1st Week in Alaska
We arrived (as we said) at Deep Creek Beach State Recreation Area at Ninilchik, Alaska, on Saturday, May 14. Sunday morning we were met by Ginny and Larry, a pleasant couple who have become “permanent” volunteers in the area. They pick up slack wherever needed, and filled us in on the campground duties – which are much the same as in the National Parks in the “lower 48”.
Our first camp site was right by the beach overlooking Cook Inlet and looking across to one of the volcanic ranges up here which includes Mount Redoubt (which threatened to erupt a couple of years ago) as well as Mount Iliamna and Mount Augustine (both volcanos). But the weather was quite overcast, so for the first three days or so we were not able to see the mountains, or just barely see them.
We could see the water, though, and it is dark and vast, and looks like the ocean (probably because it is attached?). And we watched the gulls and eagles and people who were here for the “clam tides” as they went up and down the beach seeking their various treasures.
We found out that the solar panel doesn’t work very well when there is no sunshine to help it along. It works well enough (so far) to keep the fan in the heater going at night (a good thing because it gets down in the 30’s). But there’s not much left over, so we don’t listen to the radio like we did. We’ve heard a couple of the Dallas playoff games and a couple of the Saturday PBS shows that we like. But other than that the only sound is the sound of the waves and the birds calling to one another.
We did find our way to the Ranger Station in Ninilchik, which has a shower, as well as a washer, drier, and refrigerator that we can use. That is also where we pick up fresh water. And we can plug in to the electricity there to top off our batteries (and use the computer for a little while during that time). Before we found the office, though, it was really touch and go getting water. There is water here at the beach – but they recommend you boil it for 10 minutes before drinking it. Even so, it is discolored and sandy – generally yuk for consumption.
After two or three days in the campsite facing the Inlet, we moved our rig to the opposite end of the campground and now look out over Deep Creek. It is tidal (I guess that’s the word for it). When the tide is up, the sand bars in the creek are covered. Deep Creek is where the King Salmon will start their journey up to wherever they spawn. And the season starts soon – around the 30th, I think. Someone asked us if we had seen any bear yet. We haven’t – but we have seen dozens (up to 47 at a time) of bald eagles. They sit on the sand bars and on the side of the creek en masse, looking stately or funny. (When they walk, they are stiff-legged and have their heads down. They look like little stoop-shouldered old folks meandering along.)
Yesterday Bob worked on the electricity, making sure the camper was connected properly to the truck. It seems that the plug had vibrated loose and we had NO tail lights or directional signals on the camper when we drove. (It does that every once in a while, so we’ll have to keep a closer watch on it…) We were hopeful that with that corrected, driving would charge the batteries so that we might be able to use the radio or even plug the computers in for short periods anyway. We drove about 40 miles to Homer, Alaska, when he got the job finished – and at first it seemed to be working. But as soon as we got back to the campsite and the heater came on, all the extra juice drained and we are down to a 12.0 reading once more on our inverter.
Our trip to Homer was really great, though. Near a little settlement called Happy Valley, there are two eagles’ nests up in tall trees near the highway. We had noticed them on a little drive we took before. This time Ruthine was ready with the camera. Bob drove as close as he could get to the nest, with Ruthine snapping pictures, until Mother Eagle started to appear agitated. We didn’t want her to be upset, so we drove on. We’re hoping that we got a good shot or two, though. When we get to electricity and can have the computer up for a little while we’ll find out.
Homer is at the end of the land where Tutka Bay and Kachemak Bay meet, across from Kachemak Bay State Park (one of the “crown jewels” of the park system, as we understand it). It has something called “the spit” which is all touristy – and fishing boat-ish. It reminded us of Kemah, actually, except for the mountains across the bays. It looks charming – many galleries - and tourist “traps”, too, I’m sure. We will ask questions and go back there again, prepared to spend some time just wandering.
One of the best parts of the trip, though, was finding sunshine. The snow on the mountains just glistened in it. Hopefully we’ll have a few more sunny days up here, too, but a camper told Ruthine she shouldn’t count on many sunny days here. We’ll see.
Tomorrow and Wednesday are “days off”. Our plan is to drive to Seward, Alaska, tomorrow and spend the night there. It’s on Resurrection Bay. That’s supposed to be really pretty, too, and historic. But then, it all is. We’re told that the gold miners came across near there. More later…
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