June 7, 2024

 Today was mostly a travel day going approximately 170 miles from Seward to Homer, the Halibut fishing capital of the world.  The roads are unpaved in sections and often one lane in each direction so travel speed was limited to how fast the RV in front of you is traveling.  Departing Seward, we made one last stop at the Bear Creek Weir.  A weir is a way of channeling fish (Salmon in this case) so they can be counted and controlled,  Here is a link with additional information

 https://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=viewinglocations.bearcreekweir

At the weir, a designated number of fish are let through each day (up to 6,500) and then the rest are captured.  The captured Salmon are separated from their eggs or sperm and then the Salmon are given to commercial fisherman.  The egg and sperm are mixed and the released into Bear Lake.  After about 2 years the Fry then begin their trip down Bear Creek and into Resurrection Bay and the ocean where they mature into adults.  Eventually they will return up Bear Creek to spawn and die.

We took an 18 mile diversion off the highway and on to Skilak Lake road.  There were beautiful pull offs, trail heads and camping grounds.  Along that road we saw our first Black Bear running across the road.  It was too fast to get a picture.  Laura had planned several stops along the way but many of them fizzled.  Navigation was incorrect and we could not find our goal at Anchor Point or Clam Gulch.  Clam Gulch almost did us in as I went to make a three point turn on a narrow dirt road and backed one rear tire off of a 4 foot drop.  Fortunatley our little Hyundai Accent had front wheel drive and was able to pull us back onto solid ground.  We also stopped at an old Orthodox Church that we could only view from the outside.  A more pleasuarble stop was the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center in Soldotna.  I chatted with the lady behind the desk and found that she lives in Crystal River, Florida, most of the year.  Her and her husband man the center for a slight stipend from April to September.  They live in their RV on governtment land for the summer.  Our final destination in Homer is the Land's End Resort where Homer ends at the Kachemak Bay.  The resort is an older building with small rooms.  So small that the double bed has another mattress that pulls out from underneath.  Guess who will be sleeping on the floor.  Laura has been ill the last few days so pictures of her are limited to distance shots.  Hopefully she will feel better soon,