Western Kenai Peninsula –Part 1(07-30-14)

The Kenai Peninsula has some spectacular scenery.  As we drove south towards Homer, the weather was perfect for viewing  several of the nearby volcanoes across the bay. Mt. redoubt last erupted in 2009.

These are part of the Ring of Fire, an arc of volcanoes that rims the Pacific Ocean.  90% of all earthquakes take place along the Ring of Fire.

Kayakers and rafters were taking advantage of the great weather to ride the rapids down the Kenai River. 

This river is also the premiere destination for salmon fishing.

Everywhere we went there were people in the water, salmon fishing. They set up their tents wherever they could find a spot.

Some of the fishermen weren’t even people!  This eagle was trying to eat his catch while keeping the seagulls at bay.

We made a brief overnight stop in the town of Kenai, an area that  was settled by Russian fur traders in the late 1700s. This Russian Orthodox church was built in the late 1800s and is still in use today.

Homer is known for several things, but mostly it is the Halibut fishing capital of the world. One of the RV park owners we met on the way here was trying to help us figure out what we should do while we were here.  I laughed at the look on his face when we said we don’t fish.  He hesitantly said “ but, well, that’s what we do here!”

Lucky for us there are several fake fish set up around town so we can pretend that we caught something!

Of course, there is plenty of salmon fishing to be had in Homer as well.  This Fishing Hole is a popular place to fish. You can see the salmon jumping out of the water.  This place was loaded with fish!

If you’ve ever seen the show Deadliest Catch, you might be interested to know that Homer is the home port of the fishing vessel Time Bandit. We heard that it’s actually in port, but we couldn’t go look at it because of some construction on the dock.

The Homer Spit is a narrow strip of land in the Kachemak  Bay, with a marina, quite a few shops, and the Salty Dawg Saloon.  The Salty Dawg, originally built in 1897, is a well known landmark.  The interior is papered with dollar bills.  We were lucky that the weather was nice enough to sit outside.  After about 30 minutes and one beer, we were on the hunt for something else to do.

to be continued…….