Leg # 10                   

Seward & Sterling Highways:  The Kenai Peninsula to Homer & Whittier

August 16th to August 25th

August 16th - Anchorage to Quartz Creek CG on Kenai Lake     [top of page]

Much like we closed out yesterday with a visit to Potter's Marsh, we started off today with another visit on our way out of Anchorage

Shortly after leaving Anchorage we reach a bay called 'Turnagain Arm'.  There are a number of pullouts along the way, although most aren't well suited for a rig that's almost 60 feet long.  This photo is looking northwest towards the mouth of Turnagain Arm and across Cook Inlet.

The passenger train that takes folks to Whittier

The Kenai Peninsula across Turnagain Arm.  The weather was like this when we were here in 2004.

A hillside along the highway on the Sterling Highway

Fog & clouds is the story of today. 

Young Mergansers on Kenai Lake

Nightingales are so smart that they're very entertaining to watch even when the lighting is terrible for a photo.

Jaws!  Actually, it's a spawning salmon but it certainly looks every bit as vicious as a Great White Shark

Cormorant in flight

Cormorants & Merganser

Cormorants dry their wings

Cormorants

Looking back at our campsite in the woods near the lake shore

The more usual view of our campsite at Quartz Creek Campground on Kenai Lake

Kenai Lake late in the afternoon

August 17th - Quartz Creek CG to Johnson Lake CG    [top of page]

I got in a heap of trouble with the Ranger here.  There were signs saying that this half of the park was going to be closed in three days.  The other half of the park didn't have any sites big enough for us and was crowded to boot, so I drove around the sign and set up camp in this nice site.  The next morning Ms. Ranger came by as I was breaking camp.  Wow, was she PO'd because I'd driven around her sign.  She didn't give a hoot that this part of the park was still officially open.  She'd put her sign in the middle of the road so she would have to chase people out.  I wished I'd been wearing CJ's "Happy Camper" T-shirt.  :-)

Another view of our campsite at Johnson Lake CG

Johnson Lake

August 18th - Ninilchik View SRA CG on Cook Inlet      [top of page]

Greater Yellowlegs looking for his dinner

Mount Redoubt at dusk

Old church at Ninilchik

I was photographing a porcupine in the late afternoon and the next day we found this guy on the shoulder in front of the park.  Porcupines fare well against their natural predators but not against the automobile.

Old town Ninilchik. 

There are two campgrounds at Ninilchik.  This is a view of the campground down on the beach.  It's not well suited for longer RV's like ours.  The sites are narrow and the only access is is the narrow road between the sites and the top of the berm on the beach.  It's quite popular for the folks that go clamming and have small motorhome and trailers.

We stayed at the Ninilchik View Campground on the bluff above the beach.  There is a nice wood staircase down the bluff to the beach.

Our campsite at Ninilchik View Campground.  Most of the sites are better suited for shorter rigs.  We had to park the rig a bit to the side of the pad to get the trailer past the picnic table and the truck out of the road.

The view from the rear of our campsite looking at the old town across the river.

Looking at old town Ninilchik across the river. This photo was taken from the campground

Also taken from the campground, but looking to the left towards the water

Mt Redoubt across the water.  Taken from a viewpoint at the top of the bluff near our campsite.

Sunset at Ninilchik View Campground

August 19th - Ninilchik View SRA CG on Cook Inlet      [top of page]

Beach sand at low tide

A pair of Greater Yellowlegs

Another Greater Yellowlegs

This Bald Eagle was perched on a large hunk of concrete near the low tide line.  I was in the right place at the right time this time!

A porcupine was napping high in a tree across from our campsite. 

More photos of Greater Yellowlegs follow . . . they aren't as spectacular as the Bald Eagles but they're a lot of fun to photograph

There were quite a few people clamming on the beach this morning, but this couple were so good at it and they really seemed to be enjoying it.

Most folks were like this guy - wet and dirty and down on his luck! 

Mount Redoubt

August 20th - Ninilchik View SRA CG on Cook Inlet      [top of page]

I explored a different part of the beach today along the gravel bar near the mouth of the river.  Mostly photos of gulls feeding on salmon carcasses and Yellowlegs feeding on whatever it is that Yellowlegs feed on. 

a few more images of Mount Redoubt . . .

The folks in another campsite had the pleasure of having a wasp nest just a few feet from their picnic table. 

August 21st - Homer & then Anchor River SRA CG      [top of page]

Homer Alaska was one of our favorite places in our 2004 trip.  Why, I'm not sure, but for the last five years CJ has said that if I ever said moving to Homer sounded like a good idea, she'd be gone in a heartbeat and I'd have catch up.  So, it was rather obvious that the original itinerary included several days in Homer.  We'd stayed in an RV park on the hill above town in 2004 with the Holiday Rambler caravan, but the plan this year was to get a campsite on the spit.  We stopped at the Safeway in town on our way to the spit and restocked the coach with enough food for several days. 

The next stop was the public RV dump station.  It's always a good idea to start off a dry-camping session with a full fresh water tank and empty holding tanks.

While at the dump station, a family of pheasants came through.  i"ve gotten pretty quick at grabbing the camera, but it's not as though I carry it around my neck while I'm dumping our tanks. 

The situation down on the spit was a bit depressing.  There were only a few RVs so we could have almost any place we wanted but there that also means the place is going to be a bit boring.  It's one thing to be camped solo in the extreme boonies, but it's another to be camped solo in Homer.  Besides, the weather was too cool, too windy and the fish weren't running at all.  BORING.  So, after eating lunch on the side of the road on the spit, we headed back towards Anchor Point and one of the state parks. 

But, before leaving I took a photo of a NOAA research ship "Rainer".  My daughter Shannon has spent much of her career as a marine biologist on NOAA ships.   

We spotted this momma moose and her inqjuisitive calf on the way out of Homer.

Glacier across the Inlet from Homer.

There were several state parks all in a row along the river.  MOst were specialized for the fishermen, but one had regular sites for RVs, so we stopped at Anchor River State Park for a few days.

A fisherman on the river.  He didn't catch anything while I was there, but he looked good doing it. 

August 22nd - Anchor River SRA CG      [top of page]

August 23rd - Cooper Creek North CG on Kenai River      [top of page]

August 24th - Willi Waw CG near Portage Glacier      [top of page]

August 25th - Anchorage (Elmendorf AFB FamCamp)      [top of page]