Day 15 Anchorage to Kenai Peninsula and the farthest west I will go

Anchorage is a working town, that’s not to say working class but rather it’s like what Rotterdam is the Amsterdam. They say in Rotterdam when you buy a dress shirt the sleeves are already rolled up, in Amsterdam their torn off.  Sandwiched between two military bases and started by a rush for gold at turn of the 18^th century.  Anchorage is where the train meets the boat, or most likely now the boat meets the truck.  

Having seen much of the town yesterday and there seems to be a break in the rain I decide to go see where people around escape for the weekend, Kenai. The drive is very scenic, once you get to Turnagain Arm a large inlet, the highway runs along a sea wall.  There were several pull offs in this section all closed due to a brush fire on the other side of the road.  I pulled over and was immediately informed of the situation.  With a cold climate, forest are often boggy and fire can persist for a long time even when it’s raining, also the rain is off and on or just following me around.

First target Whittier, on the way I hike to the base of a glacier, the sign says 1 mile one way, but when you get there you need to negotiate the debris field another 1/3 mile, I don’t know how old the sign is but the guide says this glacier loses 55 feet per year. At the end of the road is tour boat to come up to the Portage Glacier.  I talk to the ranger about the Portage glacier who says that a hundred years ago this lake did not exist it was all ice.  The sign for the tour boat shows a boat right up the ice but now the glacier is several hundred feet above the lake, I pass on the tour.

To get to Whittier you need to go through the longer tunnel in North America paying a $13 toll, 2 miles.  The tunnel is single lane and is shared with a train. Cars pass through towards Whittier at the bottom of the hour, returning at the top and if there is a train it goes on the fifteens. I’m lucking as within in seconds I’m on my way, down into the tunnel and once there I get a pic of a train disappearing into the mountain.

Whittier is a military post built for WWII to protect Alaska against Japan, needed because it offered a deep water port free of ice year around that Anchorage did not offer. Abandoned after the war and then re-occupied for the cold war and then abandoned again in the 1980’s. Gaining new life as a ferry terminal; with it tourism tours for Kenai Fjords National Park and charter fishing boat activity. I take some shots of the Portage Glacier, harbour area and head back to the tunnel; I’m done in less than ½ hour. I think the best way to see Alaska’s coast line is not by one of these very expensive tour boats but rather a cruise out of Vancouver of Seattle, they can be had for less than $100 a day. Funny thing about the tunnel both time through it I have the feeling that I’m driving down which is impossible of course.  

 Next Seward, also a port town, this time a commercial fishing town with a good bit of town its self. Nice Main Street, a fantastic “Made in Alaska” store with native art, carvings and chain saw art. I take in the “Sea Life of Alaska Aquarium” showcasing local aquatic life within the bay and beyond.  Walking through I got the feeling it was more slanted towards the goodness of industry over the goodness of the sea.  Leaving the Main street, I head for the point only to find two fish plants and a hippy like camp ground.

Next the Spit of Homer, you need to drive to the other side of the Peninsula passing through the Cooper Creek a major river and lake area of lodges and salmon runs.  Everything along this about fishing, there are outfitters, charters, river access points, gear and signs proclaiming the salmon are here and which ones. Dotted here are there are white rafting operators, who too cane show you where the salmon are. Even the hiking trails seem to suggest that this hike will take to where the salmon are.

Getting to Kenai and the norther n coast on the south side of Cook Inlet, across the inlet you see not mountains as the main view but volcanoes, just two but a new thing on the trip.  The highway follows the coast with each town getting a little smaller most of the coastline here is privately owned.  There are a few public access parks with camping. Sites are $15, fires allowed and if there is a camp host, firewood can be bought otherwise you need to bring your own.

Homer bills itself as the Halibut fishing capital of the world, who knew, not me. Along the spit to the end there are several fish plants and some even see retail, the first seafood store I’ve seen in Alaska. I’m been very surprised that the concept of a fish market does not exist where fishing is a business. If you travel Newfoundland or Nova Scotia there are no fish markets to be found. However where I spend a lot of time New England, it’s a stable market.  Here too seems to be a case, if you want to have some salmon or king crab your choices are the supermarket, a restaurant or catch your own.

Reaching the end of Kenai Peninsula and the furthest west I will ever drive in North America, I head for a restaurant for to a halibut and chips $30, take pics of old boats pulled up onto the shore, the ice capped mountains surrounding the spit, and 1000’s of RV’s parked for the weekend.

After Dinner I head back towards Anchorage and spend the night in the Cooper Landing area. 874km today.