If I Were Going...: September in Alaska #8 -- Kasilof and Homer Spit

With an extra day on the Kenai, Scott looked for a fishing guide. But, no luck on short notice. So, we decided to drive down to Homer to see the sights. It was a rainy, overcast day. But, there were moments of sunlight and some beautiful clouds.

A beautiful beach

We started off at Kasilof beach, which is just south of Soldotna. We were looking for beluga whales, but never saw any. It is, typical of that part of Alaska, a gravel/rock beach.

On the beach; Right photo: Scott Stevens

After Scott headed back to the car, I walked down the beach because I wanted to photograph some gulls.

A flock takes off

Then, behind the gulls, I saw an immature bald eagle. As I approached, he took off and flew around the corner.

At first, I thought it was a Golden Eagle

As I followed him, I saw three or four more.

Not as graceful as the other shots

I clicked off a few shots before we headed south.

That's more like it

We didn’t go to the town of Homer; rather, we headed for the Spit.

Homer

The Homer Spit, a very narrow 4.5-mile-long piece of land that juts out into Kachemak Bay, is home to the Homer Boat Harbor.

The Harbor

The harbor contains both deep and shallow water docks and serves up to 1,500 commercial and pleasure boats at its summer peak. It was winding down for the season when we arrived. It features the longest road into ocean waters in the world, taking 10-15 minutes to cover by car. The spit sits about 19 feet above sea level, making it susceptible to storm surge.

Buildings on the Spit

While not the southernmost part of the Kenai Peninsula, it is as far south as you can drive.

This says it all

There are two different theories postulate on how the spit originated: the tidal swells and currents of Cook Inlet and Kachemak Bay built it up over millennia or it was pushed into place by now-retreated glaciers. In 1899, the Cook Inlet Coal Fields Company laid a railroad track along the spit, connecting the docks to the coal fields along Kachemak Bay.

The sky, water and mountains are gorgeous

Local, fresh AND tasty!

The resulting business led to the development of what eventually became Homer. The 1964 earthquake shrank the Spit to 508 acres and killed most of the vegetation, making it mostly gravel and sand.

We wandered a bit, had a fantastic lunch at Captain Patties Fish House. I had a grilled halibut sandwich (some of the best halibut I have ever had) and Scott had local Kachemak Bay oysters and a salad.

After lunch, we stopped at the Spirit of Alaska art store that had a stupendous inventory.

A little shopping (rare for me)

We each bought a piece (normally, it is just Scott who buys native art, but I just loved the piece I bought). It is an owl carved by Charles Slwooko from St. Lawrence Island, the best place to find native crafts.

I LOVE this!

It is made of the fossilized cheekbone of a walrus (taking advantage of the natural curve where the tusk is seated).

Sometimes one purchase is just so special

It is embellished with whale baleen ...

I assume it's a Snowy Owl

... and is mounted on a pedestal of fossilized Steller’s Sea Cow rib bone. Similar to the manatee, the Steller’s sea cow had fed the native peoples for centuries. It was hunted to extinction by 1768 by Russian fur hunters, just 27 years after they first encountered the creature.

Scott's is a fetish showing a half person/half squid in walrus tusk.

Not bad, either

As we headed home, the sun started to peek out and we enjoyed the view on the beach as the snow-capped peaks across the inlet started to come through.