Misty Fjord, located about 60 miles from Alaska's Inner Passage Gateway town of Ketchikan, was established in 1978 and designated as wilderness in 1980, is 115 miles long and 50 miles wide, encompasses 2.3 million acres and over 3570 square miles of coastal ecosystems, and has mountains reaching 7000 feet elevation. Southeast Sea Kayaks offers several kayaking adventures, including this one which I took. A jet boat from Allen Marine (40+ knots) shuttled us to Misty Fjord where we had 6 hours to paddle, lunch, and briefly hike before the shuttle returned to take us back to Ketchikan.
Fjords are glacially carved waterways with steeply sloped sides as seen in the other two photos. Our lunch and hike were here in one of the few places available to beach a kayak, and the magnificent scenery, solitude, and silence (except when a float plane landed near us) make this a true paradise.
Andrea (a teacher from New Jersey) and I were the first to participate in this trip. Our guide, Mark, was knowledgeable about the area and well-versed in paddling, so even though it turned out that Andrea and I were experienced paddlers, this would have been an enjoyable and safe excursion for even a beginner. Southeast Sea Kayaks provided us top equipment, fiberglass Current Designs Solstice GT kayaks, the exact kayak I own back home, and was a wonderful company to work with.