Kenai Penisula

After spending 6 nights in Denali National Park I decided it was time to move on.  I had really needed to just lay up for a while and give myself a rest.  I had now covered well over 5000 miles, and had been on the road for about a month and other than a couple of nights had been on the move every day.  I enjoyed Denali, other than the couple of nights where the temps got down to freezing, but needed to get down to Anchorage to do some maintenance on the truck, re-supply at the commissary aboard Elemendorf-Richardson Joint Base and then head down to the Kenai Peninsula.  I ended up camping a couple of nights on the Air Force Base as I discovered they've got some really nice campsites. Elmendorf is a huge base with lots of undeveloped areas.  Couple of lakes provided a nice area for camping.   While camped aboard Elmendorf I met the gentleman pictured below who was working his dog at the campground lake. After briefly watching him and his dog we struck up a conversation and I found out that he had been diagnosed with a terminal cancer but his favorite thing to do, while still able, was to spend time with his dog.  They had quite a bond and the dog was well trained.  When he mentioned that he would love to have some pictures of his dog I told him I could make that happen. Broke out the gear and started shooting.  I later e-mailed him many of the pictures I took.  About killed Petey to stay in the truck with all this activity going on but I didn't let him out of the truck until Bob was through working his dog. Afterward, Petey and the lab romped and played along the lake until dark while Bob and I sat back and watched them.  I really enjoy running into people like this while out on the road, meeting them and hearing their story.  Everyone....... has a story.  Some more mundane than others but a story nonetheless.

Pretty impressive team.  Dog would retrieve decoys he couldn't even see simply by hand signals and whistle blasts.

Was hoping Petey would want to get in on some of that retrieving action after watching a real pro.  Didn't happen.  All he wanted to do was chase the lab around, harassing him while trying to take away the duck decoy.  What Petey would have done with it I'm not sure since it was bigger than he was. From this picture it appears Petey is a pointer and not a retriever!

Had planned on driving to Homer the following morning and I started that way but it ended up taking me another week to get there (it can easily be done in a day) because once again I stopped a lot and came across some really great campsites.  I was in no hurry so figured Homer would still be there.  The Kenai peninsula area is an outdoorsman's dream.  Fishing, hunting, wildlife, camping, scenery, rafting, glaciers, mountains, hiking.  The possibilities are endless.  If you get bored out here something is wrong with you.  All these activities, along with its rich gold rush and wilderness exploration history makes it a great place to really slow down and enjoy.

Iceberg in Portage Lake at the base of Portage Glacier

Fly fishermen on the Russian River

   

Salmon come up this river by the thousands to spawn and complete natures cycle.  Once they've completed their mission they begin the dying process.

Some end up on the dinner plate

One of the stops while on the Kenai was Seward. While getting gas when I first rolled into town I noticed quite a few black SUV's running around along with a lot of Alaska State Trooper cars as well.  I asked the attendant what was going on and he stated that Obama was coming to town in three days.  Good God, I didn't want to be here when that circus showed up so I decided I'd spend two nights and then get out of there. Headed up to the Kenai Fjords National Park and hiked into the Harding Icefield.  Weather wasn't much to speak of so didn't take any pictures of the icefield.  It is, an impressive sight and I'd love to get back during better weather.  Dropped back down and found a gravel bar to camp on for the night.

Coming clean here as I didn't take this picture but took it off the internet to show the Harding Icefield.  Was at this spot but covered in clouds and mist when I was there.  Could see the icefield but not the best conditions for a photo.

Campsite on a glacier-fed stream coming off the icefield

   

Seward Harbor

From Seward I headed over to a little town on the Cook Inlet called Nikiski. North of there is the James Cook State Park where I camped for the night.  Lot of history here as British explorer James Cook mapped and explored the area back in 1778.  Huge tides occur in this inlet.  Night I spent here we had a 29 foot tide differential. The mud flats can be very dangerous when the tide is out as in places it turns to quicksand and one can become trapped.  Every so often someone gets trapped and then drowns with the large incoming tide.  Petey went out on a flat and got stuck while hiking along the beach that evening.  I was mired up to my knees getting to him and he was only about 10 feet out from the high tide mark.  I could easily see how one could get in trouble very quick in this stuff.  Interesting area and well worth checking out.

Petey carrying some of Cook Inlet with him back to camp

Looking across Cook Inlet with glacier covered mountains on the far side.  When the tide is out halfway across the picture is mud flats and it's some nasty stuff.

Homer, Alaska and the highlight of the trip, Katmai National Park next......