Kenai Peninsula – Page 2 – Wandering Dawgs

Day 66: Saturday, July 20, 2013. Seward to Ninilchik, Alaaska. Alaskan Angler RV Park Site EW7. 132 miles traveled

We left the city park in Seward to continue our journey through the Kenai Peninsula. We traveled up the Seward highway and then down the Sterling Highway which ends in Homer, Alaska. This part of the Kenai Penisula has many more villages and people than the area going to Seward. Our drive took us near the Kenai River where fishermen flock to fish for salmon. There was more traffic than we have seen for a while and we found out later the red salmon were running and it was the first day the limit went from 3 per day to 6 per day per person because of the high number of fish. We passed by the Fred Myer Store (similar to Walmart) in Soldotna where the parking lot was overflowing with cars and RV’s.

After setting up camp we drove to the beach at Ninilchik to see where the boats were launched into the water. A log skidder (huge John Deere Tractor) backs the boat and trailer into the water and then quickly pulls forward leaving the boat in the water. The captain fires up the engines, turns the boat around and heads out into Cook Inlet. The tide was just past high tide and the sea looked pretty rough. I was a little worried about rough seas for our fishing trip the next morning. The tides in this area are the second highest tidal change in the North America, about 22 feet while we were here.

When we returned to camp we watched our friend Ted clean his catch of red salmon. He has been fishing every day and caught so many he and his wife bought a chest freezer to take them all home in their motorhome!

Ted and Ruth Ann fixed a grilled salmon feast at their motorhome which was delicious. Nothing like fresh fish right from the water. I brought over some Savannah Red Rice which Ted loved. It was a great evening.

Boats leaving the beach in Ninilchik head into Cook Inlet

John Deere tractors are used to launch the boats on the beach in Ninilchik

Our friend Ted with some of his sockeye salmon catch

Our Alaskan Journey continued in Seward, Alaska where we spent three nights in the Seward Waterfront Park.

Day 63: Wednesday, July 17, 2013. Palmer to Seward, Alaska. Seward Waterfront Park, Resurrection Campground Site R5. 132 miles traveled.

Our drive took us through downtown Anchorage and then south along the Seward Highway. There were spectacular views of Turnagain Arm and mountains most of the way.

Turnagain Arm at low tide

Turnagain Arm south of Anchorage

Henry and Blondie enjoying the view

Gorgeous scenery every where we went

Resurrection Campground City of Seward Waterfront Park

Small boat harbor in Seward, Alaska

We arrived in Seward and searched the city campgrounds for a waterfront site but had no luck so we picked a site in the fourth row from the water and then took a walk to the small boat harbor to check things out.

Day 64: Thursday, July 18, 2013.

A van picked us up at 9:45 and drove us to the harbor for our 7 1/2 hour sightseeing cruise on the Spirit of Adventure with Major Marine Tours. Our trip took us through parts of Kenai Fjords National Park and there was a park ranger on board to tell us information about the wildlife and glaciers we were seeing. We had comfortable seats inside a cabin where we stored our gear and then went outside to see the sights. As we traveled through Resurrection Bay we could see our RV when we cruised by the campground. There were sea otters in the water and we stopped to watch a mother and calf humpback whale.

Our campground from the water – we’re in the middle on the back row

The buildings on the top of this rock are bunkers from WWII

We saw sea otters all day

Sea otters enjoying the day

So relaxed

Humpback Whale

There were Puffins in the water

The cruise continued thorough Ailiak Bay to the Holgate Glacier for a close view of the half mile wide Holgate Glacier and Surprise Glacier. Captain Nicole turned off the engines so we could listen for the sound of ice breaking loose from the glacier before falling into the sea. When the ice breaks loose and falls it is called calving. We heard and watched about four or five calvings before moving on to the next glacier.

Henry and Beth at Holgate Glacier

Holgate Glacier

Surprise Glacier

Ice fallen from the glacier floated all around us

Our next stop was at the mile wide Ailiak Glacier where we witnessed more spectacular calvings. There was complete silence on the boat as we waited for the roar of ice. We were fortunate to see several more chunks of ice fall into the water including what our captain said was one of the biggest ones she has ever seen. Take a look at the next sequence of pictures to get an idea of what the ice falling looks like.

Seeing ice calving on Aialik Glacier on the Kenai Fjords trip from Seward

Hearing and seeing the ice fall was simply amazing. I could have sat there all day but the cruise continued as we traveled through the Chiswell Islands and saw more humpback whales, puffins, and other wildlife. Captain Nicole got us back to the dock right on time at 5:30. What a great day.

It was our anniversary so we drove about four miles out of town to the Salmon Bake restaurant for a Salmon dinner to celebrate. I just can’t get enough of this salmon!

Day 65: Friday, July 19, 2013

After a day at sea, some of it being in very rough waters, we were both sore and exhausted. I think 2 months of travel and sightseeing tours finally caught up with us. We both slept late and took it easy all day. We took a last drive around Seward in the afternoon.