Moose Pass July 18-22

We stayed in a vacation rental in Moose Pass, a tiny town near the intersection of the Sterling Highway and the Seward Highway. We went hiking, rafted the Upper Kenai River, and drove to Seward for the day to visit glaciers.

Hiking Hideout and Seven Lakes trails

We hiked Hideout trail through fireweed to an amazing view of the Kenai River and Skilak Lake. After lunch at the top, we hiked Seven Lakes trail to Hidden Lake. We saw moose prints and heard a moose near the lake.
We drove along Skilak Lake Rd. to Hideout Trail, a short trail that goes up 800' in a mile.
There was so much fireweed growing along the trail!
We had lunch at the top, with a view of the Kenai River and Skilak Lake
The fireweed was over Evan's head.
We walked between spruces and fireweed along Engineer Lake on Seven Lakes trail.
Evan balancing on the edge of a log-lined section of Seven Lakes trail
Evan hopped over the tree fallen across the trail.
We took a side trail to Hidden Lake. We think we heard a moose but didn't see it.
panorama of Hidden Lake
Some parts of the trail had lots of roots.

Rafting the Upper Kenai River

We rafted the turquoise Upper Kenai River, from the Kenai Lake to Skilak Lake. We saw lots of eagles along the banks, including in the parking lot of Alaska River Adventures. We left the raft at the lake, and hiked up Hidden Lake Trail back to the road.
The color of the Kenai River was amazing, even on a mostly cloudy day.
We saw lots of eagles along the river; they were looking for migrating salmon.
We stopped for lunch on a beach along the river.
another eagle along the Kenai River
a juvenile eagle along the river
The Kenai Canyon section had class II rapids.
Our guide paddled our boat into a quiet side channel near where the Kenai enters Skilak Lake.
The grass reflecting into the turquoise river was beautiful.
along the Kenai, with Skilak Lake in the background
We got out of the raft near where the Kenai River ran into Skilak Lake.
After leaving the raft, we walked along a beach on Skilak Lake.
Not far from the lake, the ground was covered in horsetails and spruce trees.
Fireweed grew in an open area.

Seward

We drove south from Moose Pass to Seward to see glaciers. In the morning we walked around Exit Glacier; we'd been there in 1999 and it was amazing how different it looked. Then we cruised out of Resurrection Bay to Aialik Glacier, a tidewater glacier in Kenai Fjords National Park. Along the way, we saw sea lions, puffins, and dramatic cliffs with more glaciers.
We stopped along the southern end of Kenai Lake to look for moose, but didn't find any.
first view of Exit Glacier
on the short trail to Exit Glacier
Paul is standing approximately where the glacier was when we visited in 1999.
hopping on rocks to get closer to Exit Glacier
zoomed-in view of the bottom of Exit Glacier
Paul and Evan on a hill along Exit Glacier's moraine
view of Exit Glacier from the end of the trail
Last view of Exit Glacier from a turnout along the way back to Seward Highway
It was really windy as our ship cruised out of Resurrection Bay.
We passed by Holgate Glacier on our way towards Aialik Glacier.
The black specks on the floating ice are relaxing seals.
One of the deckhands brought a bergie bit onto the deck to hold.
a car-sized iceberg floating near Aialik Glacier
bergie bits in our wake as we cruised away from Aialik Glacier
Pilot Rock
harbor seals on Pilot Rock, off the coast of Kenai Fjords National Park
The ocean was bright turquoise off the the steep cliffs of Kenai Fjords National Park
Puffins were darting back and forth between the cliffs.
We got close enough to peek inside sea caves in the cliffs.
a puffin flying low across the water
hanging glaciers in the mountains on the east side of Resurrection Bay
After the cruise, we stopped to look for moose but didn't find any.

Back to Anchorage

Since we hadn't seen a moose in the wild yet, we stopped at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center on the way back to Anchorage. We walked and drove around to see moose, wolves, bears, caribou, foxes, and wood bison. Back on the road, we stopped to see mountain goats in the cliffs.
rescued wolves at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center
The caribou were rescued from overpopulated Alaskan islands.
Guaranteed moose sighting at the Alaska Conservation Center
We drove right by these mountain goats, then pulled over to get better look.

Next stop: home

Moose Pass
Hideout and Seven Lakes trails
Rafting the Upper Kenai River
Seward
Back to Anchorage
Next stop: home