adventure across the bay | alpine ridge, grewingk glacier

13 miles . 4500 ft gain . 3720 ft high

Kenai Wilderness, Kachemak Bay State Park

We saved the best for last! Amongst all the hikes we did on our trip to the Kenai Peninsula, this was by far my favorite for the solitude, sweeping views, and access. If you find yourself in Homer, Alaska 4 hours away from Anchorage, you might wonder what hikes you can complete. Homer itself is on a sub-peninsula of Kenai Peninsula that can only boast of peaks under 2000 ft above sea level. However, if you cross the Kachemak Bay to the Kenai Wilderness, plenty of 4000+ ft mountains with tidewater glaciers ending in the ocean.

How to get there

The only way to access the Kachemak Bay State Park is by water taxi or personal boat. There’s no connecting roads to it! This is fairly common among the Kenai Peninsula and I think this is one of the reason that makes Alaska unique for its wilderness. There’s many water taxis to choose from, but from what we gathered, they’re essentially all run by the same head company, so choose whichever you feel like! They do run close to $100/person, so it is a pricey trip!

Officially they drop people off at the north side of the Grewingk Lake Trail at Rustys Lagoon (Glacier Spit Trailhead). Most tourists come to see the Grweingk Lake and end of glacier view. Then they’ll pick you up at Halibut Cove by the Saddle Trailhead. It can all be super confusing but you can easily sort out pick up time when you meet your captain in the morning! If you can swing it, let the captain drop you off at Saddle Trailhead instead of the normal drop off to maximize your time on the ridge instead of an extra 3 miles, unless you want to make it a fun excursion that way. I think heading to the glacier’s end would have been amazing, but my group didn’t have enough time for that.

The trail

Alpine Ridge is one of few trails marked within the Kachemak Bay State Park. And I might be biased but I think it’s the best one they have there. It really is the only one that gets you above and close to a glacier compared to the other hikes available. And the water taxi is fairly shorter than some other options.

From Halibut Cove, you’ll see a trailhead immediately that has quick switchbacks that end at the intersection to either the lake or the ridge. If you’re coming from the north side, you’ll have an extra 3 miles to hike to this same intersection. Signs are very helpful with a map, so make sure you orient yourself!

Along the ridge, you climb steeply through thick bushes for the first 2000 ft, just like any other Alaskan hike nearby. There’s some hand lines placed to assist some of the slick steep sections. Immediately after 2000 ft of elevation gain, the trail becomes pleasant and undulating. In and out, glaciers become visible. You’ll get a sneak peak of the Grewingk Glacier and its lake.

In August, the flowers are still blooming and it was gorgeous walking amongst them. We picked our way through ridge, which is largely flat at the top with cliffs that drop off steeply. At this point, there’s no true trail, so do your best to hike through being mindful of the plants when possible. We ended up hiking as far as we could along the ridge until we got a very incredible and clear view of the top of the glacier. On the other side of the peaks we could see was the start of Kenai Fjord National Park and immediately different glaciers drop off. It was mind-blowing seeing the vastness of the glaciers and the peaks surrounding them. I think the clouds added a cool effect of mystic.

Our hike down was relatively uneventful, passing the same views we did on our way up, but with a little more of a sunshine dose. Towards the end, we were racing time to get back to Homer for other activities, but our captain kindly waited for us! Had I more time, I would have loved to explore more of Halibut Cove, which has lodging, restaurants and other hiking trails nearby!

Note

• Be cognizant of which trailhead your captain drops you off. It will likely be Rusty’s Lagoon at the Glacier Spit Trailhead with a pick up at Halibut Cove at the Saddle Trailhead. They assume you only want to hike to the Glacier View Trail Ends (marked on google), so they might be confused if you’re hiking the Alpine Ridge.
• The official trail is shorter than where we went to. It passes the lake where you can see the end of the glacier.

Photos taken on Canon EOS R5 and iPhone 13mini