Alaska: Kenai Fjords National park and Matanuska

 It drizzled and sometimes poured as we drove away from Denali towards Seward, a city in the southern coast of Alaska, with a planned stop at Anchorage. We were to pick up a friend who had missed the first leg of the trip from the airport. I was quite comfortable in the driving seat now and we hoped to make it earlier than planned. As ill luck would have it, we wasted a lot of time trying to refuel the car. I simply do not seem to get the knack of using a fuel pump and have been at the mercy of kind strangers more often than I would like to admit.

 We headed towards the Kenai peninsula on the Seward highway, leaving the bustling city behind. It was now the start of the long weekend and there were far too many vehicles on the beautiful highway 1 of Alaska flanked by the ocean and the mountains, glaciers peeping through them. It was quite cloudy and cold, prompting us to reduce the number of stops we made to savor the views. I remember our struggle to find restrooms on the way, taking detours only to find that every other restaurant was closed for the season. Driving by the Kenai river flowing in all its glory did not help. We did get lucky and later happened upon a forlorn provision store for some tidbits and junk that would keep us full until we stopped at a sandwich place near Seward for lunch.

 Our sole plan for the day was to visit the Exit glacier, the only part of the Kenai Fjords national park accessible by road. From a Quora answer, a fjord is a bay where the sides are relatively steep, created in a valley by glacial activity. They are found in few parts of the world and only in Alaska in the US. We chose to do the short hike to the glacier overlook. We passed by folks who had hiked all the way to the Harding icefield, the source of the glacier and were heading back. The field is the source of at least 38 glaciers, according to Wikipedia! I wish we had hiked up there but could not accommodate it into our itinerary no matter how I tried arranging our activities for the different days. It is an 8-mile long hike and would be a day-long affair that needs preparation both in terms of fitness and equipment. As we walked along the trail, we stopped at the boards indicating how much the glacier had receded each year. Perhaps a trip to Alaska is all it would take to convince climate change deniers to come around! We sat at the overlook examining the features of the glacier with our eyes, wondering how much longer until there was no glacier there anymore. Our trips to national parks always meant spending considerable time at visitor centers and gift shops as well. This trip was not going to be any different and we stopped at the visitor center conveniently located in the town of Seward. We dined at a Greek restaurant afterwards where my friends treated themselves to a lobster and then headed to our stay.

 The best way to see the Kenai Fjords national park is on a cruise offered by tours endorsed by the national parks service. We had made reservations for a full day cruise, months in advance. We arrived early only to be told that the weather was bad and the cruise would most likely be canceled, depending on how many people were willing to risk being on the rough sea. We were dismayed but hung around till more people arrived, hoping there would be some change of plans. Later it was announced that we were now going to go on a much shorter tour on a much smaller boat to see only one glacier instead of the three the original tour promised, with a very slim chance of seeing any wildlife at all. The smaller boat meant we swayed and staggered a lot more and it was definitely not a joy ride for me, always being prone to motion sickness. I stayed at the back of the boat for most part of the ride until we crossed the Resurrection bay, after which the sea seemed calmer. The boat stopped right in front of the Holgate glacier soon. As we awed at the gorgeousness and cameras clicked away, someone picked up an ice chunk floating nearby and passed it around, giving us all an opportunity to touch and feel a piece of nature. It felt like our pilgrimage was complete. Even if we had not attained salvation, getting this close to what is the epitome of eternity perhaps reminded us how little our time on earth matters. And then we were on the lookout for wildlife. We were fortunate to catch sight of sea lions, otters and puffins. I vaguely remember getting some food and choosing to take rest while my friends explored the town.  

We were to leave Seward early in the morning and say goodbye to Alaska late in the day. One of my friends who had been to Alaska earlier had recommended the glacier hike at the Matanuska glacier as something we should definitely try on our first trip here and it had surely stirred up our excitement and made it to our last day in Alaska. A beautiful drive back from Seward to Alaska when we saw at least two rainbows and then continuing on highway 1 took us close to the glacier. We were the first ones to arrive for the guided hike and almost thought we had been scammed, looking around the desolate office. Soon the place was abuzz with our fellow tourists and us trying on shoes, crampons and helmets to get ready to explore the glacier. We were packed into a minivan and drove to a place from where we could walk to the glacier. We had two guides, one at the front and one at the back taking care of us like we were schoolkids. When it rained lightly, the cold was unbearable. We spent the next couple of hours walking over the glacier, admiring the formations, drinking some glacial water and some of us even getting a glacial facial (who knew that was a thing)! Matanuska is a valley glacier as opposed to Holgate which is a tidewater and mountain glacier. Spending ample time at the visitor would teach you that and more, if interested.

 We had about six hours to drive back to Anchorage, get some dinner, return the car and get on the flight to Seattle. We made it to the departure gate easily with a couple of hours to spare. We would reach home early in the morning on a weekday. While we tried to make ourselves comfortable and get some sleep, some friends who had also spent the long weekend in the same places as we did came by. They had pretty much done the same things as us, but traveled down south to Seward first and then to Denali, thus avoiding the storm. When I heard that they had seen killer whales on their cruise and also managed to view the Aurora Borealis while they were in Denali, I could not help but feel envious. What had been an amazing trip in my mind so far suddenly seemed like an ill planned expedition. All I could do was console myself that this was a reason to go back there. Maybe I was not as much of a planner as I had imagined myself to be, maybe not everything is about getting your money’s worth but about seeing many rainbows in a day.