Exit Glacier & The Kenai Peninsula: USA / Canada 2018
On leaving Seward we headed straight to Exit Glacier in the Kenai Fjords National Park. Once again we had lovely clear blue skies and sunshine, perfect for exploring the many trails at the glacier. We first hiked to Glacier Overlook, amazed by the year markers that show how the glacier has retreated. Having seen it 20 years ago it is astonishing.
Given such perfect weather we then decided to hike up to the Marmot Meadow – this was an uphill hike! We were rewarded with stunning views and were very jealous of people who had time to carry on this trail taking them further up. Something we added to out list for next time!
We then completed the loop stopping by Glacier View at the bottom.
Once we’d finished our lunch we headed north and stopped by Bear Creek Weir again, but there were no bears or salmon so we went on and had a wander around the Russian River Ferry area. This is now a paid area, however, we found a small lay-by just a little before were we parked for a short time to visit the ferry landing and look at the river.
As we had time we did a small detour and drove down the Skilak Lake Road towards Hidden Creek. We’d read about this road and were interested in seeing some of it. It is a dirt road, we drove down around 5.1 miles to the overlook but decided to head back after this, however when we visited it was a nice solid road.
We were using Soldotna as our base for the next couple of nights, so explored the boardwalks along the river near our hotel. Not quite what we were expecting but pleasant!
The next morning we headed straight out to Kenai town – a strange small town, then continued south on the road towards Homer. We had great views across the water and stopped at mile points 125 and 127 to enjoy the stunning views of the volcanoes across the water.
We then made our way to Ninilchik to have a look around the historic Russian Orthodox church. A beautiful building in a stunning location.
Next, it was onto Anchor Point at mile 157 – the most westernmost highway point in North America, we like these sort of marker points! This was another beautiful spot, very busy with fishing boat trailers.
Then it was down towards Homer Spit.
We got a fab parking spot right on the waterfront where you could park for up to 7 days for free, if only we’d had a motorhome! Although there were lots of cars parked up it wasn’t manic with people and nice for a wander.
We enjoyed a very tasty salmon & halibut with chips and some very yummy Tahitian Vanilla Bean ice cream, however, at $4.50 for one scoop, we shared!
There are lots of boardwalks to wander around the wooden shops or along the waterside and the marina.
On leaving the Spit we headed to the overlook on West Skyline drive – a truly amazing view.
On our drive back to Soldotna we had the pleasure of viewing a moose with two calves, ahh! Another thoroughly enjoyable and amazing day.
On a sidenote, our hotel was very near to the Moose Is Loose Bakery which we have to say offered some very delicious bakery items!
Next, it was back north to Anchorage….first calling in at Hope then taking a tour up the Turnagain Arm. Read all about it here.