Kachemak Bay State Park

After a couple of days of walking up and down Homer Spit’s shoreline, we were ready to do some hiking again. Our Homer hosts recommended visiting the state park across the bay. The only problem is that you can’t drive there; the only way to get there is by boat. So we took our first water taxi to Kachemak State Park.

Our “driver”/captain took us on a bumpy thirty minute ride across the bay.  Just before dropping us off on a gravel beach, sea otters were spotted.

We were scheduled to be picked up by a different water taxi five hours later.
Armed with our bear bells and my bear spray, we started off into the dense, wet forest. The Glacier Spit trail was actually very well-constructed , and for the first couple of miles, we followed a young couple who called out, “hey bear, yo bear,” every five seconds. Then we hiked a side trail to a hand tram that crossed a river gorge. This was my first experience with a hand tram, and I must say that Julia was very trusting.

I managed to get her back again, so we backtracked to the main trail and continued hiking. After another mile we saw several people standing close together off the trail in the brush and taking photos. As we approached, a young man told us that a black bear was ten feet off the trail just five seconds earlier. I looked to where he pointed, but the bear had clearly taken off and was no longer visible. Only slightly disappointed, we hiked on to our destination. Grewink Glacier Lake.

The lake and glacier were spectacular.

The photos don’t adequately capture the intense blue of the icebergs. I’ve never seen anything like it. Also, we experienced calving: when a big chunk breaks off an iceberg creating two icebergs. The sound when that happens is like an explosion and startling.

After spending over an hour at the lake, we hiked a couple more miles back to our pickup point at the Saddle Trailhead. We highly recommend hiking at this state park.

Homer: Fishing and Beer

There are numerous signs displayed around Homer, Alaska that say, “Homer: a quaint little drinking village with a fishing problem.”  Although I am not a fisherman, I can verify that fishing is taken very seriously here.

As for the drinking part, I can only testify that the local beer culture is alive and well. We visited two microbreweries:  Grace Ridge Brewing and Homer Brewing. Both were outstanding. Grace is owned by a San Diego couple who moved to Homer for employment. Upon retirement, they started a brewery (I am grateful, but that isn’t my idea of retirement).

Julia drank an IPA, and I had a delicious sour that was not overdone. Just enough sour to make it interesting.

On another day, we visited Homer Brewery. Julia had a Red Scotch Ale which was not too strong, and I went for the King and Wing ESB, cask conditioned and served by the beer engine. Easily in the top three beers I’ve  had in Alaska.

Girdwood, Alaska

After our train returned to Anchorage, we rented a car and drove to Girdwood. We rented a room called the Treehouse for two nights. Our first stop was Girdwood Brewing Company. I had a Northeastern style cloudy IPA, while Julia took the West Coast version. In the third photo below, I discuss with staff the pros and cons of high alcohol percentages in beers that taste really good.

After a light breakfast on the next morning, we drove to the trailhead to hike to the Byron Glacier. Although this is a popular easy hike, we arrived early enough that we pretty much had the area to ourselves for exploration and picture-taking.

I wasn’t sure that I even wanted to hike to a glacier, but I am so glad that we did.
After a short nap at the Treehouse, we ventured out mid-afternoon to hike the North Face trail at Mt. Alyeska. Many people pay to take the tram up and then hike down, but frugal John wanted to hike up and take the tram down for free.  With a vertical rise of over 2000 feet in 2.2 miles, we earned outstanding views, a beer at the top, and the free ride down.

In Search of Wildlife in Alaska

During our train journey and stay in the Mount Denali area, we made every effort to see some real Alaska wildlife.  If I had my druthers, my preference would have been to see a brown or grizzly bear from a considerable distance away.  But I was up for seeing caribou,  Dall sheep or even moose at a closer distance.

On the train trip north and south, we pretty much saw nothing, except for a brief glimpse of a moose butt. While in the Denali National Park area, we even signed up for an expensive jeep excursion. We had a good time driving our jeeps up and down gravel roads, but we again caught only the glimpse of a distant moose before returning to the jeep parking lot.

However, on the afternoon after the jeep ride, Julia and I asked to get dropped off on our own at the Denali National Park Visitor’s Center. We decided to hike the Horseshoe Lake loop trail, which was one of our better decisions and totally free. We picked up our trail map and headed outside where we met a delightful older gentleman and his golden retriever. After some conversation, he offered to walk with us to the trailhead. He explained that he lived in the area full time, that he was retired and that his wife was director of operations at the national park. He offered some great advice and told several stories.

One of the stories is that he had been attacked numerous times by moose in the park. During the last attack, he ended up on the ground with the moose kicking and stomping on him. He survived without serious injuries but his dog sustained two skull fractures. He told us that if we ever encounter moose up close to seek cover between trees and the moose. The conventional wisdom to run away often doesn’t work.

With a new respect for moose, we parted ways and started down the trail. Immediately, people coming up the trail told us to watch out for a mama moose with a calf on the left side of the lake. We didn’t see that moose but we watched another feeding in the lake. The moose dipped its head under water for 20 to 30 seconds and emerged, chewing on underwater vegetation. The moose stayed in basically the same feeding position as we quietly looped around the lake.

We then ran into more people telling us that the mama and calf were just ahead before the next bridge. We didn’t find the moose at that location.but we did find their wet tracks.

Disappointed that we just missed the moose, we continued past the bridge to the river, where Julia started taking scenery shots and video. Meanwhile, I was bored and looked back up into the woods close the where the moose had left the trail. At that instant, I saw the mama moose and calf walking our way and directly toward where Julia was with her back to the moose.

I started calling Julia softly at first and then with more enthusiasm as she continued to ignore me and operate her camera.. “Mama moose, now, time to go!” I suggested.  We quietly but quickly moved away from their path before we could be cut off from the trail. It was very exciting, and we were able to take photos from behind the bushes once we were out of harm’s way.

We finished up our hike with our hearts racing at this close encounter with mama moose and baby moose.

Viewing Denali

Mount Denali is the tallest mountain in North America and has the largest vertical rise in the world. We did not hike the mountain. But we did join the 30 Percent Club: visitors who actually get to see the mountain as it is usually covered in clouds.

This was one our first views. We were excited to see the peak because we talked to visitors from the week before who saw nothing but rain and clouds.

We didn’t know that our first glimpse was just a tease of what was to come. The weather on the mountain changes constantly but rarely provides a full view.

 
We felt so fortunate to take in Denali’s immense beauty. Expeditions to climb the mountain take 3 weeks. Unfortunately, we only had two weeks. Actually, climbing season is over for the year, and I lack both the money and the skills to climb it. But it was fun to imagine doing so.

Northbound Train

After a couple of days to relax by ourselves, we rejoined two other couples from our group and boarded the Alaska Railroad for Talkeetna.  Train travel is one of our favorite modes.

Good views, good food and drink, and room to stretch and walk around, what isn’t to like, especially compared to air travel? Our favorite viewing spot on the train is at the back of the caboose where a person can stand outside the car and breathe fresh air, while taking in the expansive views of Alaska’s terrain.

We didn’t see much wildlife, but we saw a lot of mountains, lakes, and rivers. We also saw sled dogs.

We stayed at a lodge outside if Talkeetna where we enjoyed almost unobstructed views of Mount Denali. Only 30 percent of visitors get to see Denali which is usually behind the clouds. We stayed up late for the sunset which finished up at about 11:30 pm