Russell Fjord

Russell Fiord is a fjord in the U.S. state of Alaska. It extends north to Disenchantment Bay, the terminus of Hubbard Glacier, at the head of Yakutat Bay. The fjord was named in 1906 by Marcus Baker of the U.S. Geological Survey for explorer Israel Russell, who discovered the estuary in 1891 while exploring the Yakutat region.

The United States Congress designated convert|348701|acre|km2|0 of the area as a protected wilderness in 1980 The Russell Fjord Wilderness is bordered by the Wrangell-Saint Elias Wilderness to the northwest, and is managed by the U.S. Forest Service.

The opening into Disenchantment Bay was periodically blocked by the glacier and the Russell Fiord turned into a lake collecting freshwater run-off from the glacier. Most recently the entrance closed from May to October 1986, and again briefly in 2002. [http://www.agu.org/pubs/crossref/2007/2006JF000475.shtml]