Arriving almost four days early in Whittier, Alaska, we rented a car there and toured the Kenai Peninsula. Leaving Whittier via the Whittier Tunnel, we passed Portage Glacier and the area west of Whittier where we took the Seward Highway to the town of Seward. We did not stay in Seward but in the Exit Glacier area of Kenai Fjords National Park where we camped near the Resurrection River. While there we took a glacier and wildlife cruise out of Seward (subject of another post) and hiked the Harding Icefields trail to Exit Glacier and beyond. This hike was the best of all for wildflowers.
Part 1, The Seward Highway
near the junction with the road to Whittier
Turnagin Pass
Lower Summit Lake
Woolly Geranium
Red Columbine
Jerome Lake
Trail Lakes
Cow Lily
north of Seward
Part 2, Exit Glacier area of Kenai Fjords National Park
first views of Exit Glacier
entrance sign
baby Moose near the Resurrection River
campsite near the Resurrection River
views from camp
Pixie Cups in the campground
another view of Exit Glacier
Blunt-leaved Rein Orchis
Part 3, Hiking near Exit Glacier
Edge of the Glacier trail
Exit Glacier
Parsley Fern
beginning of the Resurrection River
Harding Icefields trail
unidentified creek near the beginning of the trail
the trail
Goatsbeard
Fragrant Fringecup
Yellow Monkeyflower
Red Columbine
view through the trees
Coastal Paintbrush
Parsley Fern
the stream again at one mile and crossed by a bridge
Sitka Lupine
Red Columbine
Woolly Geranium
Resurrection River Valley
more Coastal Paintbrush
Large-leaf Avens
Nancy
Narcissus-flowered Anemone
Mountain Heather
Alaska Spirea
the trail
Sitka Lupine
Sitka Lupine and Mountain Valerian
Marmot Meadows
Exit Glacier
Coastal Paintbrush
Frog Orchid
Exit Glacier
(note the people on the glacier in the third photo)
Shrub Willow
us
Marmot Meadows
moi
Exit Glacier
Coastal Paintbrush
Two-flower Violet
Corn Lily
glacially scoured rocks
overlook
Resurrection River valley
Fool's Huckleberry
Resurrection River valley
Narcissus-flowered Anemone
Large-awned Sedge
glacial run-off
Exit Glacier
Willow Catkins
beginning of the Harding Icefields
Dwarf Marsh Violet
Two-flowered Violet
Red-stemmed Saxifrage
Exit Glacier
me again
Sitka Lupine
Frog Orchid
Fragrant Fringecup
Mountain Valerian
Western White Butterfly
(very uncertain of this ID)
Unidentified Sedge
back down the trail
Blunt-leaved Rein Orchis
Tall Jacob's Ladder
