On the Road to Homer, AK

21 Aug

August 17, 2019

Note: This is a repost. I fixed the broken gallery links

We packed up the motorhome and left Palmer this morning for our destination of Homer.  We drove along the Seward Highway between Anchorage and the Kenai Peninsula. Driving along the Turnagain Arm is very scenic with panoramic vistas of the Chugach and Kenai mountain ranges. As we passed Beluga Point we had hoped to be able to view the Beluga Whales but we did not see any today. We have been on this stretch of road a few times before and we have never seen one of the famous white whales ( Beluga Whales)!  Maybe on our return trip!

The Seward Highway junctions with the Sterling Highway 90 miles south of Anchorage. The highway passes through the Chugach National Forest and Kenai National Wildlife Refuge. The many lakes, rivers and streams of he Kenai Peninsula are famous for their sportfishing. We drove through the fishing communities of of Cooper Landing and Sterling and we were hoping to to witness some “combat fishing”. (“Combat Fishing” is wall-wall fishermen lining the river.) The population of these popular fishing areas nearly doubles each summer to support tourism businesses and activities. Of course, it all depends on the time of year and if the Salmon are running.  We did see a few fisherman but I wouldn’t describe it as “combat fishing”. 

As we continued driving, we commented on the haziness of the sky.  As we drove further, we realized that what we were looking at was smoke!  Soon, we began to smell the smoke.  As we approached a curve in the road, we could see the fire up on the mountainside. There were signs along the road indicating that there was fire activity, but, we didn’t see any firemen or equipment.  A few miles further, we drove out of the smoke and into clear blue skies.

We passed numerous towns and places along this route before reaching Homer: Kasilof, Tustumena Lake, Clam Gulch, Ninilchik, and Anchor Point. 

Kasilof was originally a Russian settlement established in 1786. The current population of 560 is spread out over a 90 square mile area.

Clam Gulch is a popular beach area for digging razor clams in minus tides.

Ninilchik a fishing village colonized in 1820 by fur traders, is a popular destination for fishermen after salmon and halibut in the Cook Inlet. Also located in this village is one of the most popular tourist sites on the Kenai Peninsula, the Holy Transfiguration of Our Lord Russian Orthodox Church. 

Anchor Point is the western most point of the contiguous highway system. It has fantastic views of the 4 volcanoes, across Cook Inlet, which are part of the Pacific “Ring of Fire”.

We will make a day trip back to visit these areas during our 7 days in Homer.

Even though the sky was clear, there was still some lingering haze which made it difficult to see the “Ring of Fire” clearly.  

Ring of Fire – 4 Volcanoes

Upon arrival in Homer, we stopped at the rest area overlooking the Homer Spit. This is the same rest area where we escaped to when we evacuated the Spit due to the Tsunami Warning in 2011. Because of that frightening experience, we are a little hesitant to stay out on the Spit again! So, we are staying at Ocean Shores RV Park, the same one we chose in 2012.  We will be enjoying the  Beach Front setting and spectacular view of Kachemak Bay for 7 days. 

We registered, parked, leveled, hooked up to electricity, water, and cable…and then drove to the Homer Spit.  Homer Spit is a land mass that extends 4.3 miles from the town of Homer out into the Kachemak Bay. The Spit is home to fishing, fishing charters, boat docks, campgrounds, gift shops, and restaurants. It was a very busy place today! What are all these people doing here?

On our way back to the RV, we passed a gift shop and machine shop. What was that? Otto was the name on the machine shop, and the gift shop was named Kilcher Country! Because we recognized the name, we turned around to get a close look. The Kilcher’s are homesteaders and are on the Discovery Channel Show The Last Frontier. We kinda, sort of know where their homestead is located, but, we didn’t know about these two business. We will be doing a little further investigation!