July 28

All alone at Clam Gulch Campground- 120 campsites (well, packed in like sardines sites) and we were one of two campers here for two nights! with a view of the ocean! Clam digging used to be big here, really big, until they clammed them all out and the flats were shut down, so now hardly anyone uses this campground. We loved it! Used it to do errands and chores in Soldotna and Kenai- finding a pet groomer for Rhylee is always a challenge, however Petco’s have been reliable when we can find one- so Rhylee had his morning at the spa while we got the fuel filters changed on the truck, hit the Walmart and Home Depot, etc.

Anchor Point- the westernmost highway accessible point in the US! 4800 miles from West Quoddy Head, Maine- the easternmost point.
This is where Skidders go to die…. Extreme tides and very shallow flats here- look at how they launch boats here- all day long-
Homer- perhaps the first “tourist town” we have been to in Alaska. A long, narrow sand spit with RV parks, tourist shops and fishing charters and not much else.
Across the Cook Inlet are mountains and volcanoes and preserved land- only accessible by boat or plane. There are several very prominent high points over there and we watched for clear enough weather to get some pics- St. Augistine, Mt. Illiama, Redoubt Mtn. and Spurs Mtn.- around 10,000 ft. tall.

Doing a bit of fishing – as I mentioned before, the rules are very complex here- flowing water, lake, ocean, salmon vs other species, barbed vs unbarbed hooks, location, etc. etc. And then 5 species of salmon and steelhead trout that all look a lot alike. We watched some fish heading up stream near Captain Cook Rec Area- could they be steelhead? It is a NO salmon fishing area…At high tide we could fish for the salmon from the ocean side of the shore, but not in the river 50 ft away. Watched the sockeye jump in the Swanson Creek, but never onto our hooks- still a lovely day on the shore and not a soul around.

Lots of eagles and seagulls just waiting for a free meal:

Quartz Creek, back at Cooper Landing, starting to head towards Denali. And the sockeye are spawning here now and easily spotted in the river- NO fishing for them here, but so cool to watch…and sad- they live a few years in the ocean, come back to their birthwaters to spawn and then die…turning bright red in the days before they spawn.