Philip.AK
Paddler
A number of years ago I solo paddled from Homer to Seward Alaska around the Kenai Peninsula. It was without a doubt the most spectacular trip I have ever done. This is the first time I am finally putting it together in a full trip report. This may turn into a massive photo dump, so if you don't like that sort of thing, I strongly suggest you click on something else STAT!
Here's a map of southcentral Alaska. The area of detail is shown in the purple box.
My route is shown by the purple line.
The trip was about 300 miles and took almost 3 weeks. I had all the food I needed from the start since there was no easy option for resupply along the way. Almost the entire coast is either National Forest, Wilderness, or National Park land. Some day I would love to do the trip again, though I am hesitant since I doubt I would ever encounter such blessed weather.
Living in Kodiak as I do, the easiest way to get to Homer to start the trip is to hop on the Alaska Marine Highway, aka the ferry. Leaving Kodiak:
Arriving in Homer:
The paddle down Cook Inlet was uneventful. Camping south of English Bay near the outlet of Cook Inlet the first night:
Sunset over the Augustine Volcano:
Then I swung east and paddled through the Chugack Passage inside the three lovely Chugach Islands. Years ago I paddled from Kodiak to Homer and made landfall after a huge crossing when I arrived on Perl Island. To commemorate my return (and to wait out an extremely unfavorable tidal current ) I took a hike and climbed to the top of Perl Island.
From there I continued on to Windy Bay and camped the second night.
The next day was what a lot of folks told me would be the crux of the trip: Gore Point. By 'crux' I mean most of my fishermen friends said "you want to paddle around Gore Point? Yer gonna die." It wasn't so bad. Gore Pt is the far distant point of land:
Rounding the point I was greeted by mountain goats standing on the beach.
Some fat sea lions too.
I had lunch just around the point and dried out my stuff.
From there the weather started to change, and I paddled up into Nuka Bay just in time. I stopped briefly at the beach at the terminus of the Peterson Glacier as storm clouds gathered.
I crossed Nuka Bay to Nuka Island and went to an old homestead at one time owned by a fisherman named Herring Pete. This place was abandoned long ago after he was lost at sea and the whole area is now part of Kenai Fjords State Park.
I sometimes sleep in abandoned buildings when the weather is bad, but river otters had moved in long before me and pooped on every horizontal surface to a depth of 3 inches. It smelled like sh!t, so I moved on.
I camped on this tiny beach and the skies opened up and it POURED rain all night.
The next beach down the coast washed away during the night when a creek coming off the mountain turned into a raging torrent. Got lucky again.
Getting a weather forecast meant climbing to the top of Nuka Island the next day where the VHF reception was better.
The forecast didn't sound good, but I packed up camp and moved farther into Nuka Bay the next day and found my new home at an abandoned gold mining camp in Surprise Bay. My new, luxurious digs out of the rain:
The forest was reclaiming some long-forgotten mining equipment.
The good thing about all the rain was that literally every 100 feet there was another waterfall cascading into the ocean.
After paddling around the rest of Nuka Bay I headed east again and paddled through Mc Arthur Passage between the Pye Islands and the mainland.
The next bit of coastline was incredibly exposed and could have been scary if it weren't for the GLORIOUS weather I found.
The capes were HUGE and interspersed by shallow bays ringed by steep, high energy beaches. Not a place to be caught in bad weather.
Here's a map of southcentral Alaska. The area of detail is shown in the purple box.
My route is shown by the purple line.
The trip was about 300 miles and took almost 3 weeks. I had all the food I needed from the start since there was no easy option for resupply along the way. Almost the entire coast is either National Forest, Wilderness, or National Park land. Some day I would love to do the trip again, though I am hesitant since I doubt I would ever encounter such blessed weather.
Living in Kodiak as I do, the easiest way to get to Homer to start the trip is to hop on the Alaska Marine Highway, aka the ferry. Leaving Kodiak:
Arriving in Homer:
The paddle down Cook Inlet was uneventful. Camping south of English Bay near the outlet of Cook Inlet the first night:
Sunset over the Augustine Volcano:
Then I swung east and paddled through the Chugack Passage inside the three lovely Chugach Islands. Years ago I paddled from Kodiak to Homer and made landfall after a huge crossing when I arrived on Perl Island. To commemorate my return (and to wait out an extremely unfavorable tidal current ) I took a hike and climbed to the top of Perl Island.
From there I continued on to Windy Bay and camped the second night.
The next day was what a lot of folks told me would be the crux of the trip: Gore Point. By 'crux' I mean most of my fishermen friends said "you want to paddle around Gore Point? Yer gonna die." It wasn't so bad. Gore Pt is the far distant point of land:
Rounding the point I was greeted by mountain goats standing on the beach.
Some fat sea lions too.
I had lunch just around the point and dried out my stuff.
From there the weather started to change, and I paddled up into Nuka Bay just in time. I stopped briefly at the beach at the terminus of the Peterson Glacier as storm clouds gathered.
I crossed Nuka Bay to Nuka Island and went to an old homestead at one time owned by a fisherman named Herring Pete. This place was abandoned long ago after he was lost at sea and the whole area is now part of Kenai Fjords State Park.
I sometimes sleep in abandoned buildings when the weather is bad, but river otters had moved in long before me and pooped on every horizontal surface to a depth of 3 inches. It smelled like sh!t, so I moved on.
I camped on this tiny beach and the skies opened up and it POURED rain all night.
The next beach down the coast washed away during the night when a creek coming off the mountain turned into a raging torrent. Got lucky again.
Getting a weather forecast meant climbing to the top of Nuka Island the next day where the VHF reception was better.
The forecast didn't sound good, but I packed up camp and moved farther into Nuka Bay the next day and found my new home at an abandoned gold mining camp in Surprise Bay. My new, luxurious digs out of the rain:
The forest was reclaiming some long-forgotten mining equipment.
The good thing about all the rain was that literally every 100 feet there was another waterfall cascading into the ocean.
After paddling around the rest of Nuka Bay I headed east again and paddled through Mc Arthur Passage between the Pye Islands and the mainland.
The next bit of coastline was incredibly exposed and could have been scary if it weren't for the GLORIOUS weather I found.
The capes were HUGE and interspersed by shallow bays ringed by steep, high energy beaches. Not a place to be caught in bad weather.