Ring of Fire

Woke up to sun! Ken did laundry and I washed the floor and blogged. It was cool and windy on the bluff but with the screen door open inside was cozy with a great view across the Inlet. I kept checking the mountains across the Inlet, but unfortunately they are still hard to see.

The mountains are part of what is known as the ‘Ring of Fire’. Within the north-south spine of the Chigmit Mountains are five active peaks. Mount Spurr, 11,070 ft, last erupted in 1992, Mount Redoubt is part of this chain, and directly across from the campground is Mount Iliamna, 10,016 ft surrounded by glaciers. Mount Augustine and Mount Douglas complete this eruptive chain. We do hope we’ll have a clear day so we can see them.

Ken & our neighbor Mike decided to go to Centennial Park fishing, This gave us each a day to ourselves. I did some reading and finally finished the first book in the Twilight Saga. It was good and I could visualize the area because we traveled through Forks, Washington on our way to Alaska. Having a day like this was good for both of us.

After the guys got back we had cocktails outside.

Our new kayaks arrived and we packed them into the jeep. We still have quite a bit of room! We stored the extra inflatable seats and oars under the bed.

After dinner we watched TV and got ready to leave tomorrow.

It was a good day.

Photos: Mt Redoubt Volcano across Cook Inlet, View across the inlet from camp.

Special Moose Moments...

Went back to Veronica’s for pastry and coffee this morning. Much better. Today we’ll head north up the Kenai Spur Highway to Nikiski. This is a rural town mainly supported by gas and petroleum companies like Conoco and Tesoro. We passed huge refineries and then found ourselves back in the forest again. The road follows along the Cook Inlet. Unfortunately the clouds are covering Mt. Spurr Volcano which should be directly in front of us. Nikiski is a popular recreational area.

One of the state’s most beautiful state park is located at the end of the Spur Highway. Just before entering the Captain Cook State Recreation Area we saw a mother moose with twins. The babies are a chestnut brown with big ears and eyes. They are really funny to watch. Their legs are so long they wobble as they try to follow mom through the marsh and tall grasses.

Further up, the road changes from pavement to gravel and then ends on a bluff overlooking Cook Inlet. We drove up on top of the bluff but the sand was pretty thick so we didn’t venture any further. It was low tide and not much to look at. We couldn’t get pictures because the cloud cover and the water are all the same color…gray!

Back in the car we headed south and saw another moose and baby. It was still early so we retraced our steps and continued south to the town of Kasilof. Kasilof has no stoplights, traffic jams, or factories. People are proud of their small town life. They grow their own potatoes, catch their own salmon, and respect the land they live on. We wanted to check out the area to see if we wanted to camp here. The focus here is really salmon fishing. There were very few people around which told us the fish aren’t running right now.

We continued down North Cohoe Loop Road that winds along the Kasilof River. The Cohoe Loop Road is one of the side routes noted in our Milepost… so off we went. We stopped at several Crooked Creek access points and then found ourselves at the end of another road. This one ended on the beach at the mouth of the Kasilof River and Cook Inlet. The clouds are starting to lift but I still can’t get pictures. People were setting up tents and camping along the bluff. We decided this was a good place to have our picnic lunch.

Leaving the beach we turned left down South Cohoe Loop Road. Along the way there was this single track side road that went through some trees right up to the edge of the bluff. We had great views and were surrounded with beautiful wild flowers. We sat here for a while just enjoying our surroundings. (Yes, we even took a nap…)

Back at camp we relaxed outside. We have new neighbors from Rochester, NY (Mary & Mike). We exchanged travel stories over gin & tonics and had a fun time.

As the temperature started to drop we went in for dinner. I made our new roast beef sandwich (horseradish, swiss, caramelized onions, & tomato) and grilled them. Yum.

We watched TV for a while.

Photos: Our table on Veronica's porch, Mom & Babies, Twins, Lunch time, South Cohoe Loop Overlook

Town of Living Trees

It stopped raining but is still cloudy. We walked over to Veronica’s Coffeehouse in Old Town Kenai for breakfast. The building is historically known as the Oskolkof/Dolchok House. It was initially built in 1918 of hand hewn logs by farmer John Oskolkof. In 1945 it became the Dolchok home. It is one of the few remaining buildings in Kenai to illustrate the early community buildings. Veronicas is really a cute little building with lots of atmosphere…the quiche was awful. Should have had the pastries!

Veronica’s sits on the border of Old Town. We took a trip down memory lane and took the self-guided tour. Russian occupation of Kenai and the close town of Kasilof at the end of the 18th century led to the Battle of Kenai in 1797. The local Athabaskans defeated the Russians, and the Kenai River remained Athabaskan territory until the U.S. purchased Alaska in 1867. Our first stop was St Nicholai’s Chapel which was built in 1906. This is a memorial to Father Nicholai which sits on the site of the original church. He was honored for his distribution of the fist smallpox vaccine in the territory. Across the street was the Holy Assumption of the Virgin Mary Russian Orthodox Church which is a sight of beauty. It was built in 1791 and services are still held here every week.

After touring we walked back to the campground which sits on the edge of Old Town. Next we went to find the UPS office. Believe it or not we decided to mail the boat and its accessories home. After unloading all the stuff we have in the back of the Jeep onto the sidewalk of the strip mall Ken talked to the ladies in the UPS office. They found a box and the ladies and Ken maneuvered it out through the door to the sidewalk. We now have a crowd wondering “what are they doing”….. The ladies held the box while Ken shoved the boat in - success! (He even tried to sell it to some guy who was walking down the sidewalk…no deal.) After this comedy we returned to camp.

After lunch we went to check out Centennial Park. Kenai has several town parks. Most of them border the Kenai River and the locals told us there was good fishing access. We talked with a local man sitting on the shore in his lounge chair. He gave us some suggestions on types of bait to use and told us the best time to fish was ½ before or after the tide change. The tide was out so we moved on.

Leaving the park we headed into Soldotna to see the Town of Living Trees. The “town” sits on the side of the Sterling Highway and is a group of local artists who do some fantastic wood carvings. Some of them are huge! There was a carousel where all the animals were hand carved, statues, and a fish you can ride. Yep I had to try…I got on and then couldn’t get down…A man sitting on a bench helped by getting a ladder. Nothing like entertaining the locals! We had a lot of fun here.

The sun is out now and we sat outside and enjoyed our view. The couple parked next to us stopped by. They are from Laconia, New Hampshire. About 6:30 we headed back to another Oilers game. The game was great and the Oiler’s pitcher pitched a no hitter!

Back at camp I updated the log. The view is gorgeous now and the water is blue not gray. There are a bunch of fishing boats racing for the harbor. Its fun to watch them.

It was a good day.

Photos: Veronica's Coffeehouse, Inside Veronica's, St Nicholai Chapel, Assumption of the Virgin Mary Russian Orthodox Church, Carving- Mine, Mine, Mine, Carving - Ken and friend, Carving - Riding the fish, Carving- Carousel (2), Carving- Chair, Fishing boats in Cook Inlet.

Exploring Around Town

Raw, cold, and rainy this morning. Had breakfast and decided to visit Wal-Mart for haircuts. Now that we’ve been carrying our inflatable pontoon boat around with us we’ve decided it really isn’t working for us. We decided to send it home. Naturally we had to replace it. We ordered 2 inflatable kayaks from Sea Eagle. They will pack smaller and we can use them in more places. They’ll ship them to our campground here and we’ll have them in a couple of days.

After all our errands were done we drove down the Bridge Access Road past the Kenai River Flats to do some wildlife viewing. This is a great stop for birders and a key migration area for Siberian snow geese. We walked the boardwalk across the flats hoping to see Caribou. Unfortunately we learned they are here in the late fall as part of their migration.

There wasn’t anything to see today as the tide was out so we continued on to Kalifornsky Beach Road. This road runs along Cook Inlet but it’s too fogged in. On a clear day Mount Redoubt Volcano would be right in front of us. Mount Redoubt is snow covered and stands 10,198 feet above sea level. After nearly 20 years of silence, Redoubt erupted in 2009 sending ash plumes 30,000 to 60,000 feet high. Driving south we check out Kenai Landing. According to our brochure this is a 1920’s era Salmon cannery with gallery’s, shops, and restaurants. We were hoping to see the fishermen unload the days catch. Unfortunately the landing looks like its been closed for a while. It was deserted!

We drove back and continued into the town of Soldotna. World War II veterans were among the very first homesteaders here. The area opened for homesteading in 1947 and veterans were granted a 90-day preference over non-veterans in choosing and filing for land. Getting to the area was difficult; some flew or took a barge to Kenai, then walked the 11 miles to Soldotna. Others took a train to Moose Pass and sloshed 70 miles through mud. In 1949, Soldotna obtained its first post office and the town was settled.

Soldotna is a pretty busy place, full of stores, outfitters, and tour offices. However, the Visitor Center is “Where its at”. The Kenai River is one of Alaska’s great treasures and runs right through town and past the center. The watershed covers 2200 square miles. They’ve built a 250 ft Classic Fish walk. The iron walk can be accessed by a set of stairs. Because the river does not have a gentle sloping bank the walk meanders along the shoreline to protect the vegetation. There are steps that go right down into the water where you can wade and benches where you can sit and watch the swift river and wildlife. There were a few people fishing today even though the weather is so miserable.

We decided not to fish today but the access is really good. Back at camp a caravan of 45 motor homes had arrived. They are the same ones that were in the campground in Fairbanks with us. We made pork tenderloin, potato and corn on the cob for dinner. We spent the evening trying to decide which tour we want to take while we’re here. We found one that would have us fishing with the bears. We need to learn more about it, but it looks great.

It was still a good day.

Where The River Ends...

Cloudy but the rain has stopped. When the clouds lift hopefully we’ll be able to see the mountains across the inlet. Heading south down the Sterling Highway we stopped at Chief Kick Ass Cookhouse and had a great breakfast. Chief cooked for us and we spent some time talking with him. Chief looks like the local Bear!

Back on the road we passed the Russian River again. The river is even more crowded. We are driving along the rim of the Kenai Peninsular. The Lower Kenai’s ecosystem is entwined with the ocean. The highway passes through the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge over spruce forested hills and then descends into a low marshy wetland. The landscape here is constantly changing. The refuge covers almost two million acres of the central Kenai Peninsula. Much of the refuge, 1.35 million acres, is designated wilderness, but there re many areas easily accessible for camping, hiking, and wildlife viewing. It’s hard to visualize two million acres of wilderness!

We ambled into Sterling, which is a true Alaska homestead-style community with a rural flavor. In 1954 a post office was established and the name Sterling was formalized. Sterling is a popular recreation area with a peaceful canoe trail system, a multitude of fishing opportunities where the Kenai and Moose Rivers intersect, and great small local shops.

A short distance up the highway we were in Soldotna and turned onto the Kenai Spur Highway. Soldotna is a busy hub of the Kenai with lots of shops. We followed the Spur Highway 11 miles to Kenai and arrived at Beluga Point RV Park. It took just about an hour to get to Kenai. We wanted a site on the bluff. The owner said if we took an inside site tonight then we could move to a bluff site tomorrow. The park overlooks Cook Inlet with spectacular views. We’re told this is a great place to view Beluga Whales. The whales are white and they come in on the tide to feed. We hope we’ll see some while we’re here.

After setting up we walked along the beach to the mouth of the Kenai River. This is where the river meets the sea as it enters the Cook Inlet. The beach runs along the base of the bluff. It has beautiful soft sand and lots of shells. We found sand dollars as we walked along. The beach has one of the fastest tides in the world. The water is pretty grayish because its low tide.

After our beach walk we hopped in the jeep and did errands, stopped at Pizza Hut and then headed off to the Peninsula Oilers baseball game against the Mat-su Miners. The Oilers are one of 6 teams that make up the Alaska Baseball League. This is an elite group of college players mostly from the lower 48. In their 35 year history many of the players have gone on to the major leagues and have won Cy Young Awards and played in the World Series. The league is strictly paid for by volunteer donations. We found seats right behind home plate. Next to us was a local man who was involved with the team. We learned the land was leased to the team by the city. Volunteers cleared the forested site, and built a beautiful ball field. The folks here are really proud of what they built. Tonight was “free” admission. We had a great time, became instant locals and got back to camp about 10pm.

The sun is still out! Sunset is 11:45pm tonight and sunrise is a little after 4am…it never really gets dark. Its nice being back by the water again.

Photos: Beluga Beach and Mount Redoubt Volcano, Sunset from the bluff, Sunset across the inlet at 11:45pm, Alaska summer darkness at midnight.