At times I am asked where is my favorite place.  Although typically I try to avoid giving a real answer by saying something like “there are so many beautiful places I could never pick”.  But for fun, I decided to try to come up with my one favorite location.  To make it harder I thought I would try to narrow it down as specific a possible, and not just choose a particular state or national park.  

First, I better comment on my personal experiences, preferences and bias, since this will likely have more to do with my final selection then physical characteristics of the place itself.  I have to admit there are few experiences that match the awe felt the first time you walk to the rim of the Grand Canyon or Bryce National Park, but that would be too easy of a choice.  And although I love the desert, I prefer the big trees and mountains, glaciers and ocean found along the coast in Alaska.   I also enjoy watching wildlife, so my favorite place would have to have abundant wildlife as well.  I think that is one reason I enjoy National Parks such as Denali, Yellowstone, Jasper and Manuel Antonio so much.  

Defining my preferences for a favorite place helps to narrow down my final selection.  Of the places I have been, only Glacier Bay, Prince William Sound and Kenai Fjords National Park have wildlife, ocean, big trees, mountains and glaciers.  The best of those has to do more with personal experience then fact, but since that is what I’m going on, I will narrow my favorite place down to being within Kenai Fjords National Park.  

I did say I wanted to be more specific than just a national park, so where specifically would my favorite spot in Kenai Fjords be?  That's easy; Pedersen Lagoon.  Pedersen Lagoon located in Aialik Bay is an amazing place.  It is surrounded by mountains rising in excess of 5,000 feet above sea level, split by the dramatically dropping S shaped Pederson Glacier.  Pedersen Glacier feeds the upper part of the lagoon with a steady supply of icebergs, the largest of which generally stay in the lagoon providing haul outs for numerous seals.  The smaller icebergs manage to ride the low tide out into Aialik Bay. 

How about the wildlife?  Pederson Lagoon’s beauty is exceeded only by its wildlife.  Dozens, if not hundreds, of Harbor Seals take refuge on the icebergs in the upper lagoon.  I have seen many Sea Otters in the lower lagoon, some with young.  Black bears are very numerous as they gather to feed on the local salmon run.  On a two day trip in Pedersen Lagoon I counted 13 separate Black bears.  Just outside the Lagoon in Aialik Bay I have seen Humpbacks, Orcas and Dall's Porpoise.  Birds are also numerous, especially eagles, some of which nest in the nearby trees.  Pedersen also contains a large gull rookery. 

That wasn’t so hard; now I have an honest answer the next time someone asks where is my favorite place.

All of the photos on this page were taken from and around Pederson Lagoon.  You can click on any photo to see a larger version.