmonberry bushes; perhaps sensing our presence, it retreats into the forest shadows.

Our final stop is a large glacial river. Walking across sandbars, we find many sets of tracks: gull, duck, coyote, and black bear. The bear tracks are fresh; looking up from them, Dave sees two black bears in the distance, fishing for salmon in a smaller, clearwater stream that cascades down from the steep, lush mountains. One soon leaves; the other grabs a fish and moves to a clearing where it sits down to eat. A couple salmon later, it too slowly ambles into the forest. We stay a few minutes more, then return to the cabin for dinner. Our planned two-hour paddle has become a seven-hour journey.

If You Go to Kenai Fjords
If You Go: Kenai Fjords

Getting there: Kenai Fjords National Park is at the southern end of the Kenai Peninsula. Seward, its principal gateway, is about 125 miles south of Anchorage, along the Seward Highway. Homer is 225 highway miles from Anchorage. The park's coastal areas are accessible only by boat or plane. Exit Glacier, the park's number one tourist attraction, can be reached by car.

Weather: Overcast, cool, and often wet days are the summer norm, with daytime temperatures ranging from the 40s into the low 70s.

Facilities: Headquarters is in Seward and there's a ranger station, open in summer, at Exit Glacier. The park has five public-use cabins, including four along the coast. The only maintained trails and a small walk-in campground are in the Exit Glacier area.

Activities: Coastal wildlife tours, glacier viewing, sea kayaking, fishing, hiking, mountaineering.

For more information: Contact Kenai Fjords National Park

Bill Sherwonit is the author of Alaska's Accessible Wilderness: A Traveler's Guide to Alaska's State Parks (Alaska Northwest Books, Seattle); he lives in Anchorage, Alaska. Check out Bill's GORP features on Chugach State Park, Denali, the Arctic Refuge, and the McNeil River Grizzlies.

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