Alaska·United States
Photo: Manav Shah · Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Glacier Bay was covered by ice a little over two hundred years ago, and its fjords still end at walls of ice that crash down to the sea. Paddling up the East Arm or the West Arm, you camp on beaches newly freed by retreating glaciers while humpback whales feed in the bay.
In season: Jun–Aug · Peak: Jul
Multi-day paddling in cold water with big tides, floating ice and changing weather. The tour boat drops kayakers and gear up-bay, so you can spend your days near the glaciers rather than on the long approach.
Sheltered island maze at the bay mouth, the gentle start
Paddling to tidewater glacier faces on the east arm
The most active ice front in the park, seal pupping grounds
Fly to Gustavus via Juneau and base at Bartlett Cove. Get the free backcountry permit and orientation, then take the day boat up-bay or join a guided trip from Gustavus; start in the sheltered Beardslee Islands if you are new to sea kayaking.
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The steep, fluted spines above Valdez that made the Chugach the benchmark for big-mountain skiing.
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Brown bears snatching leaping salmon at Brooks Falls, one of the great wildlife spectacles on earth.
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Three weeks on the glaciers of the highest mountain in North America, 6,190 m above the Alaska Range.
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Paddling at night through water that glows blue-green with every stroke, in the brightest bioluminescent bay ever recorded.
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Sea kayaking in front of tidewater glaciers in Kenai Fjords National Park, with sea otters, puffins and whales.
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A thousand lakes linked by portages in the Boundary Waters, the most visited wilderness in the United States.
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