DOIN' THE KENAI TURNAROUND

Day 97 - 2015-07-26

Bettie made the right call.  We were debating where to spend tonight.  She said, “We are acting like old fuddy-duddies.  Let’s go stay on The Spit.  That’s what you do when you come to Homer.”  So we checked out of the high dollar RV park and moved to the Municipal Campground on The Spit.  We got a place that let us back up to a view of Katchemak Bay.

We went to the village in the afternoon and just could not resist a stop in The Salty Dawg Saloon, a Spit icon.  Alaskan White for Bettie, a Denali Brewing (Talkeetna, AK) Twister Creek IPA for me, one of the better IPA’s of the trip.

The place reminded us of Cabbage Key with all the dollars plastered around.

We decided to add our own contribution.

A walk on the boardwalk beside the small boat harbor finished off the afternoon. 6 (11,862).

Day 98 - 2015-07-27

Today marks “The Turning Point”.  We leave Homer behind and start our way back home.  94 (11956).  We camped at the City of Soldotna Centennial Campground, a different campground than the first one we used in Soldotna.  This one is much nicer, more mature, lots of trees, and our campsite backs up to the Kenai River.

I tried my hand at some Sockeye fishing this afternoon at the campground, but luck was not on my side.  Probably a good thing because Bettie says we can’t put anything else in the freezer until we eat some of the fish we already have. 

On Jim H’s recommendation, we ate at Buckets Sports Grill tonight and had what he says are the best burgers anywhere.  Pretty darn good to say the least, and it gave us a chance to try the locally brewed Kenai River Brewery Honeymoon Hefe (Bettie) and Sunken Island IPA.  This craft beer thing has been a lot of fun for us on this trip.  We have tried many more varieties of beer than we have in the past and are finding many that we like. 

Day 99 - 2015-07-28

HOLY EARTH SHAKES, BATMAN!  We experienced our first earthquake today.  We left Soldotna and drove back down the Sterling Highway to Hidden Lake Campground. 47 (12,003).   We set up camp and were cooking dinner when the earth moved below our feet.  I was outside building a fire and Bettie was in the trailer. She rushed to the door to tell me what I already knew, and the quake continued while we talked about it, maybe a total of 15 or 20 seconds.  Later in the day, we met someone who said it originated in the Mt. Redoubt area, not more than 75 miles away.  Alaska has something like 25% of all the earthquakes on earth.  I guess that is just another part of the Alaska experience.

Hidden Lake Creek, the Kenai River, and the Skilak Glacier outflow delta all come together at Skilak Lake very near the campground.  You can’t see the glacier from the lookout, but it is a very scenic place nonetheless.

We thought about kayaking Hidden Lake today, but the weather was threatening all day long, so we decided to hold off.  Maybe tomorrow morning before we take off.

Day 100 - 2015-07-29

We got up and headed for Russian River Campground, a whopping 5 miles away.  We pulled in about 11:00 and the kid at the check-in booth told us to come back between 1 & 2, there should be spaces available as people leave.  OK, we needed to find some water anyway so we took off up the road toward Cooper Landing.  No luck on the water so we stopped at a Kenai River overlook to kill some time.  The river is really pretty here.

We went back to the campground to check on availability and a new kid told us they were running a waiting list, we were number 6.  OK, we got on the list, but we would not know our destiny until 5:00.  We went the few miles back to Russian River Ferry to wait it out. 

We pulled into the pay booth and told the kid we were looking for a place to park for a couple of hours before we could get back into the campground.  He said he would give us a 50% discount off the $30.00 Day Use Fee.  Then he asked if we had any snacks.  It was lunch time, so I offered a chicken salad wrap.  We got the parking for free.  We looked around this place for a while then considered where we would be if we could not get into Russian River Campground.  Not being of the mid to gamble, we changed plans and set off for Hope AK, the other side of the Turnagain Arm from our previous visit.

Hope is a town of about 7 buildings right where the Resurrection Creek enters the Turnagain Arm.

We went to the bar and met John, a local gold miner, and a couple, Steve and Beth, from North Carolina.  We had such a good time at this little bar.  King Street Brewery (Anchorage AK) Hefeweissen for Bettie and IPA for me.  Blend that with great local color from John and travel talk from Steve and Beth and we turned a busted day into a winner.

We stopped at the local gift shop where they apparently have some connection to golf and know how to avoid tsunamis. 

Bettie spent an inordinate amount of time with the owner looking at an Alaskan Dudes calendar.  Fortunately, we don’t own one.

Peach pie and vanilla ice cream at the café finished things off for us.  REALLY good.  We like the vibe here, but apparently so do a lot of other people since we could only get a campsite for one night.  Oh well, we’ll move along to somewhere new tomorrow. 83 (12,086).

Day 101 - 2015-07-30

Sometimes things just go your way.  After having such a great experience in Hope, we took the gamble and went to Whittier today. 58 (12,144).  No reservations, no plan B, just hope for the best.  There is only one campground in Whittier and no way to make reservations or check on availability.  And, to access Whittier, you have to traverse a 2 mile long, one way tunnel that is primarily a train track.

 The gamble paid off.  We arrived in Whittier none the worse for wear and went directly to the campground to find it essentially empty.  There are a few folks here, but nowhere near capacity.  We took our choice of sites and headed into the main drag, basically the only street in Whittier.  The harbor is surrounded by mountains, many with glaciers, and lots of waterfalls from the ice fields above.

Whittier, and its access tunnel, exist because the US military needed a supply line to help secure Alaska during WWII.  They built the tunnel, a military port facility, and railway.  Much of it was abandoned until the Cold War, at which time it was “recommissioned” to handle the threats of the time.  The Buckner Building was constructed and opened in 1954.  At the time it was the largest building in Alaska, housing over a thousand military personnel.  It has been left to decay, but has withstood even the 9.2 Alaska Earthquake of 1964.  Not pretty, but I bet it will be here for a long time to come.

Although we hadn’t had this on our agenda, we are really glad we made the trip up here.  The town is VERY laid back, kind of like Seward on valium.  Lots of fishing boats, glacier charters, etc., but not in the hurried sense like other places we have visited.  We like this place a lot.

Day 102 - 2015-07-31

Hooray for Whittier, a free dump station and city water.  After a short stop we were on our way back through the tunnel toward Portage.  We had to wait for a passenger train.  Then we took off.  

Finally, the light at the end of the tunnel.

We stopped at a pullout and at the Visitor Center just out of Portage and were rewarded with views of Portage and Byron Glaciers.

We also stopped at the official “Fish Viewing” platform.  Not much going on there, so we took off walking up the creek and found this group of salmon headed upstream.  Notice the sockeyes are in their red spawning colors.  The gray ones are chum salmon.

We spent the night at Portage Valley RV Park, a gravel lot with a great view.  We were going into Girdwood for dinner tonight, but heard of a major crash on the Seward Highway between here and there, a tour bus, two vehicles pulling trailers, and three other vehicles.  OK, at least the change of plan gave me time give the trailer a MUCH needed bath.  Turns out, the road was closed from noon until about midnight.  Bettie said our RV park was very busy about 12:30 as all those folks who had been waiting on the highway arrived all at once – I slept through it.  Good decision to stay in tonight.

Day 103 - 2015-08-01

Bore Tide day today.  We hung around the Kenai for a couple of extra days just to see the bore tide in Turnagain Arm.  To kill some time I went fishing for a while and caught some char and rainbow trout.  Here’s a picture of me holding a rainbow.

Oh well, you’ll have to believe me about the rainbow - selfie failure – but ain’t the creek pretty.

We drove to Bird Point, reportedly, the best place to see the bore tide.  I’ll bore you with the details. Turnagain Arm is one of the few places on earth to have bore tides.  A bore tide is a standing wall of water that floods into a flat fjord that generally narrows as it approaches the terminus.  The friction of the mud causes the water to slow down and build up until the weight of the water behind it forces it to move forward. Think of it as a tide that comes in like a flash flood instead of a slow rise.

Today was one of the best days of the year for the bore tide. It came in late in the afternoon, about a 2-3 foot wall of water that rushed up the fjord.  We even saw some guys surfing it.  Quite the event to see, but, alas, no pictures and my video is too long to upload to the blog.  Try searching for videos of Turnagain Arm Bore Tide and you’ll see what it is.

This marks our last night on the Kenai peninsula.  We celebrated with steaks (supposedly the best in the world) at the Double Muskey in Girdwood.  Steaks were good, but not exceptional. Even so, we’re glad we went and the 20 oz. strip satisfied our carnivorous cravings for a while.  62 (12,219).

Day 104 - 2015-08-02

We drove back into Anchorage for Errand Day today.  I didn’t figure anybody wanted to see Walmart, Walgreens, Taco Bell, or the laundromat, so not much to show for today.  OH, except we met two guys from Chokoloskee, FL at the Centennial Campground.  Just can’t get away from the Florida connection. 63 (12,282).