Story and photography by Mary M. Brigham
“Watch out for growlers,” our guide, Ron Clauson, said. “They can tip over on your kayak! Icebergs make a growling noise when they roll; that’s why we call ’em that. Don’t get close to ’em.”
That was two hours ago, and now we were picking our way through menacing herds of the oddly-shaped sculptures. I felt like a flea on a toothpick, trying to paddle through a snow cone. Our campsite was somewhere on the other side of this icy maze.
Slowly, carefully, we pushed the growlers aside as we turned our pointy little boats around them. Up ahead, the gigantic mother of all ice-machines, Pederson glacier, growled like an angry god, occasionally thrusting blocks of ice several stories high into the turbulent waters below.
We constantly limit ourselves: “Oh, I can’t run a mile…give a speech…pee in the woods.” Well, yes we can. It’s never too late to learn new things. At age forty I decided it was time to push the envelope; challenge myself more. So here I was, sea kayaking for the first time, in Alaska’s Kenai Fjords National Park…a heck of a push, but what the heck!
We began our adventure in Anchorage at the Captain Cook hotel. (I decided to sandwich seven days in the backcountry between two slices of fabulous resort.) The Captain Cook has all the amenities you’d expect from a first-class hotel, as well as private men’s and women’s full service health clubs: the perfect place to get your muscles loosened up with a good massage before you begin your wilderness experience.
In Anchorage, we visited the Native Heritage Center, where “Tradition Bearers” demonstrate the ways of the early tribes’ culture and how they interacted with the environment.
Many of the old boat building methods were on the verge of being lost forever, so Tradition Bearers from all over Alaska came to the museum to build “Qayaqs” (kayaks) as their ancestors did. Early kayaks were made of driftwood, covered with sealskin and sewn together with animal sinew. The technology for these quick, lightweight craft evolved over a period of four thousand years. I was about to follow in the footsteps of history.
In Seward, we boarded a boat that took us to our first campsite. On board, a group of tourists eyed our backcountry “uniforms” dubiously. We wore long johns with shorts over them, and high rubber boots, called “Alaskan tennis shoes.” Fellow traveler Brian wore a yellow bandanna around his head, pirate-style, that proclaimed “I’m heartworm free.” (His dog loaned it to him.) We looked like people from an insane asylum getting ready for a fencing match.
“How long ya gonna be out?” one tourist asked.
“Seven days,” we replied.
“Seven days? Wow, that’s a life changer!” he said enviously. I laughed at the time, but he was right.
I have learned that I can dine, unruffled, in a cloud of insects. (Bug hats saved the day.) I can pee in the woods. I can paddle a kayak for miles without my arms falling off. In short, I can revel in unspoiled nature. That knowledge gave me new confidence.
Ron and our other guide, Shari Lee, demonstrated how to get in and out of a kayak; how to paddle; and explained all the safety procedures. Then, we were off. Bobbing on the gentle waves, I thought about what Mike Livingston, master builder of native-style kayaks, said. “It is a different world when you’re sitting in a kayak. You’re almost literally sitting in the water. Your rear is below sea level and your hands are constantly touching the ocean and the water is undulating beneath you. It’s an awesome feeling. You can get right up to sea life.”
Seals, with heads as big as basketballs, popped up next to our kayaks, as if inviting us to play. Ten feet away, two humpback whales breached, spray spewing in glittering fountains from their blowholes. Clownish Puffins, with their traffic-stopping orange beaks and feet, flapped noisily alongside, their fat bodies barely able to clear the water. Sea kayaking in Alaska is the Discovery Channel in 3-D.
“Where are we pitching the tents?” I asked Ron after our trial run. “Anywhere you like,” he said grandly. I looked dubiously at the rock-covered beach. How was I going to sleep on a sheet of rocks? One of the greatest inventions of the twentieth century was the Therma-Rest mattress. Inflated, it’s only an inch thick, but it cushioned all the bumps. That night this princess was not bothered by a pea… or chunks of geology, either.
The next morning Ron taught us how to pack our kayaks. It’s amazing how much stuff will fit into one. Our double kayak held our tent, sleeping bags, air mattresses, clothes, rain gear, one food bag, a huge four-burner stove, and all the industrial-sized pots and pans necessary for Ron’s culinary wizardry.
I was amazed at Ron’s backcountry cooking skills. We ate salmon cooked over a driftwood fire, and carrot cake made in a Dutch oven. Breakfast entrées included pancakes, French toast, even egg burritos. One day, for lunch, we had smoked salmon pizza, served against a glacial backdrop.
During our week paddling around Aialik Bay, we learned that “bergie bits” were small pieces of icebergs. We also learned how to quickly wriggle down into the kayaks between waves (if you’re not quick you’ll take on water) and sleep to the lullaby of calving glaciers and frothing waterfalls.
We saw seals, humpback whales, sea lions, eagles, sea otters, a porcupine, and pointy-beaked birds called oystercatchers. One night, a lone coyote ventured into our camp. We never saw any bears, although they left impressively large paw prints everywhere.
“Bears have not become habituated in Alaska,” Shari told us. “They don’t associate people with food. If they come around, it’s just because they’re curious.” At night we put our good-smelling toiletries in dry sacks and secured them in bear boxes or slung them in trees. “In more than thirty years of guiding, I’ve never had a problem with bears,” Ron said. Of course we were meticulous in keeping our food scraps cleaned up. We didn’t leave so much as a single dropped pretzel on the beach.
One night Shari gave us a lesson in the Feldenkrais Method. Developed by Dr. Moshe Feldenkrais, it utilizes movement and concentration to enhance our natural abilities to learn. A Feldenkrais practitioner herself, Shari helped us stretch slowly and loosen our shoulder muscles.
The last morning, we played around in an ice cave while we waited for the boat. I was sad to leave this tranquil new home I’d come to love. We’d enjoyed seven days without the sound of a single car motor, telephone, flushing toilet. (OK, maybe I wouldn’t have minded hearing a toilet flush.) Gear loaded, we sat on the forward hatch of the boat, shoulders touching in companionable silence, to soak up the last remnants of scenery. A pod of orca whales coiled gracefully through the water. Sea lions sunned themselves on a big rock. Salt spray coated my lips for the last time. I vowed to return one day.
We ended our trip at the Alyeska Prince Hotel in nearby Girdwood. The hotel is Oriental-flavored, trimmed in over a million board feet of cherry wood. For breakfast here, you can have smoked salmon hash, and English muffins with reindeer sausage. But what I appreciated most about this four-diamond hotel was the endless amount of hot water streaming from the shower. A massage in the hotel’s spa will remove any lingering kinks in your paddling muscles.
A week later, back home, I found myself stuck in a traffic jam. Suddenly, in my mind, I was back in Aialik Bay. The air rushing out of semi-truck brakes morphed into the sound of whales blowing through their blow-holes. I could hear the gulls crying overhead; smell the ocean; feel the relaxing rhythm of paddling in the cold, clear water. I felt calm and centered. I hope the envious young man on the boat gets to do this trip himself someday. It is a life-changer!
address book
Backcountry Safaris (www.backcountrysafaris.com) offers kayaking, fishing, and whitewater rafting trips in Alaska. They will furnish tents, meals, all transportation and equipment except sleeping bag/pad and your clothes. This 7-day trip cost $1495 per person. This trip is perfect for families, couples, and singles (no single supplement) and requires no previous paddling or camping experience. (907) 222-1632
Hotel Captain Cook tel. 907-276-6000 www.captaincook.com
Alyeska Resort (800) 880-388, or (907) 754-2111 www.alyeskaresort.com
July/August 2003
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