MOOSE PASS, Alaska — In Alaska, wildlife is never far away.

A moose strolls across a road. A bald eagle with a salmon clutched in its talons flies just above car-top level. Dall sheep run full-tilt along a ridge, kicking up a dust cloud as a brown bear lumbers nearby. Three black bear cubs scamper across a mountain meadow, with mama bear bringing up the rear. A humpback whale breaks the surface of a cloud-shrouded bay.

These were just some of the scenes my 11-year-old daughter and I experienced while on an eight-day vacation in the heart of Alaska's Kenai Peninsula, a two-hour drive south from Anchorage.

After picking us up at the Anchorage airport, my sister told us to keep a sharp eye as we drove south on the Seward Highway to her home in Moose Pass (pop. 200). Wildlife, she assured us, was bound to be part of the scenery.

It wasn't long before we had our first Discovery Channel moment: two hoary marmots playing under the guide rail along the highway's southbound lane. We pulled over and watched as the marmots — a bit larger than woodchucks — frolicked. Moments later, the pair finally noticed they were being watched and scurried into the grass.

During the drive, we passed bays and lakes and traveled through green valleys ringed by snow-capped mountains. Each bend in the road seemed to offer a vista more stunning than the last. We shared the road with countless recreational vehicles, a popular mode of transportation for those vacationing in Alaska. Many were from out of state, but the majority were RVs rented in Anchorage.

The day after arriving at my sister and brother-in-law's home in Tern Lake Valley in the Kenai Mountains, we headed to a nearby community for a river tour. On the way, a bald eagle with a freshly caught salmon suddenly appeared in front of us, streaking past our windshield. It was coming from the direction of the turquoise-tinted Kenai River. (The silt ground down by the region's many glaciers and washed into the river as the ice melts gives the water its unusual color.)

We took a two-hour float trip down the winding river aboard a pontoon raft skillfully manned by our Alaska Wildland Adventures guide, Jesse, a 20-something Coloradan well-versed in the local flora and fauna. Other than a few rough spots, it was smooth floating. The yellow waders, black rubber boots and life vests we were required to don protected us the handful of times the 37-degree water splashed into the raft.

Long stretches of the river bank were lined with people fishing for the region's famed salmon. Standing nearly shoulder to shoulder, the anglers come from all over the world to engage in what the locals call "combat fishing."

Kenai sights

Kenai Fjords National Park

The park lies 130 miles south of Anchorage on the Seward Highway. The park's visitor center is located in Seward's small boat harbor. www.nps.gov/kefj/

Barber Cabin

National Recreation Reservation Service, www.ReserveUSA.com

Moose Pass Chamber of Commerce

www.moosepassalaska.com

Alaska Wildland Adventures

www.alaskawildland.com

Alaska SeaLife Center

www.alaskasealife.org

Kenai Fjords Tours

www.alaskaheritagetours.com

More information

For accommodations or other help in planning a trip to Alaska, see www.travelalaska.com

Along the way, Jesse pointed out ducks, eagles and other birds, and dispensed tidbits about geological formations and the region's history. The next day, we loaded backpacks with provisions and hiked to Lower Russian Lake, where the U.S. Forest Service maintains a lone cabin. The 3.5-mile trail into the Barber Cabin is well-maintained and handicapped-accessible, as is the cabin itself and the nearby outhouse.

The main trail leads to Russian River Falls, where wooden decks allowed us to stand over a gorge where salmon could be seen hurtling out of the roaring water in their arduous journey upstream to spawn. We then backtracked a bit to where the trail splits off to the cabin.

The $45-a-night, one-room cabin has two sets of bunk beds and a table with benches, a wood stove, counter and shelves. A camp grill is located out front, and a short path leads to the lake shore, where a rowboat and floating dock await visitors. Schools of salmon swam past the end of the dock like clockwork, headed toward their spawning grounds.

A dust cloud on the ridge behind the cabin alerted us to animal activity. A glimpse through my brother-in-law's binoculars revealed a pair of mountain sheep, snow-white against a brown patch of ground, running from something. Moments later, a large brown bear appeared, hauling its bulk up and over the ridge.

Other than a nearby snow-fed waterfall, the only other sound was the engine of a red float plane that landed on the lake's glass-smooth surface. It departed later that night, banking over the lake's south end, where a valley opens up to offer a stunning view of Skilak Glacier shinning in the midnight sun.

A day after returning from the hike, we headed to Exit Glacier in Kenai Fjords National Park outside of Seward, located at the head of Resurrection Bay. A paved path beyond the visitors' center ends a little less than a mile from the glacier's end. A winding trail allows visitors to get within a couple hundred yards of the towering blue-white walls, with the wind blowing over the icy expanse acting like a giant air conditioner on the unusually warm, sunny day we visited.

While leaving the glacier, we spotted a moose at the edge of the woods. As we pulled over to take pictures, a second adult moose emerged from the brush. Together, the two huge animals ambled across the road as we snapped away.

During a second day trip to Seward, we visited the Alaska SeaLife Center, a combination museum, aquarium, research laboratory and animal rehabilitation facility. The exhibits include live displays of the marine life that abounds in Alaska's coastal waters, from starfish you can touch to a huge sea lion who's just out of reach. Woody, a one-ton Steller sea lion, likes to skim his belly across the thick glass that separates visitors from his viewing tank. Behind the scenes, researchers delve into the intricacies of the North Pacific marine ecosystem, while other experts rescue, treat and release stranded animals.

Nearby, Seward's bustling waterfront offers fishing charters and boat tours of varying durations. After checking out several of the companies offering tours of the bay and Kenai Fjords National Park, we decided on a three-hour bay cruise aboard a boat owned by Kenai Fjords Tours.

During the excursion, we spied a variety of coastal sealife, including clusters of seals and sea lions, otters and a variety of waterfowl. But the highlight of the outing, and possibly the entire trip, was spotting a humpback whale and watching as it broke the surface to blow water through its spout, as if offering us an Alaskan farewell.