Magazine
Bay Life LIVING
Kodiak Island
Archipelago
An Island To Experience
“Until you are actually here, Kodiak Island is a place that lives only in your wildest dream. It is a scene from an adventure show where animals are roaming, spouts are popping up alongside your kayak, and salmon are brightly glistening in the streams. You wouldn’t imagine this place could be real, and then you arrive.
Natures OWN
The Kodiak Island Archipelago is a large group of islands about 30 miles from the Alaska Peninsula. The archipelago is about 177 miles long and encompasses nearly 4,000 square miles. Kodiak Island is the largest island in the group and the second largest island in the United States. The City of Kodiak, at the northeastern tip of the island, is about 250 miles south of Anchorage. Anchorage serves as the major supply and transportation hub for the archipelago's six villages.
Although the main population center surrounds the City of Kodiak, there are six surrounding communities in the Kodiak Archipelago. Five are located on Kodiak Island and one is on Spruce Island. Each of these communities can be reached by aircraft or boat.
It is said that ten thousand years ago, most of the islands were covered by glaciers that scored and carved the landscape. Jagged peaks, fjord-like bays and wide U-shaped valleys were left by the glacial withdrawal.
Nature's handiwork achieved a place of spectacular scenic beauty and a wilderness ideally suited for land, sea and marine life. Lush vegetation carpets the terrain, giving the Emerald Isle its name.
While the Kodiak brown bear is the island’s most famous resident, there are a numerous other creatures to spot on Kodiak Island. The playful red fox is plentiful throughout the archipelago as are Sitka black-tailed deer. If you study the mountainside carefully, you might even spot a majestic white mountain goat and her babies.
Bay Life Living July/Aug/Sept/Oct 2015