Kenai Peninsula ~ Ring of Fire ~ Alaska

We followed the Sterling Hwy and saw the volcanoes in the Ring of Fire 

We left Hope, AK on a nice summer morning after a short tour of the village and headed back out to Highway 1 to Sterling Highway Junction at Hwy 9.  We will continue to follow #1 to take us across the Peninsula on the Sterling Hwy down to Homer for our next stop.

Highway 1 on the Kenai Peninsula

We are now on the Kenai (kee-nye) Peninsula where most tourists will visit when they head to Alaska.  There has been some great scenery we got to enjoy on our travels this summer and the Kenai Peninsula has definitely got some more of that.

Kenai Peninsula scenery

The lush green mountains on this drive continue all morning of our day.  The summer blooms are out and the Fireweed lines the roads, adding more to the beauty of the area.  

Fishermen line the shores of the Russian River

We are here during the peak fishing season so have been seeing many fishermen in the rivers as we pass by.  Boatloads of them plus shorelines with dozens of fishermen lined up to catch some salmon. 

Sterling Highway

There is over 23,000 square kilometres (9,000 sq mi) on the Peninsula all filled with glaciers, the Kenai Mountains, rivers, lakes and great seasonal fishing. There are several towns and we pass through some of those today on our travels following Hwy 1 and so many lodges that accommodate the hunters and fishermen and those here for adventures like the white water rafting .

Kenai River

This peninsula is known as “Alaska’s Playground” and tourism is a major industry.  Alaska does  not have areas called a county as in the other states, but is called a borough, instead.  There are over 58,000 people living in the Kenai Peninsula Borough, which is quite a lot compared to other boroughs in the sparsely populated state of Alaska.  The cities of Fairbanks and Anchorage are the only more populated boroughs.

Mt. Redoubt

The glacier covered Mt. Redoubt is part of the Aleutian Range and has erupted several times over the years.  This is part of the Pacific Ring of Fire, which encircles the Pacific Ocean.  It covers 40,000 kilometres (25,000 miles) in a horseshoe shape.  There are a total of 452 volcanoes on the Ring of Fire, which is more than 75% of the worlds’ total number of volcanoes.  Thankful for a sunny day to be able to see these beauties.

Mt. Iliamna

We are now viewing Mt. Iliamna of the Pacific Ring of Fire.  It is actually 84 km (52 mi) away but with an elevation of over 3100 metres (10,197’) is a sight to see.  This mountain frequently spits out some steam but has no record of eruption.  Imagine living across this field of color looking at that beautiful mountain every day!

View of the Kenai Mountains

We are now approaching Homer which is graced with this view of these Kenai Mountains across the Kachemak Bay.  We are enjoying the sights from the Homer viewpoint which included flower and vegetable gardens grown and maintained by the Homer Garden Club.  The flowers may be expected at a viewpoint but surely not a vegetable garden.  Great idea! I looked for a sign to explain but none was found.  I wondered if the mature veggies were shared with whomever needed them.

Homer Spit, Alaska

We have arrived in Homer and are able to see the Homer Spit which we will follow to find ourselves an RV spot to camp in.  We had nothing booked but we do manage to find a spot, more on that next time.  The temperature is almost 21 C (69F), which is higher than the average, when we arrive so great weather to enjoy.

Turnagain Arm ~ Hope ~ Alaska

We follow the shores of the Turnagain Arm in Alaska

Anchorage is almost surrounded by water of the Prince William Sound on the east and Cook Inlet on the southwest.  The city sits on Turnagain Arm at the northern end of Cook Inlet.  We continued to follow Highway #1 to take us down the Kenai Peninsula.

Waters of Cook Inlet

The Cook Inlet is 290 km (180 mi) long and lies to the west of the Kenai Peninsula offering some great views on this sunny day.   James Cook was not the first explorer but he was looking for the Northwest Passage on his first attempt in 1778.  George Vancouver, who had served under Captain Cook named the inlet after him in 1794.

Portage Glacier

The Portage Glacier is included in Chugah National Forest.  It was named in 1898 because it was part of the portage route used between Prince William Sound and Turnagain Arm in those days.  The glacier filled the entire valley hundreds of years ago. Although all separated now, there were five other glaciers all connected to one another in those times, as well.

Placer River Overflow

We are following the Turnagain Arm on this part of Highway 1.  This was named by William Bligh of HMS Bounty fame.  He’d served on Cook’s third and final voyage seeking the Northwest Passage who once again learned that the river’s mouth would not take them where they needed to go so they had to ‘turn again’, therefore the name for the Turnagain River and Arm.  

Turnagain Pass

We were now on the Kenai Peninsula but turned off Highway 1 to find our way to the small hamlet of Hope, Alaska for our next overnight stay.  This drive was about 25 km (15 mi) along the southern side of the Turnagain Arm.

Cabins in Hope, Alaska

The small village of Hope has a population of under 200 now but at one time was a thriving community of 3000 people. Years before Anchorage was founded, news of the Six Mile Creek gold rush in 1895 brought thousands of people and it became one of Alaska’s first gold rushes.  In 1898, the word of Yukon’s Klondike Gold Rush caused most of them to leave, leaving only 23 people in Hope.  Some original buildings still remain today.

Seaview RV park

Welcome to the Seaview RV park at Hope, Alaska.  It is situated at the end of the road and we considered ourselves lucky there were empty spots with all the fishing we’d seen along the way.

The view was great, the price was right and they were right next door to the Seaview Café. 

Fishing on Resurrection Creek

Resurrection Creek is one of the tributaries of Turnagain Arm and the RV park at Hope sits at the mouth of this creek. We took our chairs and afternoon refreshments down there to watch the crowd.  There were families enjoying the water and fishermen there to fish some sockeye.  It took only moments for a fish to grab the hook, it looked so easy, it didn’t look like sport fishing as we know it. 

Seaview Cafe in Hope, Alaska

The café offers a pub and cafe where we sat out on the deck between the two for dinner.  We had the best halibut burger, ever!  The menu was a good one and prices were good, too.  We spent the rest of the evening sitting outside the RV enjoying the view till the sun went down.