Shoup Glacier Kayak

Today I went on one last sea kayaking trip through Anadyr Adventures. My friend Kate, who runs the office for Anadyr, let me know there was one spot available for the trip this afternoon, which began at 12pm and went till 8pm. I am lucky my boss from the Valdez Museum was flexible and let me have the afternoon off so that I could go (thanks, Andrew!) Today was foggy in the morning, but many of the clouds lifted and it turned into a beautiful day just in time for the paddle.

As we loaded the water taxi with the kayaks and gear, a sea otter lounged in the water at the small boat harbor. The water taxi dropped us off at a small beach near Shoup Glacier. After unpacking the boats, we started paddling towards the glacier.

On the first part of the trip I shared a kayak with a very nice man named Bob who was on the trip with his wife and daughter (after lunch I paddled with his wife Karen). They were on vacation from Oregon and will be traveling to some other places in AK before heading home.

The scenery throughout the trip was gorgeous. The water was a beautiful pale green color and very still. Mountains with rocky coastlines covered in lush green vegetation surrounded us on all sides. Countless waterfalls ran down the sides of the mountains.

Unloading the water taxis

Shoup Glacier in the distance

After paddling about 45 minutes, we came to a kittiwake rookery filled with the seagull like birds. The rookery was on a rocky island. The island was totally covered in birds. They flew all around the area and the air was filled with their noises. We slowly glided past the rookery and watched the thousands of birds around us.

Kittiwake rookery ahead

Paddling toward the glacier

As we passed the rookery, Shoup Glacier came into view in the distance. We paddled towards it, eventually landing on a beach next to the glacier for lunch. After a short hike to a close up view of the glacier, we stopped for lunch. It was a beautiful place. A large cave in the glacier had a river running through it into the bay. The ice on the side of the glacier was jagged and blue. Small icebergs floated in the water in front of the glacier.

We had lunch and enjoyed the area a while before getting back into our kayaks to head past the glacier and land on a beach on the other side. It was a short paddle, and the views were well worth it. The area was very rocky, with streams cutting through the beach. The glacier towered over us, and there were several more ice caves here. We hung out in this incredible spot for a while before heading back to the kayaks to return to the beach where we began.

Paddling through ice as we neared our lunch spot

Heading back to the kayaks

Kayaking past Shoup

The other side of the glacier

Me and Jill (one of the guides)

On the way back, we once again passed Shoup Glacier and the kittiwake rookery. We entered a small set of rapids that propelled us towards our destination and made the paddling a bit easier for a little while. The trip ended where it began and the water taxis returned to the beach to pick us up. It was another amazing kayaking trip with Anadyr and I am so happy I was able to go!

Heading back to our starting point