the wandering chick
An Alaska Road Trip
Alaska - Exploring the Kenai Peninsula
Whereas Seward and Homer may be the most interesting towns on the Kenai Peninsula, there are many other locations to explore. We took a drive up the Sterling Highway on the west coast of the peninsula to find several First Nation towns. We feel we got a wonderful glimpse into the every day life of those who live on the peninsula. A subtle Russian influence was noticed in the way of some of the names in the area, Russians being the first European settlers there.
We kinda bypassed the larger cities in the area, Kenai and Soldotna and went for the more rural, outback areas.
The Kenai Peninsula is separated from mainland Alaska by both the Cook Inlet and Prince William Sound. It extends 150 miles into the Gulf of Alaska.
There are numerous bodies of water that are familiar to the peninsula: Kachemak Bay by Homer, Resurrection Bay by Seward, Aialik Bay, and others. Bays within bays seem common. We traveled up the Sterling Highway north and west of Homer along the Cook Inlet coastline.
These appear to be two adolescent bald eagles, but not sure.
Ballerinas have nothing on this bird.
Considering that the Kenai Peninsula is geographically on the southeastern side of the state of Alaska, it's incredible that Anchor Point is the furthest west one can drive on the state's highways. But that's not the only reason Anchor Point was one of my favorite spots. The day we visited, other than being a dreary, cold day, the beach was at super low tide. We were told we'd see eagles there. And so we went...and saw.
Ninilchic is a Native Alaskan village of less than 1000 people made up of Native Alaskans, or also called Alaskan Indians, Indigenous Alaskans or First Alaskans. They have ancestors of First Nation descent as well as Russian descent. For years, Russian was widely spoken and continued well into the mid- 1800s. The first Europeans to permanently settle here were Russians from Kodiak Island in 1847. In 2007 a wildfire destroyed close to 200 structures and 60,000 acres in the town.
Another cool thing about Anchor Point (population approx 2200), is this café-laundromat called the Cheeky Moose. We wanted a cup of coffee and a light breakfast in the worst way, it being such a cold, dreary morning. But we passed up the building once because their sign said laundromat. We were unfamiliar with such a combinaton, but our GPS kept leading us back to that address. We got the best bacon/egg/cheese on croissant one could ask for. And yes, there were washers and dryers there, and showers, and locals using all of it.
I kept inching up on this eagle, thinking it would fly off. Finally,I was within 20 feet of him and decided I was too much into his space, so I snapped a shot and backed off.
A lighthouse stands guard over Deep Creek at Ninilchic.
Eagle Rock boat launch is a peaceful setting off the Kenai River near Kenai.
We were fascinated by this type of salmon fishing in the Kasilof River, holding huge nets sideways for the fish to swim into.
When locals are this bundled up in July, you know it must be a cold summer. These fishermen were salmon fishing on the Kasilof River near Soldotna.
The common tern
This was our second moose sighting on this trip up the Sterling Highway.
