Hiking - Watermelon Trail (the 1.5 hr version)

Seeping vistas from Watermelon Trail

Stats

Distance:  14.3 miles (one way)                       Difficulty: Easy-Moderate

Summary

Watermelon trail was recommended to us by some friends.  So on a beautiful day in early July we decided to try out the trail.  Watermelon trail is really an ATV trail (which is why it's so long), but we were the only ones on the trail the day we hiked it.

Opinion

This trail has some great views.  This hike will probably be amazing

Adventure - Sightseeing on the 26 Glacier Cruise

Blackstone Glacier

Stats

Difficulty: Easy                                                                                               Time:  5+ hours

Summary

If you want a day packed with glaciers, wildlife, and flat seas, Phillips Cruises 26 Glacier Cruise out of Whittier on the M/V Klondike Express is right up your alley.  The cruise includes the 26 glaciers including a nice close-up view of 2 of them; a good chance (but no guarantee) of seals, sea lions, otters, dolphins, and whales; and a kittiwake nesting area.

Opinion

This trip is good for tourists or locals, photographers, sightseers, kids and adults.  Over the course of the five-hour, we took over 3,000 pictures!  We were actually beginning to worry about maxing out our 64 GB camera memory cards.  The company does a good job of 

Adventure - Tutka Bay Cooking Class

Tutka Bay Lodge

Stats

Difficulty: Easy                                                                                                   Time:  Half-day

Summary

There is no shortage of activities available on the Kenai Peninsula.  One of the more unexpected is a cooking lesson at the Tutka Bay Cooking School.  This half-day trip starts with a ride from the Homer docks (unless you are already staying at the Tutka Bay Lodge).  For there you take a water taxi to Tutka Bay Lodge where you are met and escorted to the long house where the cooking lessons are taught.

Opinion

This was a blast.  Not only do you learn to cook a dish on the style for the weekend (Italian, French, Alaskan), you get a full multi-course meal and the all the recipes for the meal.  Not only that,

Hiking - Skilak Lookout Trail

View from the top of the trail

Stats

Distance:  4 miles                              Difficulty: Moderate                                     Time:  4 hrs

Summary

The Skilak Lookout Trail ends at a truly spectacular view of the mountains and Skilak lake.  Best of all, it has beautiful views all along the trail and, at least in June, there were wildflowers everywhere.  The hike itself wasn't too bad most of the time.  We considered it moderate because of occasional steep spots and muddy patches.  It also has a steady low incline to the top of the mountain for a total elevation change of 790 feet.

Opinion

This is is very pleasant hike with truly spectacular views.  The high angle view of Skilak Lake is beautiful; Skilak Lake has that beautiful milky blue color unique to glacier lakes.  In addition, there was a wide variety of spring flowers all along the trail.

Trail Advice

Sweat resistant mosquito repellent is a must.  The bugs were out in force.

If the temperature is acceptable before you start, a jacket is probably not necessary.  You will produce enough heat on the trail to keep you warm.  

In the spring (June in Alaska) the trail can be muddy in spots.  Wear hiking shoes you don't mind getting muddy.

Suitability

This trail is suitable for adults and children.  But the trail is a total of 4 miles with some climbing so be sure you and your kids are up for it.

Trailhead

Trailhead from the road

Warnings

To find the Skilak Lookout Trail take Skilak Lake Rd from the Sterling Hwy.  Skilak Lake Rd is a loop of sorts that starts and ends at Sterling Hwy.  There is an East entrance just outside Cooper Landing and a West entrance a few miles outside Sterling.  You can take either entrance.  The trailhead is a mile 5.4 on Skilak Lake Rd.  The parking area is on the north side of the road and the trail is on the south side.  It is well labeled.

The Hike

This trail is one of many in the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge.  The maps for these trails can be found on the Kenai Refuge Map website.  We chose this trail because the 2014 Funny River Wildfire was still burning and we wanted to see of we could see the fire or fire damage from the overlook.  

Boardwalk near the trailhead

The trail starts through a dense spruce forest along side a creak, but quickly opens into meadows filled with alpine wildflowers.  Many of the trails in this section of the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge are in an area that burned in 1996 and this is one of those trails.  At first it can be difficult to tell the area burned, but then you realize the large open meadows along the trail were once spruce forest.  The area is quickly being reclaimed by birch, cottonwood, and alder.  In a few more years the trees will be tall enough to overtake the meadows and the character of the walk will change again.  

Early view of Skilak Lake

You can also still see some dead, burned standing trees and more fallen spruce can be seen on either side of the trail.  The fallen trees have opened up the view and as a result you get frequent terrific views of Skilak Lake and the surrounding mountains.  

Eidelweiss

June is early spring on the Kenai Peninsula and the trail was lined with a huge variety of wildflowers.  Most common on the lower trail was Edelweiss, but there was also Lupine, wild Rose, wild Geranium and many more.  The flowers made the trail a delight to walk.

Wild Rose

The trail is pretty much a shallow constant grade with occasional steep spots and some muddy area.  The steep spots all have good switchbacks making the trail easy to walk most of the time.  We listed it as moderate because of the few steep areas and the muddy patches.  This trail has been hiked a lot and, as a result, the trail has sunk 2 or 3 inches into the peat that makes up the soil of the area and is rather narrow, so the footing can be tricky sometimes.

A view from the top

When you get to the top the view makes this hike very much worth it.  There is a 270 degree of the Wildlife Refuge.  Interestingly, there was no view of either the Funny River fire or the areas it had burned.  The good news is the way down is just a beautiful as the way up and is easier going.

Another view from the top

Hiking - Bishop's Beach at a Very Low Tide

Low tide at Bishop's Beach

Stats

Distance:  Up to you                             Difficulty: Easy                                   Time:  Up to you

Summary

Bishop's Beach is probably the best known beach in Homer.  This beach is popular for dog walking, clamming, and driving.  On an unusually beautiful Saturday in May the low tide was lower than -3 ft.  We decided to hike on the beach to see if we could find sea stars.

Opinion

At high tide Bishop's Beach is a fairly ordinary beach, but at low tide it becomes something special.

Hiking - Kenai National Wildlife Refuge Ranger Station

Boardwalk across the marsh

Stats

Distance:  0.25 miles                            Difficulty: Easy                                    Time:  15 min

Summary

We stopped at the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge ranger station, located on Ski Hill Rd in Soldatna to see if they had hiking maps or other useful information about the hiking in the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge.  The refuge is enormous, covering most of the northern Kenai Peninsula, but only a relatively small part actually has maintained trails.  The ranger station has a variety of activities for children and adults, but there are only 3 short trails at this location.

Opinion

If you are looking for information on parts of this refuge we haven't covered yet, stop here!  The people at this ranger station were a wealth of information!  They helped us find a variety of short hikes ranging from a few hours to a day.  Moreover, when we expressed and interest in kayaking, they pointed out the best lakes for kayaking contained within the refuge.  They also warned us off of a few; apparently they suffer from high winds and wind driven waves as high as 4 feet or more.

The trails near this ranger station are pleasant and wind through the spruce and cottonwood forest.  We took the shortest, a quarter-mile trail to the lake, because were were short on time that day.

Trail Advice

This trail has the usual voracious mosquitoes during summer and has little shade.  We strongly recommend a good coating of both sunscreen and mosquito repellent.

Suitability

The trails around the Visitors Center is suitable for all ages, but not wheelchairs.  These trails are often used for children's educational programs.

Trailhead

To find the ranger station:

• From Homer:  Take Sterling Hwy north.  Turn right on Ski Hill Rd (across from Sky View High School).  Follow the gravel road about a mile and watch for the signs for the Visitors Center.  The turn will be to the right.
• From the north:  Just before you exit Soldatna, turn left on Funny River Rd.  Turn right about one block later onto Ski Hill Rd.  Follow the gravel road about 1 mile and watch for the signs for the Visitors Center.  The turn will be on the left.

The Visitor Center

We were in Soldatna shopping for things we can't get in Homer.  Were weren't in the mood to hike (too busy), but we'd been passing a National Refuge sign for months and were curious.  So, that day, we decided to drive the road and see what we found.  What we found was a visitor center with very helpful rangers and support staff.

After a quick look around their displays we struck up a conversation with a ranger and the lady manning the information desk.  We asked them about the day hike trails in the refuge.  We got lots of suggestions and you will be seeing posts about them over the next few weeks.  At the time we visited, spring was just beginning and the hikes would have been barren and brown.  Now the Kenai has exploded with life and we are just waiting for good weather to start hiking the recommended trails.

We also asked about kayaking.  They warned us away from Skilak Lake and Tustamena Lake.  Although they look very promising, it turns out they are not safe for small craft (even motorized ones).  When the wind picks up--and it does virtually every day--waves on the lake can get over 4 ft in height.  They also advised against Engineer Lake.  It isn't as dangerous as the other two, but suffers from high wind and waves as well.

The Hike

Marshland

After we finished chatting with the rangers, we decided to walk the shortest of the trails to stretch our legs.  The hike is very short and pleasant.  It winds down a hill to the lake behind the ranger station.  Most of the trail is through a spruce forest rich with spruce, cottonwood, birch, moss, and lichen.  At the end it lets out on a marsh where a boardwalk takes you to the lake.  

I wouldn't go out of my way to do this hike, but if I were stopping at the Visitors Center for information, I would definitely take a break from driving on this trail.

The Funny River Fire

Smoke heading south on
Sterling Highway

Smoke from the Funny River fire

People considering hiking in the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge might be concerned about the effects of the Funny River Fire.  We've crosschecked the maps against the fire and, large as it was, the fire was to the south of the trails.  In fact, most of the area burned was true wilderness.  However, if you are planning to hike in the Cooper Landing region or near this Visitor Center, I would recommend waiting until the fire is fully controlled.

Adventure - Under the Dock Tour (a view of dock life)

At the docks

Stats

Difficulty: Easy                                                                                                        Time:  2 hrs

Summary

Every May, the Homer Chamber of Commerce hosts the Kachemak Bay Shorebird Festival.  The festival celebrates the passage of huge numbers of migratory birds through Kachemak Bay.  It lasts 3 days and is jam-packed with bird-watching, hikes, talks, kayaking, and boat tours.  One of the activities we chose to do was "Under the Dock" a naturalist guided discussion of the life under the Homer docks.  This tour was sponsored and led by the Center for Alaskan Coastal Studies.  They offer a variety of guided tours throughout the year.

Opinion

This was a delightful tour.  At first is seemed like something only for children, but