Kenai Fjords

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" height=105 BGCOLOR="#66CCCC" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="04400690ezvthe.gif"> <div> <FONT SIZE="5" COLOR="#CCFFFF" FACE="Arial" ><B>Cruising in Kenai Fjords and Prince William Sound, Alaska</B></FONT><B>   |  </B><B> </B><A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Cruising in Kenai Fjords and Prince Will"><U><B>Back to Main Cruising Page</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id17.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Prince William Sound"><U>Prince William Sound</U></A>   |   <B>Kenai Fjords </B>   |   <A HREF="id23.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Forget Me Knot Specs"><U>Forget Me Knot Specs</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id87.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Cruising on the FMK"><U>Cruising on the FMK</U></A></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" height=375 BGCOLOR="#66CCCC" TEXT="#080000"> <div> Kenai Fjords </div> <div> With the only road access limited to a single road-end glacier area, vast Kenai Fjords National Park is best visited by boat.</div> <bR> <div> <A HREF="http://web.acsalaska.net/~aklindseys/fmk/kenai.jpg" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://web.acsalaska.net/~aklindseys/fmk"><U>Link to Kenai Fjords Map</U></A> (use your browser's back button to return).  We marked up the map with notations from one of our early trips.</div> <bR> <div> Kenai Fjords National Park encompasses most of the coastal area to the west of Resurrection Bay.  The west headland of Resurrection Bay, Aialik Cape, is itself a 3-1/2 hour trip out of Seward on the Forget Me Knot.  Once we round the Cape, we leave most of the boats behind.</div> <bR> <div> Some of the waters in this direction are exposed to weather and swell so we are watchful of marine weather forecasts.  Aialik itself is notorious for confused seas caused by intersecting currents and tidal flow.  We have had some rough and exhilarating rides around the Cape but the country is so remarkable we never regret the journey.  In unpleasant weather, we give Aialik a two or three mile margin.  We are also very aware of our status as beginning mariners and so we are conservative in deciding whether or not to travel across exposed waters.  Call us chicken if you will but we want this to be fun, not scary!</div> <bR> <div> Kenai Fjords has good fishing for halibut, rockfish and, seasonally, silver salmon.  Whale watching can be great, especially early in the summer.</div> <bR> <div> Kenai Fjords coastline is rough and rocky.  The shore is often so steep that it can be difficult to get Buzz to shore, even in a sheltered peaceful anchorage.  It is truly wild country and rivals Prince William Sound with its rugged beauty.  Glaciers abound.   In fact, many of the summer day cruise boats operating out of Seward take their load of 100 or so passengers around Aialik to view Holgate Glacier and continue further out to the Chiswell Islands to see bird and sea lion rookeries.  We used to recommend to our summer visitors that they take such a cruise as it is always a highlight.  Now we can and do go there ourselves.</div> <bR> <div> The various Kenai Fjords destinations lend themselves to anything from an overnight trip to a week long adventure.</div> <bR> <div> Here are some links to our cruising in Kenai Fjords:     In 2004 we did take a great two day trip to <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" ><A HREF="http://web.acsalaska.net/~aklindseys/fmk2/id19.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://web.acsalaska.net/~aklindseys/fmk"><U>Nuka Bay</U></A><A HREF="http://web.acsalaska.net/~aklindseys/fmk2/id19.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://web.acsalaska.net/~aklindseys/fmk"><U> - 2004</U></A></FONT><A HREF="http://web.acsalaska.net/~aklindseys/fmk2/id19.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://web.acsalaska.net/~aklindseys/fmk"><U>. </U></A> </div> <div>                                                                                              In 2005 we went back for 5 days:  <FONT SIZE="4" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" ><A HREF="id21.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="2005 KENAI FJORDS TRIPS"><U>Nuka Bay - 2005</U></A></FONT></div> <div> <FONT SIZE="3" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >Here are some gorgeous full screen photos of Harris Bay/Northwestern Fjord from</FONT> <A HREF="id95.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Labor Day 2006 Northwestern Fjord"><U>Labor Day, 2006</U></A></div> <bR> <div>  Here are some pictures from 2003 but be sure to hit the links above for considerable more content.</div> <bR> <div> <TABLE BORDER="2" CELLPADDING="2" CELLSPACING="1" WIDTH="1014" BORDERCOLORLIGHT="#C0C0C0" BORDERCOLORDARK="#808080" FRAME="BOX" RULES="ALL" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0" > <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 367 ><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="0a3e1690.jpg" border=0 width="481" height="361" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="0a5df670.jpg" border=0 width="479" height="359" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 40 ><NOBR><div> <I>Jenny Celebrates - Hiking above Northwestern Fjord</I></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="516"><div> <I>At Anchor - Far SW corner Northwestern Fjord</I></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 339 ><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="0a7df4d0.jpg" border=0 width="479" height="333" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="0a9d14c0.jpg" border=0 width="465" height="332" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 52 WIDTH="479"><div> <I>Verdant Cove, west side of Aialik Bay</I></div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="516"><div> <I>At anchor in Taz Basin, Granite Island</I></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 363 ><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="0abd8620.jpg" border=0 width="472" height="354" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="0addc650.jpg" border=0 width="476" height="357" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 54 WIDTH="479"><div> <I>Yeah, that's rain on the lens</I></div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="516"><div> <I>Jon and Susie at the helm</I></div> </tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 364 ><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="0afdd660.jpg" border=0 width="477" height="358" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> </NOBR></tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP><NOBR><div> <IMG SRC="0b1dc650.jpg" border=0 width="476" height="357" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></div> </NOBR></tD> </tR> <tR> <tD VALIGN=TOP HEIGHT= 19 WIDTH="479"><div> <I>Hiking can be a challenge</I></div> </tD> <tD VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="516"><div> <I>Sarah and Ben hone their rowing skills</I></div> </tD> </tR> </TABLE></div> <bR> <div> The Chiswell Islands sit out in front of this area and are an absolutely wonderful area to explore.  Unfortunately we have done a poor job thus far taking pictures there but here's one from 2005</div> <bR> <div> <IMG SRC="1d39db60.jpg" border=0 width="925" height="694" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0">.</div> <bR> <DIV ALIGN="LEFT"></DIV> <div>  <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Cruising in Kenai Fjords and Prince Will"><U>Back to main cruising page</U></A></div> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>