Seward - Alaska Sealife Center

Our good friend Leo Bougerois and his son, Sean have been planning a trip to Alaka for a couple of years. We arranged to meet up with them in Seward and join a couple of great advenures they had planned. I remembered Seward from the Honeywell sales award trip in 2000, especially that breathtaking view of the harbor, with irridescent blue waters topped by snow-capped peaks behind. Well, remember that rainey weather I talked about in the last post? As luck would have it, it followed us to Seward for our entire stay!
We found a great spot at the large Municipal RV Park, right on Ressurection Bay. In spite of being sandwiched between some larger RV's, we enjoyed beautiful views of the mountains behind us and the Bay out front.

The neighbors were friendly & changed from day-to-day, making for interesting conversation and learning more about things to do in the area.

A couple of miles down the Bay from the Campground is Lowell Point. With easy road access, and nice tidal flow along it's beaches, Sean, Leo & I decided to try wetting a line at high tide. Leo snagged the first one, which looked ugly & unusual to us, certainly something one would not want to clean and eat! (We learned later that it was a small Ling Cod). But enventually the casting paid off with two nice Pink Salmons and a small silver!

Just down the road from the Campground is the worldclass Alaska Sealife Center. Since the weather wasn't conducive to enjoying the fish & animals outdoors, we spent the better part of a day exploring the Center. http://www.alaskasealife.org/New/about-ASLC/index.php?page=firstpage.php
The aquarium section had an excellent representation of local species, including a few of the stranger varieties!

and we thought we ate some strange sea creatures in Louisiana!!!

The largest tanks in the Center house the mammals, where the active and funny Harbor Seals stole the show.

I think I had as much fun watching the kids watch the animals as seeing the creatures themselves.

I particularly enjoyed watch the many aerobatic manuvers, including the emmelman, rolls & loops just like we flew them in aerobatic competition!

SSSS

Adjacent to the mammal tanks was an aviary section filled with typical Alaskan sea birds. Our favorite were the Tufted Puffin and the Common Murre, both were rather comical and not camera shy at all....

Speaking of birds, Kim made a rather interesting discovery back at the Campground. After much looking & studying, we confirmed that a Western Kingbird was here, which is quite rare for Alaska. After posting her find on several local birding sites, and receiving reports from birders that came to Seward just to see this bird, Kim was delighted to get confirmation of the sighting from several other birders.

Homer!

We arrived this afternoon in Homer Alaska, yep, way, way down the Kenai Peninsula.

Over the past couple of weeks, we have visited Talkeetna, the Nancy Lakes area, spent a few days in Anchorage and fished the Russian & Kasilof Rivers (without much success). The "second run" of Sockeye salmon is not yet started so we are waiting things out down here.

The drive down was nice, stopping along the Inlet for many beautiful samples of this wild country. One stunning sight was Mount Iliamna standing proudly out there across the Inlet. At near 11,000ft above sea level, it dwarfs nearby peaks & mountains. The volcano is still active, but has not erupted since 1996. http://www.gi.alaska.edu/ScienceForum/ASF13/1300.html
Reaching Anchor Point (about 5 miles north of Homer), the pullover there greets us with our first view of Kachemak Bay & Homer (not quite visible here in the distance to the left) and the "Spit" (a long narrow peninsula off the west end of Homer in the left center below), well known for it's fishing charters in the area. http://www.akms.com/spit.html
Reaching the edge of town, we stop at a municial sewer station, and unbelievably as we are draining, a couple of Sandhill Cranes walk across the dump area within fifty feet of us!

Moments later we realize that we are justa football field away from the local Homer Nature Center & Refuge, and get anothe fabulous view of the inner bay, just north of Beluga Lake, where we will base.

Down the road a bit, and a turn to the right and we find crystal Beluga Lake lay before us.
Our good friend Steve J back in Louisiana was kind enough to allow us to park our trailer at a location on the Lake. Looking a bit closer, we spot the neighbors green & white Beaver (the Lake is the local seaplane landing strip), which would put Steve's place just to the left.

As promised, we find the quaint fishing camp that Steve & friends base tours & trips from and settle in.

Even though darkness was approaching (yes, in contrast to Fairbanks, it does get dark at night this far south!), we were anxious to "cruise" the Spit, so off we went! Just past midway, we discover "the Fishin' Hole", a man-made football sized excavation that is "seeded" every year with fingerling King & Silver Salmon. Roughly three years later, the adults return to spawn, only to find themselves at the mercy of the hundreds of fishermen that line it's banks. (not quite, turns out the fish don't bite very well when they are ready to spawn...)

Looking down from the Hole, we get a scenic view of the Homer Harbor, home of the many commercial & private boats that serve the area......



A few minutes more and we are at the end of the road (and the Spit) where there is a large fish processing plant and we find numerous gulls and seabirds. We quickly confirm the Glaucous Wing Gull, another lifer!


Kim is intrigued by how close the large boats run to the shoreline here, stirring up the gulls, while I'm entertained by the unique carvings on the Land's End just across and to our right.


The following day I'm surprised by a "traffic jam" at the corner of Beluga Lake. Pulling over I find the source of the excitement...a bald eagle about fifteen feet in front of us apparently gather nesting materials in the form of grass.

After shooting a few stills, the cooperative subject allowed me to get some nice video at very close range. You might enjoy this short clip posted on YouTube... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WBjsIpDAr-4



Those of you who are perceptive have probably noticed that not all the pix above were taken in glowing sunshine. Quite the contrary, we have struggled here on the Peninsula to find a few bright days. The coastal suroundings are prone to overcast, foggy and raining conditions much of the time. So, I guess the downside of this part of Alaska is the unpredictable weather. As you see above, when it's nice it's gorgeous! The scenery is spectacular, and one finds this to be one of the most enjoyable spots on earth. But, to be fair, here's a few shots that document the conditions that we've been in here for more than half the time....



The locals are not deterred, as shown in this early morning photo of horseback riders at low tide along the north shore of the Spit in light rain & fog!

Anchorage

Well after a couple of months, we finally are back in a city again, complete with Sam's, Wal-Mart, movie theaters and shopping malls. But, you already know about those common things, so I'll just focus on the unique things we saw in Anchorage.

First off is their original log cabin Visitor's Center. According to the poster inside, this is THE most photographed log cabin in the world...
I guess a stunning difference walking around downtown is the huge array of beautiful flowers...everywhere you look. Interestingly, Alaska state colors are pretty darn close to LSU's, so we almost felt we were wadering though the streets of Louisiana.


A real highlight of the visit was the Saturday Market. If this isn't the largest in the world, it has to rank right up there with the biggest. Covering what amounts to several city blocks, there are so many rows of booths that street signs are posted to help one find their way.

Speaking of unique, we met a charming artist (Arlene) who spends half the year in Hawaii, and half here in Alaska making pottery fired Ocarinas. This strange litle instrument sounds wonderful, and captivated both Kim & I. Of course, we bought a couple! Unfortunately she doesn't have a website or any way to order them, so I guess you need to visit Anchorage to get yours.

Be sure to check out the video of Arlene playing her own instruments at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6CvZTLQuOq0

Just behind the Market, is Ship Creek, and the King Salmon were running right here in downtown. Pretty interesting to be fishing in the heart of their warehouse district, right under an elevated highway!

Among other unique things, Anchorage boasts many, many miles of bike/hike trails throughout all areas of the city. Now imagine you bike ride being interrupted for ten or fifteen minutes by moma moose and her calf in the heart of the city! With the airport fence a few yards to her left, and the high bluff over the ocean on the right, we had no choice but to wait here out...

One can't possibly miss seeing Alaska's own singer/songwriter Hobo Jim. Jim's been around for many years, writing & singing originals about the heart & spirit of this land. His big hit came when he wrote a song about the "Iditarod Trail". You can learn more about Jim and his music at http://www.hobojim.com/.


We were treated to a very personal concert when Kim & I and one other couple were the only attendees for this night's performance. Rather than sing as usual in the large theater, Jim moved us into a intimate coffee bar setting for his singing. Need I say, it was an enjoyable evening!

Nancy Lakes

Just north of Anchorage we found another of Alaska's beautiful offerings, the Nancy Lakes Recreational Area. A great campsite combined with scenic paddling on blue-green, crystal clear glacial waters made this definitly worth the stop & the mention.

The series of lakes offers one of the best paddling trails in Alaska. We sampled a few miles on day, had the entire lake to ourselves and really enjoyed the peaceful surroundings.

Lynn Lake, reported to have some great fishing, had several nice cabins including a couple complete with the often seen Alaskan floatplane.

Camping here was a treat, especially since we grilled our packets of moose backstrap & hamburger that had been given to us by some nice residents up the highway.

ABSOLUTELY DELICIOUS!