The Kenai Peninsula and Seward

The Kenai Peninsula, with its many volcanoes, turquoise rivers, glaciers spilling from jagged peaks, fishing and clamming is a destination for most travelers.  One highway, the Seward Highway, allows travel south of Anchorage.  The Seward Highway follows the Turnagain Arm of Cook Inlet hugging the water and the mountains.  We have seen sheep, belugas, bore tides and near fatal car accidents while traveling this dangerous, albeit spectacularly beautiful highway.  The Seward eventually forks and the Sterling Highway continues to the town of Homer at the end of the peninsula.  Our mission was to camp at Clam Gulch taking advantage of a minus tide and dig there for razor clams.  Minus tides, tides that are lower than low,occur only a few times a month exposing these clams.  Razor clams are sought after for chowders and frying.  We like them fried.  One must have a fishing license to clam and follow the regulations set by the State.  This includes taking clams with broken shells if this occurs while harvesting and not exceeding the harvest limit.  Razor clams can be as long as 6 inches and have thin sharp shells, hence the name.

The dimple in the sand is what gives the clam's location away.  We use a clam gun to dig while some people use a shovel.  On this day, we seemed to be the only folks on the beach.  I had the feeling that most locals had done their clamming earlier in the summer.



Bucky, alone on the beach.



Cook Inlet with set net buoy



the harvest



the Seward Highway along the Turnagain Arm of Cook Inlet



Cleaning the clams took many hours but having a lovely campsite looking out at Mt. Redoubt made it pure pleasure.

Heading back north, we took the short detour into Ninilchik, a Russian town dating back to the early 1900's.  Remember, this is old by Alaskan standards.  No roads, only trails created by the Native Americans existed until 1951 when you could finally drive a car to Anchorage!  The old families of Ninilchik are both Russian Orthodox and Native American.  Fishing is important here.  The old buildings became evident when poking around.  Modern Ninilchik is out on the Sterling Highway.


downtown Ninilchik and Mt Redoubt



Ninilchik old town



Russian Orthodox church

We had sunshine everyday while on the Kenai.  Because of this, we decided to revisit the town of Seward.   When we visited before, it was too foggy to see the  mountains and glaciers that surround this town. Seward receives over 67 inches of rain annually.  It is the gateway of Kenai Fjords National Park.  Most of the cruise lines dock in this small town and passengers are  transported by bus and train to the interior of Alaska.  Seward is a destination of ocean fisherman.  The original Iditarod Trail began here in 1910 as a mail route between Seward and Nome.  Seward is well known for its beauty, hiking trails, fishing and ocean accessability.


downtown Seward on Resurrection Bay



Exit Glacier lies just outside of Seward.  It is possible to walk up to this glacier.  This glacier descends from the Harding Icefield, one of the largest in the world.