Troutbirder II

Troutbirder II
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Thursday, April 23, 2015

Alaska Diary: Homer - Part XII

Day 18: Tuesday, Jun 27, 2000
Heading toward our destination southwest across the Kenai Peninsula we crossed the Russian River, where there are a number of giant National Forest Campgrounds with campsites all full and with people lined shoulder to shoulder along the river catching salmon. Not my idea of camping/flyfishing. So we move on.
And then there was Homer.  No, not he of the ancient Greeks and Trojan War, but of fishing - The Halibut Fishing Capitol of the World.  

Homer is on the shore of Kachemak Bay, part of Cook Inlet. Its most distinguishing feature is the Homer Spit, a narrow 4.5 mi  long gravel bar that extends into the bay, on which is located the Homer Harbor. Halibut and salmon sport fishing, along with tourism, commercial fishing, and logging are the dominant industries.  I checked out a Halibut Charter at $200 per person per day and you had to have four people to head out. My three land loving non fishing traveling companions didn't seem very enthusiastic ....  So much for catching the big one in Alaska.  I ordered Halibut for dinner that night in a very fine restaurant on the Spit...:)
 
That afternoon we had visited the home of friends of our friends Gary and Rosie. Gary had grown up in Winona, Minnesota and so had Jack.  Jack and his son Gary were commercial fisherman and as we sat along with Jacks wife Linda  in their gorgeous  log home the men  regaled us with stories of their work. It was all reminiscent of a later program on cable TV called Deadliest Catch. Jack built his own log home, did his own stained glass windows and much of the furniture.  My most fond  memory of the house was the bedroom view, thru a huge window, of the town, the bay and across the water of a series of mountain peaks
Later we head back to our campground and meander through Anchor Point Recreation Area - the most northwesterly point you can reach by car from the lower forty-eight.   We hike the beach and see countless eagles, and wildflowers, a smoking volcano in the distance knowing that this point was halfway on our journey.  Tomorrow on to Anchorage for four days  and then turning south to head for home....
 
 


 

19 comments:

  1. Beautiful photos, Trout!!! :)

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  2. I agree, the photos are beautiful and the log home... fantastic! I see this is day 18 and I can't imagine a trip that log, much less longer!

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  3. Love the log house, I always had a yen to live in a place like that. Who wouldn't, given the chance! The pictures are great, especially the blue poppies, at least I think that's what they are.

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  4. Wow-stunning photos. And what a beautiful home. Lucky you having that trip!

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  5. Wow, when you said Homer I was ready for halibut. I paid 25 a pound recently, or for 5 bucks less they had cheeks. Both were very good, a favorite to eat.

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  6. Amazing! I love the last two photos.

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  7. I also love the last two pictures the most, but I have enjoyed this series very much indeed. -)

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  8. I'm way behind with blogging, but here I am. Beautiful post, with some stunning photos. Love those last two!!

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  9. Those Blue Poppies are awesome! So is that Fireweed with the mountain view, what a beautiful place.What fun to meet an Alaskan Fisherman...I like that show Deadliest Catch:)

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  10. Love that log home--perfect-- and that last shot is how I picture Alaska when I hear the word.

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  11. Been in every location you were in,TB. Many, many times. Homer was a favorite place of mine when I lived in Anchorage. It was quite a place when I first moved there in '75....Homer was smaller then, and the population seemed equally divided between 'back to the earth' hippies and right-wing christians. Spent many a weekend at Anchor Point, fishing in the Anchor River.
    Thanks for the memories.

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  12. If you're up for going back I'll go in on the halibut charter with you. That is to say, maybe they'll let us work in the galley.

    Alaska was pretty much a blank slate for me before reading your journals and seeing your photographs. I usually imagined a few native villages and tetra miles of frozen wasteland, and then Juneau and Fairbanks which in my mind are amorphous shanty towns where the few shivering white people who made it up there sit huddled around something that emits fumes. So this has been enlightening. I'm glad you got the chance to do that.

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  13. So beautiful there. I love those blue flowers!

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  14. The way you write is such flowing. Keep writing. www.bellofpeace.org

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  15. The wildflowers are so beautiful! I've never been to Alaska but I'd be there in a minute if I could get my husband to agree - he's been there so he doesn't think he needs to go back :( My neighbor, Diane, who now lives in Anchorage, brought back halibut from her fishing trip and served it to us - delicious! Thanks for sharing these old pics.

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  16. Those blue flowers are gorgeous. Too bad about the fishing but can't say as I blame your friends. Halibut is expensive but not nearly as expensive as a charter boat.

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  17. Such gorgeous photos, especially the last one. Oh, you make me want to return to Alaska just for the wildflowers.

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  18. Beautiful photos. I found Alaska to be spectacular also.

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