Another busy month, still lots to see as our summer whines down. It’ll be snowing here in September, already feels like fall.
The Kenai Peninsula has lots to see. After a few days at Ninilchik watching locals clamming, and enjoying Cook Inlet, Donnie and Jill, Linda and I take the rigs and move down to Homer and find a spot on the “Spit”. This thin 4.5 mile long finger of rock and sand extends into Kachemak Bay. The weather is good and the tides expose a quarter mile of beach in front of the RV’s only to swallow it up again 6 hours later. Donnie and I took a guided hike at the Alaska Coastal Studies Center high above the spit, and we all went to Hidden Harbor for a fabulous dinner across the bay. A nice boat ride and a great restaurant. The scenery is great as the sun moves across the sky and changes the light on the glaciers and distant volcanoes. From a “look out” above Homer, you can make out 3 volcanoes on the western coast of Cook Inlet, part of the “ring of fire”, one active in 2006 and 2 inactive since the 90’s.
As we enter the second week of August, It’s time to leave Homer and start back up the Peninsula. Sadly, this is the beginning of our journey out of Alaska. It’ll take the rest of the month, with lots more to see and do, but the unspoken end is near. On the way past Soldotna we spend the night dry camping at a small lake. To our surprise a black bear walks out of the woods next to Donnie's rig and enters the water at the boat ramp. Looking for fish and leftovers from boaters, he makes 2 visits into camp enjoying his find. After a stop in Portage and a drive through the tunnel to Whittier we take a glacier cruse in the fog. Despite the weather the boat and the ride was good, and the captain did show us a few glaciers.
We pass through Anchorage and stop one evening in Palmer on the Kink River and continue over the Glenn Hwy, towards the Wrangell mountains. This area of Alaska has an outstanding range of mountains, and the Wrangell-St. Elias National Park. The largest park in the country, and twice as big as Denali at 13.2 million acres. Nine of the sixteen tallest peaks in North America are in these ranges, and Mt. Wrangell is the largest active volcano in Alaska. We work our way down the Richardson Hwy. from Glennallen to Chitina (chit’na) and camp along the Copper River at the fish wheels. While there we take the cars into McCarthy and Kennicott. 61 miles of gravel road, but a nice day visiting old mining towns at the foot of the Kennicott Glacier.
One of our last stops in AK. is Hanes. We’re camping along the Chilkat River near the Eagle preserve. The drive down from Hanes Junction and into Hanes is beautiful. We pass from the USA into Yukon Terr. then into B.C. and back into the USA all at this northern part of the Alaskan panhandle. Once in camp we take the cars and go sightseeing to the fish counting station often frequented by bears. After a few days it’s time to say goodbye to Don and Jill, and for us to leave for the “Lower 48”. We make our way back to the Alaskan Hwy. and back to Whitehorse, Yukon Terr. 2 days later while having happy hour in the Wal-mart parking lot in Whitehorse, Don and Jill pull in with an electrical problem. It’s Saturday and we can’t get parts and repair it until Monday morning, and we say our goodbyes again. We close out the month driving in the rain back to B.C. All in all it was another good month, in a couple of days we’ll be back in the USA where it’s warmer!
