Kenai Fjords

My first visit to Alaska was in 2020, at the height of Covid, when we thought multiple times we were going to have to cancel our trip. Lucky for us, we still got to go, and the usually busy summer hot spots had way less people than usual, allowing us to soak up pristine Alaskan wilderness with barely anyone else around. Our first park visit was Kenai Fjords, and we had two perfect days of sunshine to explore. On the first day we hiked the incredible Harding Icefield Trail, which ranks among the best hikes of my life. After hiking by and above Exit Glacier, we continued higher up into the mountains, the views becoming more grand and vast as we climbed. At the end of the trail, the enormous blanket of white glacier and snow stretched on as far as the eyes could see! The next day, we went for an hours-long boat tour of the fjords, cruising through Resurrection Bay all the way to Aialik Glacier. Along the way, we saw whales breaching the surface and puffins flying about the rocky little islands. It was super cool to get to see so much wildlife and all the different natural formations and landscapes from the water!