If I Were Going...: September in Alaska #7 -- Soldotna

Originally, we were going to Soldotna just to fly to the Silver Salmon Creek Lodge. Since it’s a long drive from Denali, we really didn’t plan on spending time there. But, since we left Denali early, we had more time to explore the Kenai and Soldotna.

I am glad we did, partially because the weather cleared ...

Some luminescence

... partially because it's a neat town ...

Scott

... and, well, read on for the other reason.

Soldotna, with a population of about 5,000, sits on the Kenai River shortly before it empties into Cook Inlet in the nearby city of Kenai.

Kenai River

It is located on the western edge of the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge, a protected area spanning nearly 2 million acres and home to bears, moose, caribou, sheep and many types of fish and bird species.

Are you protecting me?

Although we thought that the town is an old Russian settlement, it really isn’t. It was actually founded in1947, after World War II, when the U.S. government withdrew a number of townships along Cook Inlet and the lower Kenai River from the Kenai National Moose Range, opening up the area to settlement under the Homestead Act. Veterans were given a 90-day preference over non-veterans in selecting land and filing for property. Also in that year, the Sterling Highway right-of-way was cleared of trees from Cooper Landing to Kenai and the location of present-day Soldotna was selected as the site for the highway's bridge crossing the Kenai River.

It has some amusing place names ...

Really?

It is, for the most part, a “regular” town – with a Safeway, a high school (that was preparing for homecoming), restaurants, an old Russian church ...

Signs of Alaska's Russian heritage

... and a couple of interesting residents just on the outskirts of town ...

Moose calves

Female Alaskan Moose

We visited several nearby beaches (and watched some guys get their Camry stuck in the deep sand -- we just left ours in the parking lot) ...

Beach

We also took a drive through Kenai to discover that there is a pretty large oil industry there.

Not for tourists

We also laughed at an ad we saw on several medical clinics.

Probably for tourists

I guess that’s a pretty common problem.

Almost fall

In the afternoon, we took a long drive looking for Caribou.

We didn’t see any, but we did see some lovely trees that looked like they were trying to get ready for fall.

We were also scouting for a spot that might be good for aurora viewing if any should appear. We found a nice secluded road near the old airport that might work.

Now, all we needed was a clear sky and some electromagnetic action. And, guess what? We got it!