Kayaking in Resurrection Bay

Two weekends ago, I got to go on a kayaking trip as part of a PE class I was enrolled in. (Take note: this means my transportation and gear rental was at no extra charge!) I am finally getting around to sharing how much fun I had that weekend. Unfortunately, it was very rainy 90% of the time, meaning I did not get very many pictures. I could only use my camera on the last day as we unpacked our kayaks at the very end of the trip. I got a lot of use out of my GoPro and head strap!

Friday morning, we packed our things into a van and drove down to Seward, which is a couple of hours from Anchorage. Once we got to the beach where we would set sail from, we got all of the kayaks onto the ground and started packing them with all our stuff. Now THAT was challenging. It took less time than expected, though, and we were on the water within a couple of hours!

We had about 5 miles to kayak until we got to our camping destination. It rained the entire time, and was so foggy that we couldn’t see across the bay to the other side!

Once we got to North Beach, where we planned on camping, we saw a lot of bear scat and half eaten fish. This was unsettling and we quickly made plans to kayak back toward Seward a mile and stay in a dry cabin at Derby Cove. Seeing as it was still pouring and would continue to pour all weekend, we were not upset at the idea of staying in a cabin!

Our dry cabin (pic courtesy of Jay)

I really enjoyed staying in the cabin! We all got to hang out, eat dinner together, and play card games. If we were in tents we would have all been huddled in our own tents, wet and miserable. The first night, we had dinner and played games and then went to sleep pretty early. All that kayaking wiped us out.

The next day, we got a leisurely start and had breakfast. Around 11 a.m., we set out to kayak to Caine’s Head. This day was great because we saw sea otters, harbor seals, and bald eagles! Even though it was still rainy, the scenery could not have been more beautiful.

You can see the raindrops on my GoPro lens!

We kayaked past North Beach again, and while we didn’t see a bear like we hoped, we did get to kayak through an old pier. So cool!

We kayaked through a rock tunnel and it was SO COOL.

After getting back from this day trip, we had a late lunch and then I took a nap. It was glorious. Sunday morning, we woke up and packed up our sleeping bags and other gear because it was time to paddle back! As soon as we got on the water, the sun came out for the first time on the whole trip and we could see the other side of the bay!

Once again, thanks Jay for the pictures!

We even got to see an incredible double rainbow that ended at a waterfall in the valley. I felt like I was kayaking through a painting. That scene is imprinted on my brain forever.

Once we got back to Lowell Point where we started the trip two days earlier, we started unpacking our kayaks. It was dry and sunny enough for me to finally break out my camera and get some pictures!