49North Alaskan Adventures, Homer

This was the best water taxi ever! We even brought our dog with us. They left tight on time. Ryan was our captain and dropped us off close to the start of our hike. He explained the hike to us from start to finish. Then he was there exactly on time to bring us back to Homer spit! Awesome day! Couldn’t have been better!!

My wife and I had a wonderful day starting with a water taxi ride with Ryan giving us lots of safety information and what to expect during the day. The boat was first class and well maintained. Having a landing craft style front ramp seemed to be the only way to drop off and pick up passengers around the area with very few docks due to the extreme tide. I would highly recommend this company for water taxi service in the Homer area.

I booked a water taxi with this company at the last minute on 4th of July weekend and their staff (Stacy) was able to find a group with room for an extra person. So even though I was initially trying to go hike Grace Ridge, the group I joined went to Grewingk Glacier—which was a far better destination. Most day hikers walk the trail to the lake and then come back to the beach for pick up. If you have the time (and gear), I strongly recommend hiking the Alpine Ridge Trail as an overnight trip. From above you can see the lake, floating icebergs, tiny kayakers, the front of Grewingk Glacier, the top of the Glacier, and Emerald Lake—not to mention great views of the volcanos across the Cook Inlet and of course, the Homer Spit. From the Glacier Spit Trailhead, it was a 9 mile (7 hour) hike. But those last 2 miles was just me exploring. About 300 meters above the tree line, the ridge opens up before you in a sea of rolling green hills and meadows. Then, you can have some real fun as you leave the “Alpine Shire” and walk up the real ridge. It’s all wide open, you pick your own routes as the trail ends and the mountain continues. I was able to see a black bear, a mountain goat/Dahl sheep, some Ptarmigans, an in-ground birds nest, plenty of wild flowers, and set up my tent and ate my dinner and breakfast next to the cliff overlooking the glacier. I’ll definitely be going back and using this charter/water taxi crew. Capt. Steve even took the time to stop by some nearby otters for photo shoots. Note: I took 4.25 liters and finished my last bit on the beach awaiting the ride back. And that was on two cloudy days. If it’s hot out, plan accordingly. There weren’t any snowmelt streams to purify water (well, not without wings to fly on the side of the mountain). There are 2 decent sized ponds up there if you trust your filter, or you could boil some snow. Oh, and it’s Alaska, so bring bug spray for the other state bird.

I had a lot of fun on my half day boat ride and hike over to Grewingk Glacier inside Kackemak Bay State Park. 49 North Alaskan Adventures was a great decision to go with. I was treated very well with them. Mike, my boat captain to and from Kachemak Bay SP was very informative about navigating the hiking trail and detailed what to expect and see along the way. We departed downtown Homer at 1pm. The boat ride was about 20 minutes in the bay. I took a front row seat and had the fresh air Alaskan summer breeze at my face. Mike dropped us off near the Glacier Lake Trailhead and promised to pick us back up by 5:30pm. So…we had 4 full hours to hike and explore and witness Grewingk Glacier. Upon arriving, the glacier was set in a beautiful snowcapped backdrop with colorful ice particles floating in the waters. I used about 1-hour time just hanging out and admiring the setting. Upon return, I was instructed to take the Saddle Trail for 1.5 miles back to the beach shores where Mike was promptly on time for the return trip back to Homer. Overall, for a half day, this was a great adventure getting to witness a glacier and hike through charming forestry surroundings. And genuinely I couldn’t have been more satisfied with picking 49North Alaskan Adventures as my guides. They were even recommended to me by the Homer Visitor Center. Btw…the departing point for the 1pm tour was from Slip - J34 out on the pier which you can’t miss. They’re located right in the first slot in the J-section. Thank you again 49North. Appreciate it!

Trip advisor's top two things to do is hike to the glacier lake Grewingk and goto the Spit. Book a round trip water taxi and do both. The 25 minute trip across the Kachemak Bay leaves every hour from 8am-1pm. Super cool to see all the boats as we cruised out the harbor (Time Bandit). 4 hours is the perfect amount of time to hike to the glacier lake and then to pick up spot (saddle trail). Fyi I captain for 49 but thought I could add some pics from my day hiking. There are other boats that taxi you to Glacier Spit and then pick you up at Saddle (take 5 hours)