Pedersen Glacier

Pedersen Glacier, Kenai Fjords National Park, Alaska.

This was a gloomy, cloudy morning, but and friend and I paddled up to this lake anyways, and were rewarded with a very brief burst of sunlight on the far side of the lake. 

You can see the Pedersen Glacier from Aialik Bay, but it isn’t a tidewater glacier – Pedersen actually flows into a fresh water lake – the upper lake of two that make up Pedersen Lagoon.  At high tide, salt water flows into both the lower and upper lake, but at low tide there is a fairly steady flow of water leaving both lakes, making them difficult to enter if you are paddling. 

This is my favorite spot in Kenai Fjords National Park.  In addition to the scenic beauty, this place has lots of wildlife including numerous seals, sea otters and black bears.   I have never seen orcas in either of these lagoons, so that probably makes it a popular location with the marine mammals.  There are also a couple bald eagle nests, along with numerous nesting shorebirds and gulls – it is a very active place!