A Floating Alternative

Throughout our 19-day trip we counted that we were going to take at least: 11 planes, five boats, three rental cars and several school buses. It’s Alaska, where everything is unpredictable, so with those types of numbers, you’d have to assume that something would have to go wrong. But so far, everything has been running like clockwork.

When we woke up Saturday morning (May 31), we packed our bags, cooked up our homemade waffles at The Paddle Inn and set off into the drizzly day to meet our next boat in Seward. The plan was to take a four-hour cruise to a remote wilderness lodge for a three-night stay in Resurrection Bay on the Kenai Peninsula. It was one of the places we were looking forward to the most. As we drove to check in at the dock, we looked out on the promising blue skies carving out the clouds in the distance over the bay. Finally, the rain was clearing and just in time for the journey to the lodge.

We arrived at the tiny office for the Kenai Glacier Lodge at the Seward docks and were greeted with “Are you the Benders? Did you get our phone message this morning?” No, we hadn’t. We barely get signal anywhere in this state. Reacting to her concerned look, I took a deep breath and prepared for what they needed to tell us. “The seas in the Gulf of Alaska are too high and we can’t get any boats out to the lodge today. But we have two alternatives for you to consider,” she added quickly before I had a chance to react. Option one, take a van out to their luxury wilderness lodge on the Kenai River for a full-day raft float down the river with a guide or, option two, reschedule your trip. Without a moment’s hesitation, we both responded, “option one of course!”

We would be heading inland to the heart of the Peninsula to the Kenai River Lodge owned by the same company as the Glacier Lodge - Alaska Wildlands Adventure (AWA). We’d spend the night there, and then they’d bus us back the next morning to set out to our original lodge on the water. This change made us thankful that we had booked three nights at the Glacier Lodge, so losing one day didn’t alter the trip too much.

While we waited for our shuttle in the office, we saw several other parties face the news and make the same choice we did. Everyone was in great spirits and we were excited to add something different to our itinerary. Close to 15 people (which was everyone) took option one and we all climbed into the van for the 45-min drive to the Riverside Lodge.

The van headed North up the Seward Highway, that we had explored in the rain the day before. Still no moose sightings that morning (we were truly starting to believe that there are no moose in the state of Alaska). About 30 minutes north, we took a turn to the West and headed down the road toward Homer. This was a great addition to the schedule, because we hadn’t intended on traveling this way in the original plan.

The clearing skies were working their way inland and the mountain tops were showing themselves to us for the first time. As the clouds lifted, we noticed that most of the high mountains received fresh snow at the peaks overnight, so everything looked dusted in confectioners sugar.

 We arrived at the wilderness lodge which was tucked in the woods along the Kenai River. There was a main lodge building and then a series of small individual cabins scattered in the forest and along the water. The staff gave us a warm welcome when we arrived and directed us into the small main lodge area for warm drinks, a warm fire and a very nice sit-down lunch. We had a great time chatting with fellow travelers Bob and Louise from St. Louis who were traveling with their son Ben who had just graduated from college.

After lunch, the staff assigned us to cabins (we were in Copper) and we all had about 30 minutes to prepare for our half-day river float trip. Most of us gathered down by the river to get geared up and listen to safety instructions. Tanner was our guide and he outfitted us with heavy rain gear and mud boots. That water was cold, and despite the fact that I was already swimming in the size of the jacket and pants, he assured me it was more comfortable then getting drenched in the glacial water.

The river was beautiful. It was a vivid, silty, turquoise blue. It started from glacier run off and snaked through gorgeous spruce forests and white sugar-dusted mountains. The group divided into two bright yellow river rafts. We were in the boat with the guide Tanner, and seated next to John and Johanna from Park Slope, New York. We pushed off and began our leisurely, four-hour float down the Kenai.

The sun broke through the clouds, the water glistened blue, eagles lifted off from the tops of spruce trees and we slowly drifted down the river taking in all of the sights and sounds. Along the way, Tanner taught us about the local ecosystem, pointed out birds, flood levels and named the mountains for us. We also learned about his history. His parents met and fell in love working at the Kenai Riverside Lodge years ago. They still work there in the summers and he now spends his summers as a guide there too. It was great having someone with such deep roots in the area steering us on this journey.

Tanner also explained the fishing culture on the Kenai River. That area is known for some of the best salmon fishing in the world. The Alaska King Salmon have two runs a year, starting in mid to late June. They head up the Kenai River and the adjoining Russian River to spawn. When that happens, apparently Alaskans and tourists go a bit mad. It’s known locally as “combat fishing.” Thousands of people line the banks of the rivers, shoulder to shoulder, two to three people deep, competing for the best lines for the best salmon in the world. Tanner pointed out the tremendous erosion on the river banks from where people slide down the sides to reach the shoreline. As a guide, he often floats down the river with a front-row seat to the mayhem. People can be so crazed, he said, that they elbow their way through hungry bears to catch the best fish. Combat fishing, indeed.

After a few hours on the water and still no major wildlife sightings, we arrived at the vans and were shuttled back to the lodge. We had a lovely relaxing afternoon, curled up on a couch at the main lodge – drinking wine, snacking and reading books in front of the woodstove fireplace. We had a nice dinner with the full group and spent a few hours chatting with Louise, Bob and Ben. Later, Dave and I explored the grounds and took a short nature walk through the woods along the river. Apparently, the trails were originally moose trails, but alas – still no sightings for us.

We had a cozy sleep in our little cabin. And per usual, there’s no sleeping in on vacation. We were up and ready for breakfast by 7:30 a.m.– with bags packed for the transfer back to the docks in Seward. The seas had settled and we were promised a boat ride to our lodge in the morning.

Alaska is wilderness and you can’t expect everything to go as planned. Here, you are at the whim of weather and nature. But if you select the right companies, as we did with Alaska Wildlands Adventures, you can sometimes be guaranteed a wonderful floating alternative.