Alaska Personal Journeys: Kenai Hike Paddle Tour

KENAI PENINSULA
HIKE, PADDLE & TOUR
(11-DAY JOURNEY)

Click here for the 7-day journey

The Kenai Peninsula in south central Alaska is an area where humans and wildlife have co-existed for thousands of years. The region is topographically and geologically diverse with tall mountains, broad valleys, rolling foothills, turquoise-colored lakes and rivers, ice fields, glaciers, northern boreal forests, coastal wetlands and near-shore and offshore marine waters.

The vast resources of the Peninsula, both living and non-living, combine to form diverse and complex ecosystems. From tidal marsh to alpine ridges, various natural habitats support an impressive variety of wildlife and birds to include moose, Dall sheep, mountain goat, caribou, coyotes, wolves, brown and black bear, lynx, wolverine, beaver, trumpeter swans, bald eagles, loons and ravens. The vast marine environment supports healthy populations of salmon, halibut, seabirds such as puffins, murres, murrelets and gulls, sea otters, seals, humpback whales and Orcas.

Outdoor enthusiasts on the Kenai Peninsula have much from which to choose, including hiking, fishing, canoeing, sea kayaking and camping in the spring and summer and berry picking and hunting in the fall. For many, winter is the best time because it is at this time of the year that dog mushing replaces all other outdoor pursuits in terms of popularity.

LOGISTICS

This 11-day trip begins as we leave Anchorage, Alaska, early in the morning of the first day. Our tour of the Kenai Peninsula will take us through spectacular scenery as we eventually make our way to the small coastal community of Homer, Alaska. We will hike in coastal mountains, tour museums highlighting Alaska’s natural and cultural history, paddle a wilderness lake and a salmon-filled river, visit a dog mushing operation, dig for razor clams, take a water taxi ride across a bay to a secluded beach and hike to a glacier in a remote wilderness setting.

Trip participants will have the option of camping and/or staying in a cabin, hostel and inn. Hiking is easy to moderately strenuous. Paddling trips are good for beginners.

What We Provide. We provide canoe and canoeing gear, meals beginning with lunch the first day and ending with dinner on the last day, refuge and launch fees, museum fees, camping fees and/or lodging in a cabin, hostel and inn, transportation during the eleven days of the trip and at least one experienced guide/naturalist.

Your Responsibility. Guests coming from the lower 48 states are responsible for transportation to and from Anchorage, light weight rain gear, comfortable foot wear that can get wet, water bottle, appropriate clothing for the season, hat, sunscreen, insect repellent and/or head net and lodging in Anchorage before and after the trip. If camping, guests are responsible for a tent, ground cloth and sleeping bag and pad. Tents, ground cloths, sleeping bags and pads can be provided for an additional fee.

Trip Fee & Reservations. The trip fee is $3,454 per person for shared accommodations or $3,780 for single accommodations. For those opting to camp during our trip, the trip fee is $2,575 per person. Please call for rental prices for tents, ground clothes, sleeping bags and pads. A $1,300 per person deposit is due at the time the reservation is made. The balance is due six weeks prior to the trip. Reservations made 30 days before the trip begins must be paid in full before the trip begins.

Cancellation Policy. Any cancellation made prior to 30 days before the trip begins will result in a $650 per person cancellation fee. Any cancellation made during the 30 days before the trip begins will result in a $1,300 per person cancellation fee. If the trip is canceled by Alaska Personal Journeys, the trip fee will be refunded. It is recommended that cancellation insurance be purchased through a travel agency in case the trip is canceled in order to cover non-refundable expenses such as airline and hotel fees.

Dollar-A-Day for Conservation. All of the courses and trips offered by Alaska Personal Journeys are intended to raise public awareness to the need to protect our environment. We hope you will consider contributing one dollar per day to support the work of local conservation groups doing their best to protect Alaska’s special places. Simply add one dollar per day to the Alaska Personal Journeys trip fee. We will make sure that your contribution gets to the most effective conservation groups and that the group or groups sends you a receipt for tax deduction purposes.

ITINERARY

The following itinerary may be modified due to weather and water conditions or wildlife viewing opportunities. The itinerary is intended to give guests a general idea of what to expect.

Day 0. Arriving guests are picked up at the Anchorage airport and transported to their lodging. Dutch treat dinner at local Anchorage restaurant.

Day 1. Early departure to Hope, Alaska. Stop at Portage Glacier and visit natural history interpretive center. Picnic lunch in wildflower meadow next to Six Mile Creek. Settle into lodging in Hope

Day 2. Hike to Gull Rock. Picnic lunch along the trail. Visit mining museum in Hope. Hike up Resurrection Pass Trail. Evening in Hope.

Day 3. Early morning departure to Whittier, Alaska. Tour Whittier while waiting to board glacier viewing boat. Lunch aboard glacier viewing boat. Look for sea otters, harbor seals, eagles, Orcas, humpback whales and calving glaciers. Return to Hope for the evening

Day 4. Drive up Palmer Creek Road high into the Kenai Mountains. Lunch in the backcountry next to a babbling creek. Cross country hike above tree line. Final evening in Hope

Day 5. Early morning departure to Sterling, Alaska. Look for Dall sheep in the mountains. Hike up Resurrection Pass Trail. Picnic lunch along the Kenai River. Hike along the Kenai River canyon rim. Settle into lodging in Sterling.

Day 6. Morning departure for Skilak Lake in the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge. Paddle Skilak Lake and explore its shoreline. Picnic lunch. Hike along the Kenai River near Morgan’s Landing. Return to lodging in Sterling.

Day 7. Check out of lodging in Sterling. Paddle up the Moose River in the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge. Drive to Soldotna & Kenai, Alaska. Visit Russian Orthodox Church in Old Kenai. Look for beluga whales at the mouth of the Kenai River. Drive to Kasilof or Clam Gulch, Alaska, and check into accommodations.

Day 8. Early morning visit to Dean Osmar’s dog yard. (Dean won the 1984 Iditarod Sled Dog Race). Dig for razor clams at Clam Gulch, Alaska. Clam chowder and seafood gumbo lunch on bluff overlooking Cook Inlet. Afternoon walk on the beach at Clam Gulch. Return to bed & breakfast in Kasilof.

Day 9. Morning departure for Homer, Alaska. Stop at Deep Creek to view bald eagles. Check into the Driftwood Inn. Picnic lunch overlooking Kachemak Bay. Visit the Pratt Museum of Natural & Cultural History.

Day 10. Morning drive to the end of Homer Spit. Take water taxi ride across Kachemak Bay to Glacier Spit. Hike the trail to Grewingk Glacier. Picnic lunch along the southern shore of Kackemak Bay. Swing by Gull Rock on the return trip to Homer. Final evening in the Driftwood Inn.

Day 11. Morning departure for Anchorage. Visit salmon spawning stream in Kasilof. Stop at Tern Lake to view arctic terns. Arrive in Anchorage in time for a farewell dinner. Drop guests off at either the airport or place of lodging in Anchorage.