Living in Alaska - Life in the Last Frontier

I’ve got a wireless signal here, although I don’t know why. From what the proprietors told us, there was wireless available through a local ‘pay per use’ service, and I was more than willing to use it. I logged on - waiting to see the screen where it asks for your credit card number, and there wasn’t one. Needless to say, I’m taking advantage of my good fortune to update this journal.

Steve and I left Soldotna yesterday at noon, and stopped at Fred Meyer to top off our gas tanks ($4.61/gallon with our store discount card). He continued onward, and I ran into the store to pick up a few things that we needed. I let him know that I planned to take Skilak Lake Road, off of the Sterling Highway, so I could grab a few photos of Skilak Lake. Skilak Lake Road starts and ends on the Sterling Hwy, but adds a few extra miles to the route. It’s also a gravel road, with 35mph speed limits - when the road is in good condition.

As soon as I turned onto the road, there was a huge flashing traffic sign warning of “Rough road ahead”. They weren’t kidding! While some areas were in good enough condition to nudge my speed up to 30mph, a huge portion of the road was so deeply rutted and pot-holed, that I crept along at 15-20mph to keep from losing my undercarriage or getting a flat tire.

There are quite a few campground/boat access areas along Skilak Lake Road, so I wasn’t alone as I made my way down the tree-lined road. Fortunately, the traffic was sparse, which kept down the huge dust cloud we all left in our wake.

My first stop for a photograph was a pull-out overlooking Engineer Lake. The mosquitoes immediately settled on the part in my hair (they seem to like that part of me the best!), so I only stayed outside my vehicle long enough to shoot a few frames to merge for a panoramic photograph (1000 pixels):

My next stop was the overlook I was looking forward to - the view of Skilak Lake itself. Skilak Lake is formed from the waters of the Kenai River and melt off from Skilak Glacier on the eastern end of the lake.

Skilak lake lies in the valley carved by the receding glaciers of past. Shorelines vary from gentle sloping spruce and aspen covered forests to vertical rock walls jetting high out of the water. I took several photographs from the overlook - both panoramic views and single frame photos.

I arrived in Cooper Landing about 30 minutes after Steve. On the way up to the campground (Princess Lodge RV Park), there’s an overlook with a fabulous view of Kenai Lake. Kenai Lake (and Kenai River) have the most brilliant turquoise water, caused by glacial silt. You truly have to see it to believe it.

By the time I got to the campground, Steve already had the camper fully set up. That was a very nice surprise! We settled in, took the dog for a walk, and Steve packed his fishing bag for his salmon trip today. This is the replacement trip for the cancellation on Thursday.

I decided to keep myself busy today with a Saddle/Paddle Adventure with Alaska Horsemen Trail Adventures here in Cooper Landing. First I’ll be going on a scenic 2-hour trail ride (which is about all that my behind is going to be able to handle!), then I’ll have time to pan for gold and enjoy a campfire lunch before going off on a relaxing float down the Kenai River.

The weather is a bit overcast, but the tour guides will provide us with cowboy hats and *outback* outerwear for the trail ride and rain gear and boots for the float trip, so even if it rains I’ll stay dry. Keeping my camera dry will be a concern, and I think I’m going to take my 20D, as opposed to my new 40D - just in case. I hope it’s a fun adventure, and I’m not too sore afterwards.

Before I end this entry, I wanted to share the photos I took on our hike on Thursday. There weren’t many photos because of the hungry mosquitoes, but these two are a good representation of how pretty the walk was. You can see in the first photo, that the path is covered with wood mulch early on. Further along, it’s a little rougher to walk with exposed tree roots and uneven terrain. What really caught my attention was the beautiful ground cover of ferns, dwarf dogwoods, and other wildflowers.

Tomorrow we have plans to go exploring. A few years ago, we drove to Cooper Lake, which is a bit out of the way (gravel road), but a beautiful spot to throw in a line and enjoy the scenery. There are rainbow trout and northern pike in the water, so that should keep Steve busy for awhile. We have Monday as a free day too, and don’t have any plans as of yet. Perhaps I’ll accompany him to the Russian River while he takes part in some exciting combat fishing.

Time to get myself ready for my Saddle/Paddle adventure! Until next time…