Sammartino Summer Groove: Kayaking in Kenai Fjords National Park

Finally getting used to sleeping with sunlight, we actually needed an alarm to awaken at 5:45 today. Well...Jackson and I needed the alarm, at least. Chris had the coffee already brewing and we got our gear ready for a day on the water. We needed binoculars, water, waterproof cases for our cell phones/cameras, and snacks for our 10 hour day. I then put on wool socks (see last year's Hawaii blog), long underwear, fleece pants, a fleece lined winter ski jacket, and wool cap. On top of that, I donned a full rain suit with a hood. Although this seems like a ridiculously warm outfit, we got lucky with the weather again. We arrived at the Liquid Adventures office by 7, and just like in Wrangell-St. Elias, we were told "it's rarely this clear out. It's usually drizzling." I was comfortably dressed and can't imagine what else I would have worn if it were rainy and colder than this. But, on to the glaciers!

Jess (our captain) took us for a 2.5 hour ride from Seward south through Resurrection Bay into Kenai Fjords National Park. Right in the harbor, she pointed out a gorgeous bald eagle and some otters. She told us the otters "weren't wrestling," if you know what I mean.
Waters were pretty calm entering the Gulf of Alaska and Chris started chatting with the other passengers: a couple from Hawaii, another from New Zealand, and his heroes...a couple getting dropped off for a 5 day camping trip. Never mind the weather is supposed to turn bad/cold tomorrow with 45 to 65 MPH gusts and their trip is mainly kayaking through the fingers of the fjords. "No such thing as bad weather...only bad gear," they reminded us. Riiiight.
Once again, I have a tough time expressing in words and pictures the beauty and sheer joy we experienced today. Our guide, Jared, helped Chris and I board our kayak, while he rode tandem with Jackson. We paddled to Northwestern, Ogive, and Anchor Glaciers. Several times the glacier "calved." This means a piece broke off and spilled. Then a second or two later, you heard the sound...like thunder cracking. One calving lasted 3 minutes.
Back on the boat, Jess found a family of sea otters and then told us "let's look for blubber."
She told us we must have caught a pod humpback whales sleeping, because within a few minutes they surfaced 5 or 6 times. Jess told us half the brain sleeps while the other half knows when to get air. A few puffins with their bright red orange beaks were floating around, for added good measure. Jess also took us to the cliffs where maybe 50 other young puffins were practicing flying. She also found us a large group of stellar sea lions hanging out on No Name Island, which she said should be renamed Elephant Island due to its shape. I agreed.
We had quite a dinner at The Cookery, recommended by our guide. Fresh local oysters, fish cakes, rockfish, halibut, and interestingly, spicy fried chicken voted top 10 in America by...ready? Southern Living magazine. Ha! Dessert was fried dough with homemade cream cheese ice cream and wild blueberry sauce.
As we headed back to the cabin, we found the welcome sign for the town of Seward, an old Read poster featuring Sarah Palin, and several Iditarod Race statues (Seward is mile 0...the start). Benny Benson was 13 years old when he submitted the winning Alaska state flag design, so there is a touching tribute to him at the entrance to town, as well.