Kayaking
Kayaking - Girls Camp Sea Kayaking
Sea kayaking at girls summer camp is a stable and fun way to learn about wild harvesting, tide pools, and the ocean environment and a great way to catch a glimpse of eagles, otters, seals with pups and maybe cruising Orca whales! Paddling sea kayaks in Washington, Alaska, and Norway has been a favorite activity among past Alpengirls.
Tandem Sea Kayaking
Alpengirl camp sessions that offer sea kayaking are:
What’s Sea Kayaking?
A sea kayak is long narrow boat with a wide bottom that is designed for open water paddling, carrying cargo, and efficiency in straight-line paddling. Stable in open waters, these boats are ideal for multi-day trips along coastlines of Alaska, Washington, and Norway. The kayaks can fit either one person in a single kayak or two people in a double, or tandem, kayak. Each person in the boat wears a PFD and paddles with their own paddle that has a blade on both ends of the shaft and the person in the back has foot pedals to direct steering.
Washington Sea Kayaking
Paddling 2-person sea kayaks with professional instruction from one of Alpengirl’s kayaking outfitters is an actively fun way to view wildlife and coastal views while building incredible arm and back strength. Depending on the trip session you attend, you could paddle the beautifully rugged shoreline of Lummi Island for a full day off the coast of Bellingham, WA or you might find yourself sea kayaking on Chimacum Creek, an estuary extending from Port Townsend Bay, an offshoot of Puget Sound or you could be kayaking the shoreline of the Strait of Juan de Fuca near Port Angeles, WA. After kayaking on one of these awesome trips, you might find yourself inspired to try a multi-day kayaking trip on the Alaska and Norway trips.
Kayaking to glaciers in Alaska
Alaska Sea Kayaking
Our 4-day, 3-night overnight camping and paddling trip with our outfitters in Whittier, AK, is an ideal way to explore Blackstone Bay in the Prince William Sound. Our outfitters set us up with the necessary kayaking gear, puts us in 2-person sea kayaks, teaches us how to pack the boats and how to paddle them, and then takes us out to Blackstone Bay! This area encompasses thousands of miles of protected waterways, islands, fjords, as well as 10,000 glaciers! It offers a full spectrum of wildlife including whales, porpoise, sea otters, sea lions, and seals. Days are spent paddling our way through the ice floe in the glaciated areas of the Bay and taking short hikes to places like Lawrence Glacier, or to the top of Willard Island. The sights and sounds of the actively calving glaciers from the unique viewpoint of our ocean kayaks will be a memorable highlight of our trip together! Each evening we’ll have our fill of delicious food, friendship, and laughter under the softly lit blue-sky bliss of an Alaskan summer night.
Norway Sea Kayaking
Meeting our fleet of sea kayaks and our kayaking leaders in the Flam community, we will learn how to have a safe and fun kayaking adventure. We’ll load up our gear in waterproof bags, pack the boats, and paddle out of Aurland Fjord to commence our 4-day trip in both 2-person and 1-person kayaks, which we will all get a chance to ride in. After camping the first night and maybe a chilly, but refreshing, dip in the fjord, we will paddle out of Aurland, into the Sognefjord, the longest and deepest fjord in all of Europe! There are points along this fjord where it is as deep as the mountains are high (3000 feet). We continue on the Naeroy fjord which is one of the narrowest fjords in Norway and is a designated UNESCO World Heritage Area. We end our paddling trip in the small community of Gudvangen. Along the way, we might learn some more technical paddling skills, practice rescues, and stop at small communities to stretch our legs and buy fresh food.
