The Haunting Legend of the ghost in the mudflats in Kenai Fjords National Park

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It is said that you can hear the desperate screams over the mudflats in Kenai Fjords National Park after a tragic accident where the tide took the life of a woman now believed to be haunting the place.

Kenai Fjords National Park, located in south-central Alaska, is a breathtaking expanse of rugged coastal beauty where ice meets ocean. Encompassing nearly 670,000 acres, the park is renowned for its stunning fjords, dramatic glaciers, and abundant marine wildlife. The Harding Icefield, one of the park’s most prominent features, spawns around 40 glaciers, including the tidewater glaciers that calve icebergs into the sea.

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The untamed beauty of Alaska, Kenai Fjords National Park unfolds its haunting tales amid ghostly forests and the treacherous embrace of glacial silt. Among the unsettling urban legends that echo through this icy wilderness, a tragic incident from July 1988 casts a spectral shadow over the rugged landscapes.

**Kenai Fjords National Park**: The park is named for its numerous fjords, which are deep, glacially carved valleys filled with seawater. Visitors to Kenai Fjords can witness the awe-inspiring sight of tidewater glaciers calving into the ocean, creating thunderous splashes. The park is also home to diverse wildlife, including humpback whales, sea otters, harbor seals, and a variety of seabirds.

The Tragic Death of Adeana Dickison

In the heart of the wilderness, where the elements hold dominion, newlyweds Adeana and Jay Dickison embarked on a fateful gold dredging expedition at the notorious Turnagain Arm mudflats on a July day in 1988. They lived in Eagle River and had only been married for a month. Jay had lived in alaska for several years and had a small portable dredge with him they were going to use to dredge for gold on his claim.

The once-promising adventure took a tragic turn when their ATV became ensnared in the unforgiving mud near Portage. When about a half mile out on the flats, the Jeep bogged down. Adeana jumped out to push on the Jeep and Jay got the Jeep out with out her help. Determined to free their vehicle, 18-year-old Adeana found herself trapped as the relentless tide crept ever closer.

**The Turnagain Arm mudflats**: located in the northern part of the Kenai Peninsula in Alaska, are a mesmerizing yet perilous natural feature within the broader region encompassing Kenai Fjords National Park. These expansive mudflats, formed by the extreme tidal variations of Turnagain Arm, stretch along the shores of the scenic Seward Highway. At low tide, the mudflats appear deceptively solid but are actually composed of quicksand-like silt that can trap unwary visitors. The area is renowned for its dramatic tidal bores, where the incoming tide rushes in with a wave that travels up the narrow inlet.

As the cold waters rose, attempts to rescue Adeana were met with the cruel whims of the Alaskan wilderness. There was nothing the rescuers could do and they as well as her husband had to watch her drown before their eyes as she became cemented into the mud.

They all worked furiously to free Adeana, but they could not, she was sinking deeper all the time. There were a lot experienced men there, but they could not get the girl out where even two helicopters arrived on the scene without the means to do anything but circling around, waiting.

The chilling tale recounts how the would-be saviors were forced to endure agonizing hours, waiting for the tide to recede sufficiently to reach the young woman’s lifeless form. It took six hours until she got out again.

The Haunting of the Mudflats

The haunting cries of a desperate man, the eerie echoes of an ATV stuck in the mud, and the ghostly gasps of a drowning maiden are said to linger along the edges of the same mudflats where tragedy struck.

**Adeana Kay Scherer Dickison:** 12 Aug 1969 to 15 Jul 1988 (aged 18). From Anchorage, Alaska, USA

Those who dare to tread upon the mudflats at Kenai Fjords National Park may find themselves enveloped in an otherworldly atmosphere, where the past merges with the present.

The cries for help, frozen in time, weave a spectral tapestry that resonates with the haunting energies of the Alaskan wilderness. The young newlyweds were not the first ones to die, and many of those becoming trapped by the tide were never found either. It is said you can hear the cries for help at times in the dark, echoing through the Kenai Fjords National Park over the mudflats.