Alaska Trip 2017' - Larson's Epic Adventure TR - Part 3
July 5
We are staying in one of the local campgrounds in Soldotna and decided to drive to some neighboring towns, Kenai and Nikiski where we hiked one of the community trails in Nikiski and photographed the old Russian Orthodox Church in Kenai. The rest of the day we caught up on some domestic chores.
Holy Assumption of the Virgin Mary Russian Orthodox Church, Kenai Alaska
St. Nicholas Memorial Chapel, Kenai Alaska
The next day we headed to Sterling where we had a canoe trip scheduled to canoe down the Kenai River. They drove us by Bing's Landing where we get out with the canoe, before a set of rapids they said we do not want to go through! Our outfitters drop us and our canoe at Skilak Lake, our starting point. We finally got our paddling styles to work together and actually made some forward motion down the river. There was a few times with fishing boats coming by that I wondered if we would end up in the drink! It was a good day, saw some eagles and plenty of beautiful scenery. After a couple stops for lunch and snacks we manage to get out at Bing's Landing, our destination.
Mark paddling the canoe, Kenai River, Alaska
Sue and Peanut with canoe at Bing's Landing, Kenai River, Sterling Alaska
That night we go to the Hooked Alehouse in Soldotna to eat dinner and hear Hobo Jim perform, we had picked up one of his CD's in Chicken Alaska and liked his music and when we seen he was playing in Soldotna we thought that would be great to hear him in person! It was an enjoyable evening even though we were all done in by 9 pm!
The next day we drive to Ninilchik to photograph an old Russian Orthodox Church and poke around Ninilchik a little after that and then back to Soldotna. We drove around trying to find some good access points to Kenai River so Sue can do some gold panning, she has had the gold fever since Dawson City and has her own gold pan now! We had dinner at Acapulco Mexican Food outside of Soldotna, good mexican food and we've been wanting mexican food for weeks now!
Lighthouse outside Ninilchik Alaska
The Transfiguration of our Lord Russian Orthodox Church, Ninilchik Alaska
The next day we head for Homer stopping along the way for a few photos. We check into our campground and then head over to Homer Spit to check that area out, a lot of neat stuff to look at! Then we head to a high overlook in Homer to photograph the Homer Spit and Cook Inlet area. After that we took a steep winding road to the All Saints of America Orthodox Church to photograph. From there we went to old town Homer to eat at AJ's Steak, good food!
Cook Inlet, Homer Alaska
Sue at the Homer Welcome sign, Homer Spit, Homer Alaska
Homer boat harbor, Homer Alaska
Fish cleaning at Homer Spit, Homer Alaska
Fish display before the cleaning, Homer Spit, Homer Alaska
Panoramic view of Homer Spit from the overlook, Homer Alaska
View of Homer Spit from overlook, Homer Alaska
Telephoto view of Homer Spit, Homer Alaska
Glacier in Kachemak Bay State Park, Homer Alaska
All Saints of America Orthodox Church, Homer Alaska
The next morning we head to Homer Spit to take the ferry to Seldovia, the ferry cruised past Gull Island and we saw puffins, sea otters and numerous other birds besides all the seagulls! We got to Seldovia and walked around and had lunch and photographed an old Russian Orthodox Church there. Walked around old town Seldovia, what a beautiful little seaside town!
Sue & Peanut enjoying the ferry ride from Homer to Seldovia, Alaska
Gull Island, Kachemak Bay, Alaska
Sea otter in Kachemak Bay, Alaska
Sea otter in Kachemak Bay, Alaska
Kachemak Bay State Park, Homer Alaska
Sea otter in Kachemak Bay, Alaska
Gull Island, Kachemak Bay, Alaska
Puffin in Kachemak Bay, Alaska
Scenic view near Seldovia Alaska
Old Town Seldovia, Alaska
Old Town Seldovia, Alaska
Old Town Seldovia, Alaska
Bald Eagles near Seldovia, Alaska
A couple 70's era Oldsmobile Tornados, Seldovia Alaska
Sue & Peanut in Old Town Seldovia, Alaska
A couple days later we drop Peanut at the dog sitter in Homer and then we go to Bald Mountain Air for our flight to Katmai NP. Our flight takes off at 8:30 am and gets to Katmai NP about 10 am, what a beautiful and sometimes tumultuous flight!
Sue on our floatplane to Katmai NP, Alaska
View from our floatplane, Beluga Lake and Homer Spit, Alaska
View from our plane trip to Katmai NP
View from our plane trip to Katmai NP, Alaska
View from our plane trip to Katmai NP, Alaska
Sue getting off the floatplane at Katmai NP, Alaska
We land on the water and walk to the ranger station where we have to eat anything we brought or store it in a locker and then we go through a bear briefing and get a pin to wear before you're allowed to go anywhere! We started the hike with a Park Ranger who makes sure you only get so close to the bears in their natural habitat. Once we finally got to the other side of the first stream crossing we went ahead of the group, hoping to get to the viewing platforms ahead of everyone. So we are walking down the trail and suddenly see a grizzly walking towards us on the same trail about 75 feet away, we back up about 25 feet where another trail intersected and back up on that trail as the bear walks by us, whew a little unnerving!! We finish walking up the trail to the viewing platforms and sign up for one of the viewing platforms, about a 90 minute wait.
We walk over to the other viewing platform that doesn't require any sign in, but there is about 50 people there trying to photograph and view the bears fishing for salmon, so much for getting there ahead of everyone! Meanwhile when I was taking photos at the first platform Sue went down the trail to use the outhouse and ran into another grizzly bear walking on the trail, luckily she was able to get off the trail and let it walk by, she was shook and I don't blame her!! I manage to get a couple photographs and then check into the other viewing platform when our names come up.
Mama grizzly bear and her cubs, Katmai NP, Alaska
Grizzly bear looking for lunch, Katmai NP, Alaska
Grizzly bear with his salmon, Katmai NP, Alaska
Grizzly bear giving us the look, Katmai NP, Alaska
Mama grizzly bear with her cubs, Katmai NP, Alaska
Grizzly cub, Katmai NP, Alaska
This is a photo my wife Sue took of this mama grizzly bear right after she was hissing at her cubs!
Photo credit: Sue Larson, Katmai NP, Alaska
At the upper viewing platform the people are stacked up trying to photograph and view the bears, I finally manage to squeeze into position and take a few pics! It was amazing to see all the salmon trying to swim up the falls!
Male grizzly bear chomping on his salmon, Brooks Falls, Katmai NP, Alaska
Bears and salmon at Brooks Falls, Katmai NP, Alaska
Bear with his catch at Brooks Falls, Katmai NP, Alaska
We walked back towards the Ranger Station stopping several times for bears and keeping the proper distance when possible. We walked back to where our plane was parked and loaded up for our flight back.
Mark on the trail back to the Katmai Ranger Station from Brooks Falls
Sue is ready for our plane trip back to Homer Alaska
View from our plane trip back to Homer Alaska
View from our plane trip back to Homer Alaska
View from our plane trip back to Homer Alaska
View from our plane trip back to Homer Alaska
View from our plane trip back to Homer Alaska
It was a beautiful flight back to Homer, the scenery was just awesome!! We got back to Homer approximately 6 pm and went to the dog sitter to pick up Peanut and back to camp. What a fantastic day it was, probably the highlight of our trip!
I have more bear pics at www.flickr.com/photos/gpnaz
You can also see my church photos at www.flickr.com/photos/his_cross
This finished up our time in Homer and we are headed for Seward tomorrow.
It's July 12th and we are headed for Seward today, we get there and check into our campground and decide to take it easy for the rest of the day. The next day we drive into Seward and check out the SeaLife Center, it had a lot of neat stuff to look at. We drove to Miller's Landing so Sue could book a kayak trip to Bridalveil Falls for the day after tomorrow.
Resurrection Bay, Miller's Landing, Seward Alaska
My allergies have been wreaking havoc with me the last couple days and it's been raining on and off all day. The next day we drive to Kenai Fjords NP to hike to Exit Glacier. They are receding so quickly and they show the year sign where the glacier was along the hiking trail. It was foggy and misting most of the way there and back.
Tropical rain forest on the hike to Exit Glacier, Kenai Fjords NP, Seward Alaska
Exit Glacier, Kenai Fjords NP, Seward Alaska
The next day we're up early to get Sue to Miller's Landing for her kayak trip, the road to Miller's Landing is nasty muddy! She takes off on her kayak adventure and I head to town to work on photo projects and Lightroom.
Sue in her kayak, Miller's Landing, Resurrection Bay, Seward Alaska
After picking Sue up at Miller's Landing we walked around the boat harbor in Seward and then had lunch at Chinooks, good halibut!
Lunch with Sue at Chinooks, Seward Alaska
Sue & Mark at the Seward boat harbor
Sue at the boat dock, Seward Alaska
The next day we head for Girdwood and stop along the way for a photo at the Kenai Penisula sign. We continue on to Crow River Mine so Sue can pan for gold.
Sue & Peanut - Kenai Peninsula sign, Highway 1, Alaska
Truck and camper, Highway 1, Alaska
Crow River Mine has a nice little tourist trap going there!
Sue digging for gold at Crow River Mine, Girdwood Alaska
Old truck at the Crow River Mine, Girdwood Alaska - BKA's first dually, we'll see if he's reading these TR's :)
After that we head to Anchorage, Flattop Mountain to hike the Glen Alps Trail. We get parked and there are EMTs and fire trucks and come to find out a hiker had a heart attack and died not too far from the start of the trailhead. So instead, we head back down the mountain into Anchorage where I wash the truck and camper. We drive to Eagle River and find a campsite at Eagle River State Park for the night. I'm going to end Part 3 here, it's July 16th. Thanks everyone for following along, I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!
We are staying in one of the local campgrounds in Soldotna and decided to drive to some neighboring towns, Kenai and Nikiski where we hiked one of the community trails in Nikiski and photographed the old Russian Orthodox Church in Kenai. The rest of the day we caught up on some domestic chores.
Holy Assumption of the Virgin Mary Russian Orthodox Church, Kenai Alaska
St. Nicholas Memorial Chapel, Kenai Alaska
The next day we headed to Sterling where we had a canoe trip scheduled to canoe down the Kenai River. They drove us by Bing's Landing where we get out with the canoe, before a set of rapids they said we do not want to go through! Our outfitters drop us and our canoe at Skilak Lake, our starting point. We finally got our paddling styles to work together and actually made some forward motion down the river. There was a few times with fishing boats coming by that I wondered if we would end up in the drink! It was a good day, saw some eagles and plenty of beautiful scenery. After a couple stops for lunch and snacks we manage to get out at Bing's Landing, our destination.
Mark paddling the canoe, Kenai River, Alaska
Sue and Peanut with canoe at Bing's Landing, Kenai River, Sterling Alaska
That night we go to the Hooked Alehouse in Soldotna to eat dinner and hear Hobo Jim perform, we had picked up one of his CD's in Chicken Alaska and liked his music and when we seen he was playing in Soldotna we thought that would be great to hear him in person! It was an enjoyable evening even though we were all done in by 9 pm!
The next day we drive to Ninilchik to photograph an old Russian Orthodox Church and poke around Ninilchik a little after that and then back to Soldotna. We drove around trying to find some good access points to Kenai River so Sue can do some gold panning, she has had the gold fever since Dawson City and has her own gold pan now! We had dinner at Acapulco Mexican Food outside of Soldotna, good mexican food and we've been wanting mexican food for weeks now!
Lighthouse outside Ninilchik Alaska
The Transfiguration of our Lord Russian Orthodox Church, Ninilchik Alaska
The next day we head for Homer stopping along the way for a few photos. We check into our campground and then head over to Homer Spit to check that area out, a lot of neat stuff to look at! Then we head to a high overlook in Homer to photograph the Homer Spit and Cook Inlet area. After that we took a steep winding road to the All Saints of America Orthodox Church to photograph. From there we went to old town Homer to eat at AJ's Steak, good food!
Cook Inlet, Homer Alaska
Sue at the Homer Welcome sign, Homer Spit, Homer Alaska
Homer boat harbor, Homer Alaska
Fish cleaning at Homer Spit, Homer Alaska
Fish display before the cleaning, Homer Spit, Homer Alaska
Panoramic view of Homer Spit from the overlook, Homer Alaska
View of Homer Spit from overlook, Homer Alaska
Telephoto view of Homer Spit, Homer Alaska
Glacier in Kachemak Bay State Park, Homer Alaska
All Saints of America Orthodox Church, Homer Alaska
The next morning we head to Homer Spit to take the ferry to Seldovia, the ferry cruised past Gull Island and we saw puffins, sea otters and numerous other birds besides all the seagulls! We got to Seldovia and walked around and had lunch and photographed an old Russian Orthodox Church there. Walked around old town Seldovia, what a beautiful little seaside town!
Sue & Peanut enjoying the ferry ride from Homer to Seldovia, Alaska
Gull Island, Kachemak Bay, Alaska
Sea otter in Kachemak Bay, Alaska
Sea otter in Kachemak Bay, Alaska
Kachemak Bay State Park, Homer Alaska
Sea otter in Kachemak Bay, Alaska
Gull Island, Kachemak Bay, Alaska
Puffin in Kachemak Bay, Alaska
Scenic view near Seldovia Alaska
Old Town Seldovia, Alaska
Old Town Seldovia, Alaska
Old Town Seldovia, Alaska
Bald Eagles near Seldovia, Alaska
A couple 70's era Oldsmobile Tornados, Seldovia Alaska
Sue & Peanut in Old Town Seldovia, Alaska
A couple days later we drop Peanut at the dog sitter in Homer and then we go to Bald Mountain Air for our flight to Katmai NP. Our flight takes off at 8:30 am and gets to Katmai NP about 10 am, what a beautiful and sometimes tumultuous flight!
Sue on our floatplane to Katmai NP, Alaska
View from our floatplane, Beluga Lake and Homer Spit, Alaska
View from our plane trip to Katmai NP
View from our plane trip to Katmai NP, Alaska
View from our plane trip to Katmai NP, Alaska
Sue getting off the floatplane at Katmai NP, Alaska
We land on the water and walk to the ranger station where we have to eat anything we brought or store it in a locker and then we go through a bear briefing and get a pin to wear before you're allowed to go anywhere! We started the hike with a Park Ranger who makes sure you only get so close to the bears in their natural habitat. Once we finally got to the other side of the first stream crossing we went ahead of the group, hoping to get to the viewing platforms ahead of everyone. So we are walking down the trail and suddenly see a grizzly walking towards us on the same trail about 75 feet away, we back up about 25 feet where another trail intersected and back up on that trail as the bear walks by us, whew a little unnerving!! We finish walking up the trail to the viewing platforms and sign up for one of the viewing platforms, about a 90 minute wait.
We walk over to the other viewing platform that doesn't require any sign in, but there is about 50 people there trying to photograph and view the bears fishing for salmon, so much for getting there ahead of everyone! Meanwhile when I was taking photos at the first platform Sue went down the trail to use the outhouse and ran into another grizzly bear walking on the trail, luckily she was able to get off the trail and let it walk by, she was shook and I don't blame her!! I manage to get a couple photographs and then check into the other viewing platform when our names come up.
Mama grizzly bear and her cubs, Katmai NP, Alaska
Grizzly bear looking for lunch, Katmai NP, Alaska
Grizzly bear with his salmon, Katmai NP, Alaska
Grizzly bear giving us the look, Katmai NP, Alaska
Mama grizzly bear with her cubs, Katmai NP, Alaska
Grizzly cub, Katmai NP, Alaska
This is a photo my wife Sue took of this mama grizzly bear right after she was hissing at her cubs!
Photo credit: Sue Larson, Katmai NP, Alaska
At the upper viewing platform the people are stacked up trying to photograph and view the bears, I finally manage to squeeze into position and take a few pics! It was amazing to see all the salmon trying to swim up the falls!
Male grizzly bear chomping on his salmon, Brooks Falls, Katmai NP, Alaska
Bears and salmon at Brooks Falls, Katmai NP, Alaska
Bear with his catch at Brooks Falls, Katmai NP, Alaska
We walked back towards the Ranger Station stopping several times for bears and keeping the proper distance when possible. We walked back to where our plane was parked and loaded up for our flight back.
Mark on the trail back to the Katmai Ranger Station from Brooks Falls
Sue is ready for our plane trip back to Homer Alaska
View from our plane trip back to Homer Alaska
View from our plane trip back to Homer Alaska
View from our plane trip back to Homer Alaska
View from our plane trip back to Homer Alaska
View from our plane trip back to Homer Alaska
It was a beautiful flight back to Homer, the scenery was just awesome!! We got back to Homer approximately 6 pm and went to the dog sitter to pick up Peanut and back to camp. What a fantastic day it was, probably the highlight of our trip!
I have more bear pics at www.flickr.com/photos/gpnaz
You can also see my church photos at www.flickr.com/photos/his_cross
This finished up our time in Homer and we are headed for Seward tomorrow.
It's July 12th and we are headed for Seward today, we get there and check into our campground and decide to take it easy for the rest of the day. The next day we drive into Seward and check out the SeaLife Center, it had a lot of neat stuff to look at. We drove to Miller's Landing so Sue could book a kayak trip to Bridalveil Falls for the day after tomorrow.
Resurrection Bay, Miller's Landing, Seward Alaska
My allergies have been wreaking havoc with me the last couple days and it's been raining on and off all day. The next day we drive to Kenai Fjords NP to hike to Exit Glacier. They are receding so quickly and they show the year sign where the glacier was along the hiking trail. It was foggy and misting most of the way there and back.
Tropical rain forest on the hike to Exit Glacier, Kenai Fjords NP, Seward Alaska
Exit Glacier, Kenai Fjords NP, Seward Alaska
The next day we're up early to get Sue to Miller's Landing for her kayak trip, the road to Miller's Landing is nasty muddy! She takes off on her kayak adventure and I head to town to work on photo projects and Lightroom.
Sue in her kayak, Miller's Landing, Resurrection Bay, Seward Alaska
After picking Sue up at Miller's Landing we walked around the boat harbor in Seward and then had lunch at Chinooks, good halibut!
Lunch with Sue at Chinooks, Seward Alaska
Sue & Mark at the Seward boat harbor
Sue at the boat dock, Seward Alaska
The next day we head for Girdwood and stop along the way for a photo at the Kenai Penisula sign. We continue on to Crow River Mine so Sue can pan for gold.
Sue & Peanut - Kenai Peninsula sign, Highway 1, Alaska
Truck and camper, Highway 1, Alaska
Crow River Mine has a nice little tourist trap going there!
Sue digging for gold at Crow River Mine, Girdwood Alaska
Old truck at the Crow River Mine, Girdwood Alaska - BKA's first dually, we'll see if he's reading these TR's :)
After that we head to Anchorage, Flattop Mountain to hike the Glen Alps Trail. We get parked and there are EMTs and fire trucks and come to find out a hiker had a heart attack and died not too far from the start of the trailhead. So instead, we head back down the mountain into Anchorage where I wash the truck and camper. We drive to Eagle River and find a campsite at Eagle River State Park for the night. I'm going to end Part 3 here, it's July 16th. Thanks everyone for following along, I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!
