August 26: Today we departed Seward and headed towards Homer. Still no moose. We decided to leave the highway and take the Skilak Lake Loop Road, as we thought there would be more wildlife to see and checkout the campgrounds along the road. It’s a 19 mile gravel road and was very slow going Some pretty views but no moose. Toward the end we did see a couple Spruce Grouse. Would not do this road again as top speed was 12 MPH and campgrounds were popular and full.
Arrived at Soldatna, a nice friendly town with a helpful welcome center. They had fishwalks at several places around town. Fishwalks are along the river banks and are raised graded walkways from which to fish from. These fishwalks protects the banks, limits erosion and encourages the growth of natural bank plants. This helps the salmon. Picked up take-out at “Buckets”. Which was recommended by the welcome center and was very good. Then we headed for a municipal campground, Swift Water Park, and found a campsite along the river. I fished the Kenai River that evening and caught a couple salmon and snagged one, unfortunately none were edible. They had already spawned so the meat would be mushy. Met an interesting guy from West Virginia who used to be a guide here and gave me some tips on fishing. I am going back out in the early morning. It was fun catching them even though I had to throw them back.
August 27: We have been on the road a month. I was fishing at 6:30 Am in the drizzle. Caught more but not keepers. Found out the silvers were not there yet, so that made it easer to hit the road. Also it was rainy and cloudy. Because of the weather we did not linger at any scenic viewpoints. However we did stopped at the welcome to Homer sign. It was an overlook with a view of Kachemak Bay, Homer Spit, Cook Inlet and the mountains across the water.
Islands and Oceans National Wildlife Refuge Center was on our way into town. This was on our not to miss list. It did not disappoint. We have found both the National Wildlife Refuges and the National Parks Welcome Centers do a good job educating the public in an entertaing manner.
We decided to stay at Oceanview RV Park. After having dinner and Edna went to the beach while I worked on the computer. The tide was going out, way out. Edna was picking her way through the rocks to get to the tide pools. Suddenly, 3 large birds flew over head and landed on a little piece of sand beyond a large pool of water. She quickly got off the beach and ran up the cliff trail to get camera and binocs. I begrudgingly went back with her, as I was working on our blog. They were still there when we got back and I got some great pictures of both the cranes and the sunset over the cliffs. When we returned it was about 10 PM. The light just lingers there and casts a golden glow on everything.
August 28: Up early and had our coffee and planned our day. By the time we had that extra cup of coffee the time slips by. We wanted to go to The Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies, so we headed up to Carl E Wynn Nature Center. The center opens at 10 AM and we were there at 10 AM. Nice girl greeted us. She didn’t seem to know how to give us a tour as she was the only one there. We said we didn’t need a guide, so with map in hand we were off on a 2 mile hike. The trail was narrow, lots of roots and the grass and brush was as tall as Edna and sometimes as tall as me. We went to the bog overlook. No moose, no birds. Then back to main loop trail. From there we headed for the raised overlook hoping to see birds, moose or something. The girl at the center told us you need keen eyes to see the moose. The brush is so thick, that you could walk right by. Edna is taking pictures of berries, raindrops on leaves. Suddenly, a gorgeous view of the mountains opens up. Edna tells me she is going to take a picture. As she is focusing I say ‘there she is”! Being a lot taller than Edna, I saw the moose and calf just over the plants about 30 feet away. She spotted us and at first just kept munching. I don’t know if she didn’t like the camera clicking, or was just protective with a baby, but she started coming towards us. We started backing up. She came out on the trail and we backed up faster. No close trees to hide behind, so decided to retrace our steps. Never did get to that overlook.
 |
| Picture before moose discovery |
Now it is rainingagain, but still ok. We stopped at farmers market, and picked up 2 tomatoes (local). They were $5.00 a pound. Also got some awesome fish and chips. They cooked it while you waited.
We’ve read a lot about the Homer Spit, so we headed there next. Walked around a while, but couldn’t get too excited about it. Went to town to the art center, some shops and the Pratt Museum. A very nice local museum. Learned about early pioneering families and the Valdez oil spill. Back to Oceanview and back up the coast tomorrow.
Next post will be 4 otr 5 days
