Paddle on Kenai Lake

I set off down the road towards “the lake I saw on the way in that was really blue”. From Seward, AK I knew that Kenai Lake was along State Highway 9, our only road out of town. It was deceiving to see the south end of the lake about 10 miles outside of Seward- but I found that the most accessible boat launch was about 50 miles away in Cooper Landing. I drove 37 miles from Seward to the Cooper Landing turnoff, and ended up at the Quartz Creek Boat Launch.

Parking was wide open and I arrived around noon as a few kayakers and small fishing vessels were making their way off the water. They told me the conditions were a little choppy but I had faith the waters would soon calm down for an enjoyable afternoon SUP paddle.

From the Quartz Creek boat launch I traveled South along the water past small rocky beaches and beautiful vacation homes. I went along the whole Eastern shore of the North section of the lake (route pictured below) and looped back around for a total of about 4 hours of 5.5 miles of paddling. The water was rough before looping around the first beach and power lines and continued nice and calm for the remainder of the day.

I couldn’t have asked for a better day off.