Resurrection Bay

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Resurrection Bay
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Sailboats on Resurrection Bay
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Resurrection Bay
Location Kenai Peninsula, Alaska
Coordinates 59°58′12″N149°22′52″W / 59.970°N 149.381°W / 59.970; -149.381
Primary inflows Resurrection River, Fourth of July Creek, Likes Creek
Basin  countriesUnited States
Max. length18 mi (29 km) [1]
Max. width5 mi (8.0 km)
Average depth500 ft (150 m)
Max. depth972 ft (296 m)
FrozenNever
Islands Fox Island, Rugged Island, Hat Island, Hive Island, Barwell Island, Cheval Island
Sections/sub-basins Derby Cove, Thumb Cove, Humpy Cove, Halibut Cove, Sunny Cove, Bulldog Cove, Mary's Bay, Porcupine Cove, Agnes Cove, Pony Cove
Settlements Seward, Lowell Point
View of Resurrection Bay from Miller's Landing Millers landing.JPG
View of Resurrection Bay from Miller's Landing

Resurrection Bay, also known as Blying Sound, and Harding Gateway in its outer reaches, is a fjord on the Kenai Peninsula of Alaska, United States. Its main settlement is Seward, located at the head of the bay. The bay received its name from Alexandr Baranov, who was forced to retreat into the bay during a bad storm in the Gulf of Alaska. When the storm settled it was Easter Sunday, so the bay and nearby Resurrection River were named in honor of it. Harding Gateway refers to the passage between Rugged and Cheval Islands.

Contents

Resurrection Bay is the location of Caines Head, at the summit of which Fort McGilvray is situated 650 feet (200 meters) above sea level. This fortification was constructed by the United States Armed Forces to defend against a possible invasion by the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II. The bay remains ice-free even in winter, making it easily navigable. [2]

It is called the "gateway to the Kenai Fjords" as many water taxis, kayak tours, anglers, and recreational boaters use the bay to access nearby Kenai Fjords National Park.

Geography

Resurrection Bay has a maximum depth of 972 feet (296 m), near the coast at Caines Head. [3] It contains many deep coves, most notably Thumb, Humpy, Bulldog, Pony and Derby Coves. To the west, Resurrection Bay is bordered by the Aialik Peninsula and the adjacent Aialik Bay. To the east, the bay is bounded by the Resurrection Peninsula and Day Harbor.

Parks

Several parks are located in and around the bay. Kenai Fjords National Park is primarily accessed by boat from Seward. Caines Head State Recreation Area is here. Many visit it by boat, but there is a trail from Lowell Point State Recreation Site, a 19-acre (7.7 ha) park with beach access and trailhead parking. Parts of the trail between the two parks are only accessible at low tide, so visitors must plan accordingly. [4] Sandspit Point State Marine Park is a 1,135-acre (459 ha) undeveloped park, popular with kayakers, with beach camping and tidepooling. [5] Sunny Cove State Marine Park is a 960-acre (390 ha) park on Fox Island. It is also undeveloped and has no source of fresh water. The park consists of a beach area used for camping and landing of small boats, and steep, rocky cliffs. [6] Thumb Cove State Marine Park is one of the few developed parks in the area, featuring offshore mooring buoys for small boats, beach camping, and two public-use cabins. Visitors can view Porcupine Glacier, Spoon Glacier, and Prospect Glacier from the park. [7]

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lowell Point, Alaska</span> Census-designated place in Alaska, United States

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Seward, Alaska</span> City in Alaska, United States

Seward is an incorporated home rule city in Alaska, United States. Located on Resurrection Bay, a fjord of the Gulf of Alaska on the Kenai Peninsula, Seward is situated on Alaska's southern coast, approximately 120 miles (190 km) by road from Alaska's largest city, Anchorage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kenai Peninsula</span> Large peninsula in south central Alaska, United States

The Kenai Peninsula is a large peninsula jutting from the coast of Southcentral Alaska. The name Kenai is derived from the word "Kenaitze" or "Kenaitze Indian Tribe", the name of the Native Athabascan Alaskan tribe, the Kahtnuht’ana Dena’ina, who historically inhabited the area. They called the Kenai Peninsula Yaghanen.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kenai Fjords National Park</span> National park in Alaska, United States

Kenai Fjords National Park is a national park of the United States that comprises the Harding Icefield, its outflowing glaciers, and coastal fjords and islands. The park covers an area of 669,984 acres on the Kenai Peninsula in south-central Alaska, west of the town of Seward.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harding Icefield</span> Ice field in Alaska, United States

The Harding Icefield is an expansive icefield located in the Kenai Mountains of the Kenai Peninsula in Alaska. It is also partially located in Kenai Fjords National Park. It is named for U.S. President Warren G. Harding.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bear Lake (Alaska)</span> Lake in the state of Alaska, United States

Bear Lake is near the town of Seward and Resurrection Bay, in the Kenai Peninsula Borough on the Kenai Peninsula in the U.S. state of Alaska. It is publicly accessible by turning down Bear Creek Road, which connects it to the Seward Highway, and then Old Sawmill Road. It is the site of salmon enhancement activities since 1962. This program is now managed by the Cook Inlet Aquaculture Association. Current projects at Bear Lake focus on increasing sockeye and coho salmon by controlling species that are predators and competitors, and by stocking the lake with those salmon species. The lake is primarily fed by the meltwater of Bear Lake Glacier, which feeds into it via the upper portion of Bear Creek.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aialik Glacier</span> Glacier in Alaska, United States

The Aialik Glacier is a glacier in the Kenai Peninsula Borough of Alaska. It drains into Aialik Bay. Part of Kenai Fjords National Park, it drains the Harding Icefield. Aialik Glacier, a little over 15 miles from Seward, is the largest glacier in Aialik Bay, located in Kenai Fjords National Park. While fairly stable, the glacier calves most actively in May and June.

Fort McGilvray was a United States military fortification located on Caines Head, a cliff 650 feet above Resurrection Bay south of Seward, Alaska. The United States Army established a series of defensive positions along the coast of the bay during World War II to defend Seward against a possible Japanese invasion. The bay was a strategically important location, as it remained ice-free throughout the year, and Seward served as the southern terminus of the Alaska Railroad, an important route for transporting civilian and military supplies throughout the territory.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Holgate Glacier</span> Glacier in Alaska, United States

Holgate Glacier is a glacier located in the U.S. state of Alaska, in Kenai Fjords National Park. It flows outward from the Harding Icefield toward Holgate Arm of Aialik Bay. Tour boats from Seward, Alaska offer tourists the opportunity to view the glacier.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Caines Head State Recreation Area</span> Recreational area in Alaska, US

Caines Head State Recreation Area is a 6,571-acre (26.59 km2) recreational area encompassing the Caines Head cape in Resurrection Bay, Alaska. The area is located in the Kenai Peninsula Borough, 7 miles (11 km) south of the city of Seward. A popular tourist destination, Caines Head features spruce and hemlock forests as well as a variety of terrestrial and marine wildlife. It also features the remains of Fort McGilvray, a World War II-era fortification erected in 1941–1942 to defend against the potential invasion of the Imperial Japanese Army.

Day Harbor is a bay on the Kenai Peninsula of Alaska, United States. It received its name in 1787 from Captain Portlock, due to the fact that travel to the head of the bay from Seward typically takes 12 hours. The bay is 25 miles from Seward, and is accessible only by boat. It is a gently curving J-shaped bay separated on the west from nearby Resurrection Bay by the Resurrection Peninsula. Recreational boaters often anchor at one of the two State Marine Parks due to the often choppy seas and unstable weather of outer Day Harbor. Lesser used anchorages on the eastern shore include Anchor Cove and Bowen Anchorage. Popular activities in the bay include hiking to Ellsworth Lake at the head of the bay where the retreating Ellsworth Glacier calves.

Humpy Cove is an inlet of Resurrection Bay on the Kenai Peninsula of the U.S. state of Alaska. Located 11 miles from Seward, it has the shape of a whale's tail, and consists of two smaller bays. The cove is often used as an anchorage for recreational boaters. It received its name from the plentiful returns of pink salmon that spawn in Humpy Creek, the inflow of the southern bay. The cove is a popular tourist destination as well, due to Orca Island Cabins and kayak tours offered by Miller's Landing. Humpy Cove has runs of rockfish, halibut, coho salmon, chinook salmon, and chum salmon as well as pinks, and a popular fishing spot is near the Iron Door, the remains of a searchlight and bunker from World War II. The cove contains the only road on the Resurrection Peninsula, a stretch of pavement leading to the aforementioned searchlight.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Resurrection Peninsula</span>

Resurrection Peninsula is a peninsula on the larger Kenai Peninsula of the U.S. state of Alaska, which lies roughly 8 miles southeast of Seward. It contains very rugged geography, with very little flat land existing between sheer peaks and the deep inlets of Resurrection Bay to the west, and Day Harbor to the east. Due to the geographical nature of the peninsula, it is uninhabited, although numerous cabins, state parks, and general private in holdings exist. All land here is accessible by boat only. There is no concrete measurement of the exact of the landmass, however, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game has a management area which encompasses the landmass as well as lands that are not usually considered part of a peninsula. The land which better fits the definition is roughly 10 miles long, running from near Thumb Cove and Talus Bay to Cape Resurrection at its southern extremity. Slightly less than half of the land on the Resurrection Peninsula is part of the Chugach National Forest's southern terminus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chilkat State Park</span> State park in Alaska, United States

Chilkat State Park is a 9,837-acre Alaska state park on a peninsula south of the town of Haines, Alaska between the Chilkat and Chilkoot inlets. Remote and known for the steep 14% grade gravel access road, the park offers campsites with minimal amenities and is open to fishing, hiking, boating, sea kayaking, and sightseeing. The campground is closed from October to mid-May due to winter concerns.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aialik Bay</span> Bay in Kenai Peninsula, Alaska

Aialik Bay, also known as Dora Passage between Harbor Island and the Harris Peninsula, is a fjord on the Kenai Peninsula of Alaska, United States. It has no permanent settlements, but there are two public use cabins located on the bay, one at its head and another at Holgate Arm. The Kenai Fjords lodge also hosts visitors. Aialik Bay is 33 miles south of Seward. The bay received its name from Russians recording the indigenous name as "Ayalyk Bay". It is likely that the bay once terminated at Aialik Sill, by Pedersen Lagoon prior to the year 1700. At this sill, the bay's bottom rises to less than 60 feet below sea level, and is as shallow as 18 feet deep in some places. Aialik Glacier, which has created the bay via the process of overdeepening, has since retreated by 4.5 miles.

Aialik Peninsula is a peninsula on the larger Kenai Peninsula of the U.S. state of Alaska, which lies roughly 15 miles southeast of Seward. The peninsula has a peculiar Swiss cheese-like shape, making it appear partially sunken. It contains very rugged geography, with its twisted and winding coastline indented by many bays and coves that are part of Aialik Bay to the west, and Resurrection Bay to the east. The peninsula is uninhabited, but private lands and beaches to anchor at and camp exist. All land here is accessible by boat only. Pony Cove, on the peninsula's eastern shore in Resurrection Bay is a popular boating and salmon fishing spot in the summers. The Aialik Peninsula is roughly 15 miles long, running from near Lechner Glacier and Bear Glacier to Aialik Cape at its southern extremity.

References

  1. "Plan report". www.cityofseward.us. 2017.
  2. Combs, John P. "Route Map: Seward". www.alaskarails.org. Retrieved 16 February 2018.
  3. "Resurrection Bay Topo Map, Kenai Peninsula County AK (Blying Sound D-7 Area)" . Retrieved 16 February 2018.
  4. "Lowell Point State Recreation Site". dnr.alaska.gov.
  5. "Sandspit Point State Marine Park". dnr.alaska.gov.
  6. "Sunny Cove State Marine Park". dnr.alaska.gov.
  7. "Thumb Cove State Marine Park". dnr.alaska.gov.

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