Exploring Outer Columbia Glacier Bays by Kayak

I love kayaking here in Alaska, and especially when we can kayak around ice. This day was especially good, with glassy calm conditions and a never-ending floating ice garden to explore.

Discovering a new place to take our guests for adventures is always a good feeling. It is so nice having the flexibility as expedition leader, to search out these places and add them to future trips. Last week, we were iced out of our visit to Columbia Glacier, here in Prince William Sound, Alaska. So we instead went to a bay adjacent to Columbia fjord, in hopes that some of that ice would be there for us to walk around and paddle around. It was super low tide, so tons of big icebergs were trapped on the rocky shore, separating the bay from the fjord. I was excited to take people back, although this time I was prepare to explore by kayak.

Only four people chose to come with me, but after this wild adventure, they all thought they chose correctly. We ended up paddling over 6 miles, way up a beautiful river, past loons and long tailed ducks, then going through a little cut out into the ice filled fjord, being surrounded by giant chunks of blue ice, before getting out on the rocky shoreline and walking amongst the ice garden, before making it back to the boat...soaking wet, pretty cold, but incredibly fulfilled.