Chris Santella - Fifty Places to Paddle Before You Die: Kayaking and Rafting Experts Share the World’s Greatest Destinations

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This book would not have been possible without the generous assistance of the expert paddlerskayakers, rafters, canoeists, and SUPerswho shared their time and experience to help bring these fifty great alpine venues to life. To these men and women, I offer the most heartfelt thanks. I also wish to acknowledge the fine efforts of my agent, Stephanie Kip Rostan; my editors, Samantha Weiner and David Blatty; the designer Anna Christian; and the copyeditor Suzanne Pettypiece, who helped bring the book into being. Finally, I want to extend a special thanks to my wife, Deidre, and my daughters, Cassidy and Annabel, whove humored my absence during seemingly endless deadlines... and to my parents, Tina and Andy Santella, who are not paddlers, but always encouraged me to pursue my passions.

Aialik is one of many glaciers youll encounter in the Kenai.

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Alaska

KENAI FJORDS

RECOMMENDED BY David & Wendy Doughty

When people look up at the mountains that rise out of the sea here on the Kenai [Peninsula], theyre a little thrown off, David Doughty began. Sometimes theyll ask, What elevation are we at? Thanks to the work of the fjords, were blessed with an incredibly rugged and strikingly beautiful coastline, and thats certainly an important appeal to kayakers who visit. But thats just one aspect of the paddling experience. The waters here support big marine lifeeveryone has a picture in their mind of the breaching whalesbut theres also smaller marine life that can be equally impressive, like a bay covered with millions of sea stars and jellyfish. People arent expecting that. Theres a very good chance youll see black bears. And the experience of being near a glacier is both humbling and awe-inspiring. For me, its the convergence of all these things that makes paddling the Kenai incredible.

It would be an understatement to say that Alaska has a great deal of shoreline to explore: 47,300 miles unfold from the northernmost reaches on the Beaufort Sea near Barrow to the southeast region that snakes along the northwestern edge of British Columbia. This staggering amount of terrain amounts to more shoreline than that of the lower forty-eight states combined! The relatively finite stretch from Seward to Sitkaa mere 500 miles from north to south, with just 15,000 miles of shorelinesees the great majority of Alaskas recreational maritime traffic, much of this in the form of cruise ships plying the famed Inside Passage. Cruise ship passengers get to take in some marvelous sitesGlacier Bay, for exampleand have opportunities to purchase T-shirts and other assorted trinkets in each port of call. However, they miss the chance to tuck into more isolated fjords that small boat and kayak travel affords.

Its quite possible to conduct a do-it-yourself kayaking adventure around the Kenai; a shuttle boat can drop you near the section of coast youd like to explore and retrieve you at an appointed time and place. But given the regions propensity for wet, cool weather (its classified as a rainforest, after all), the mothership option, where paddlers return to a boat to dry off and sleep each night, has its advantages. Mothership trips give you great versatility in terms of covering lots of different areasyou can hit more highlights with the boat, especially if you have a finite period of time, Wendy Doughty added. And theres something to be said for being able to come in from a paddle in the rain and have warm soup or tea waiting.

David and Wendy described some of the highlights of a six-day mothership trip that takes paddlers to Aialik Bay and Northwestern Lagoon. We have a bit of a voyage to get to Aialik, but the boat follows the coastline, so its really a wildlife safari, David continued. We pass Spire Cove, where these immense rock formations jut out of the water, and were almost sure to pass seals, sea lions, puffins, and a host of other sea birds, humpbacks, andif were luckyorcas. Theres been a lot more humpback activity in the area in the last few years, Wendy said. Theyve begun bubble net feeding, a behavior that we hadnt seen before around the Kenai. A few years back, we were going through Granite Passage (just west of Aialik Bay) in the boat, and there were eight humpbacks feeding in a channel. The captain pulled the boat into a protected area, and we dropped the kayaks in and paddled into the channel. The whales were circling us and feeding for several hours.

After reaching Aialik in the late afternoon, theres plenty of time for a paddle while dinner is preparedperhaps in the shadow of a glacier or in an intimate cove. The following day, you may opt to explore Pedersen Lagoon, Abra Cove, or Aialik Glacier. Pedersen Lagoon Wildlife Sanctuary is a wilderness area within Kenai Fjords National Park, David explained. It can only be accessed by kayakers. The lagoon was created by the retreating Pedersen Glacier, which has a more sloping, gentle feeling than the other glaciers here. Theres a tidal river at the end of the lower lagoon that gets significant runs of salmon, and the bear watching here can be great.

Across the bay from Pedersen is Aialik Glacier. Its the classic [type of] glacier people expect to find in Alaska1.2 miles wide and 300 to 500 feet high at its face. Its probably the most actively calving glacier in the park. If youre lucky, you can get front and center (a third mile back) and watch the falling ice. People are always surprised at how loud it is. There are usually large groups of seals200 to 300hauled out on the calved ice nearby. Abra Cove is nearby, and its off the radar for many people. On a decent tide, you can paddle all the way to the back, along sheer rock walls that rise 1,500 feet in places. Abra holds snow year-round, and its a novelty to paddle past a big wall of snow in August. This is a trip thats improved by the rain, as youll get incredible waterfalls pouring down. Well often see black bears swimming across the cove. When they land on shore, they shake like big dogs. Its just an hour paddle, but many visitors consider it the high point of the trip.

After a few days exploring Aialik Bay, youll continue west toward Northwestern Glacier. En route, youll likely visit Granite Island and paddle around Cataract Cove and Taz Basin. Cataract Cove is U-shaped and very deep and has many waterfalls that you can kayak up to, David said. Taz Basin is one of those places where sea stars and jellyfish are thick. Its a great place to cruise. Northwestern Glacier sits in the back of Northwestern Fjord. Its striking in that its still very new. The glacier is moving back so quickly that its pulling up the rock face at the edge of the fjord, even as its calving ice. Its a very dynamic site, visually impressive, thanks to all the rock and ice; Ive been watching it change from year to year. Because theres lots of ice, there are always lots of seals.

If time permits, David and Wendy may push farther west to Nuka Bay. Theres one main island at Nuka, Wendy said, and a maze of hundreds of small, rocky outcroppings that you can paddle around. The appeal of Nuka for me is the isolation. Theres lots of wildlife, including humpbacks. There arent any glaciers there, but it has a subtle beauty of its own.

DAVID DOUGHTY is co-owner of Kayak Adventures Worldwide and Bear Paw Lodge. He has been leading tripsbackpacking, canoeing, mountain biking, climbing, and kayakingmost of his life. He spent the first half of his working life as an acupuncturist and chiropractor and intends to spend the second half outdoors. David has an amazing enthusiasm for the sport of kayaking and even more for using the sport to share the area with others. He holds a current Wilderness First Responder certification, is a Leave No Trace trainer, an Alaska Tour Guide trainer, and a certified American Canoe Association sea kayaking instructor.