Sunrise over Turnagain Arm
We toured the old town of Hope,
Hiked part of the Gull Rock trail,
Until we could see Gull Rock in the distance. It was over 5 miles to get there, so we didn’t do it all.
Had lunch and yummy homemade rhubarb pie here, another historic landmark in Hope.
Then on down the Seward Highway to a stop at Jerome Lake for this picture,
And this tern reflection. There was a beaver lodge, and saw the beaver swimming across. He slapped his tail and dove before I got his picture.
At the turn onto the Sterling Highway is Tern Lake, a nesting place for many birds. I was busy photographing gull courtship rituals,
And the scernery,
When a commotion caught my attention…an eagle was invading a nest, and the gulls were attacking it
It finally flew off, it’s prey in its claws, with gulls still bombarding it.
They chased him quite a ways
Back to the other birds….ducklings
And this unknown (to me) bird with his catch.
Next stop was Cooper Landing where we found a community yard sale selling fresh halibut fish and chips….looked like lunch to us.
We toured the unique hillside cemetery. There are no casket laws here, so people can be buried wherever they want, and any kind of memorial left. Some are buried in their sleeping bags…whatever. So, we wandered through the woods and came across several hand carved or constructed memorials. Here’s an example.
We drove down Snug Harbor Road, a gravel road to a lake at the end,.
And saw this big porcupine.
My daughter Jennifer and I stayed at the Princess Lodge last year on our tour.
And watched the rafters floating by…
This year Carol and I decided to take the rafting trip. First we had to don rubber boots,
And waders,
And of course a PFD.
On our 3 hour float trip, we saw beautiful views,
Went over some rapids,
Ooh, that was fun!
Why we needed rubber boots…
Saw salmon fishermen,
This was a salmon fisherman who got his salmon! It was hard to get good pictures while our boat was bobbing up and down, but if you look in the stream, you can see his prize coming.
And another salmon fisherman…
More scenery…
We took the 6 p.m. tour, and the evening light glinted on the water toward the end.
These Mergansers “ran” across the water in front of us.
All done, we made it!
Our neat little free camping spot on the Kenai River….owner of the gas station told Carol we could stay there behind his station.
Down the road we met up with Bob in Soldotna. Another dedicated salmon fisherman, down on his luck, but certainly dressed for success! Good luck, Bob, we’ll be back for salmon.
