The End of the World

by Roxanne and Mike Parish

July 9, 2006

It is a beautiful morning; blue skies, wispy clouds and we can see the mountaintops. They rise straight up from the U shaped valley, with dark green trees, and lighter greens of grasses and shrubs. There are fingers of ice all over them.

We are headed for Homer, the end of the world. Mike has wanted to visit this place since he read Tom Baudette's books 20 years ago. We are finally going to make it.

The Lower Trail Lake is crystal clear this morning, a perfect lake for water skiing or catching fish, though I am sure it is really cold. The average summer temps here are in the mid 50's to mid 60's, but winter is usually never below O.

I have been trying to describe the wonders of this state and I feel totally inadequate. It is beautiful. The colors are all so vibrant. It is like you were looking at things in the lower 48 through a film and once you get up here the film or haze is gone.

On one of the interpretative signs there was the statement that if you want to see Alaska and are currently old, go now, but if you are young, wait and see the rest of the world first, because seeing Alaska will spoil you for everything else.

I can see why people return again and again to this area. There is so much to see and do and yet it is the perfect place to do nothing, just sit around a campfire, fish in a lake or stream, watch the sunset and the sunrise, enjoy the scenery and the people.

This valley on the Seward Highway is so narrow that there are avalanche warnings and avalanche gates every so often.

We are following the Kenai River, a great rainbow trout river. This river does not seem to be moving quite as fast as some of the others; it also seems to be deeper. . All along this section of road are fishing outfits.

Our sun has disappeared but the clouds are high so we can still see mountaintops. In fact the clouds are high enough and the sun has peaked through on the far horizon and we can see the Redoubt Volcano range way off on the western horizon.

We have gone through the little towns of Cooper Landing and Sterling, then Soldotna, which is quite large even though there are only 5,000 people. It is the business hub for this end of the peninsula.

The towns on down the peninsula are Kasilof, Cohole, Clam Clutch, Ninilchik, Happy Valley, Anchor Point, which boasts of the most westerly point in the American highway system, and finally Homer.

In Ninilchik we finally found the street to the Holy Transfiguration of Our Lord Russian Orthodox Church and go down to take pictures. (photo) There is also a fairly good view of Mt. Redoubt with last erupted in 1989.

Mt. Redoubt, Mt. Iliamna, Mt. Augustine, and Mt. Spurr are part of the Pacific "ring of fire" and are the start of the chain of mountains and islands known as the Aleutian Chain. This chain extends over 1,700 miles to Attu, past the International Date Line into the Bering Sea.

11:00 we arrive in Homer but it takes us nearly an hour to find a site. We are on the beach with no facilities, but a beautiful view.

Homer is nestled in rolling hills at the end of the Kenai Peninsula. It sits on the edge of Kachemak Bay just across from Kenai Fjords National Park. From here you can see glaciers slowly making their way to the sea. Homer was apparently named after Homer Pennock was of the first gold miners of the area.

The first humans, Pacific Eskimos, were known to inhabit the Homer Spit thousands of years ago. 1,000 years ago Athabaskan Indians moved into the inlet and then in the late 1700's were joined by Russian explores, trappers and traders. There is still a lot of Russian cultural and influence in this area.

The village of Homer began on the end of the 4.5-mile spit in 1896. In the beginning coal was mined here and began an economic base. A 7-mile commercial railroad was built on the spit to transport the coal thereby making the spit an industrial region. The town flourished here with gold and coal mining until 1902 when it was abandoned. Even now the winter winds and high tides take their toll on the spit, washing waves over the roadway.

In the 1910's the town reemerged at the base of the spit and by the 1930's most of the buildings on the spit had either been torn down or used for firewood.

In the 1950's many of the businesses and buildings were moved across the bay from Soldovia to Homer and the area began to grow. Many artists live in the area and tourism is definitely the business now with many of the shops selling locally crafted items.

The area is famous for halibut and salmon fishing, the scenery is spectacular, and wildlife abounds. You can take the ferry from here to Soldovia, Kodiak and the Aleutian Islands. There are scenic drives out East End Road to the head of the bay and if you just stay around town and drive on Skyline Road you will be rewarded with amazing views of the spit and Cook Inlet. (photo)

We drive down the spit to the end and get a picture of Mike at the "end of the road". (photo) We park and walk around and in the shops and then get lunch at a spot that advertises "fish and chips". Fish was good, fries were so-so, price was right. $9.95.

We then head into town and check out the Alaska Islands and Oceans Visitor center. This tells about the Wildlife Refuge in the area and how they have been impacted over the years with fur trading, WWII and human intervention. Through their binoculars we are able to watch a bald eagle nest with the mother in residence.

From there it is on to Alaska Wild Berry Products for some shopping. This is products produced locally from wild berries found in the area.

Next stop is the Bear Creek Winery. Again the wine is produced from local berries and fruit. We buy one bottle of a cherry-berry wine.

The East End Road continues out for over 20 miles. We have a pheasant cross the road in front of us so that is one more to add to our list of wild creatures. We drive until we can see the head of Kachemak Bay. There are three glaciers on the opposite side, Grewingk, Portlock, and Dixon.

We head back towards town and turn north on East Hill Dr. This takes you to the top of the bluff and Skyline Drive. Here there is a scenic view area and you can see the spit, Cook Inlet, Kachemak Bay, Kenai Fjords National Park and on out to sea. (photo)

Our neighbors at home, Dick and Grace have friends who live here so we give them a call. We are invited by and found out they live just down the road from where we are. They have a lovely home on the bluff with a spectacular view of the area. We visit for about an hour and then head down to the Salty Dog Saloon just to take a look.

The Salty Dog Saloon is a compilation of three buildings, the old post office, an old schoolhouse and the base of what once was a water tower. The water tower is now a lighthouse and the Salty Dog is the only saloon that is listed on NOAA charts. (photo)

This is a place that needs to be seen to be believed, there are dollar bills hanging from the low ceiling everywhere. Large rustic tables that have had names scratched in them rest on wood chips on the floor. The place was packed.

We drive on down to the ferry landing to see the SS Tustumena come in. This is the ferry that goes to Soldovia, Kodiak and other towns. This ferry takes cars but instead of being driven directly on they are loaded via an elevator. Nothing in excess of 40' can be loaded, so if you have a rig and tow car they must be broken apart. For truck and trailer or 5th wheel, you must hire a driver to load the trailer or 5th wheel. We watch as it unloads.

A bald eagle landed on the light fixture but by the time I got the right camera he was gone so back to the RV. I decide to walk down the beach and see if a sunset will develop.

No luck on the sunset but 2 bald eagles land on the beach and after changing cameras and lens I am able to get within 50' of one and get some excellent shots. I will add then to the mix as soon as the film is developed back in Anchorage.

This has been a beautiful area but was not the Homer Mike was looking for. It has changed immensely since Tom Bodette wrote about in his books.

Today we will head back up the peninsula to Kenai for a night and maybe spot some Beluga whales.