The road to Kenai

Days: 54-56

Mile: 6387

We spent two days in Anchorage, arriving on July 3 and departing on July 5. Which means we were in the 49^th State for their 4^th of July celebration.  My college roommate, Anne, suggested we see the parade, go to the Alaska Native Heritage Center, and have pizza at the Moose’s Tooth.  We managed two of three. The Heritage Center was closed so we replaced it with a visit to the Anchorage Museum.

Gary would probably say he doesn’t agree with me, but I have always thought of the Kenai Peninsula as the true destination and reason for our journey. I have heard so much about the area and the town of Kenai from my family, I could not wait to arrive. And so, on Day 56 we left Anchorage and drove to the Kenai Peninsula.

The drive was some of the most beautiful scenery so far. It was a cloudy, rainy day but that didn’t matter as you can see from the photos below.

At one point Gary asked, “Do you know what mountain that is over there?”  When I saw how massive it was, my immediate reply was, “It’s so big, it has to be Denali.” Gary said, “No we are not facing the right direction.” I was so sure I was right because it was so massive. It just had to be Denali.

Well, Gary was right, it’s wasn’t Denali, because we were facing west, not north. Turns out it’s Mount Redoubt an active stratovolcano in the Kenai Borough. It’s 110 miles SW of Anchorage and is 10,197 ft. tall. It’s the highest summit in the Aleutian Range. (Just as a reference, Denali, is twice as high.) Mount Redoubt has erupted 4 times since 1902, the latest being in 2009. 

It might not be Denali, but it is huge and it rises up out of the horizon as if a mirage. We can even see it from our campsite, which looks towards Cook Inlet. As our first day in Kenai progressed, Mount Redoubt was consumed by clouds from the horizon up until all you could see was the tip, which eventually disappeared. 

Our campsite for the next 12 days is located at the Port of Kenai. Who ever wrote their web site has a perfect vision of what it will be like in the future, not what it is currently. We have electricity, but no water hook ups. We have restrooms but no showers. The view is amazing as you can see from the photo above. I can’t imagine having a wedding here, as suggested on the web site, and we still have not located the camp store. Never mind, it’s an adventure. Sally and Bruce have been transporting us back and forth to Levi’s house so we are seeing the family and having a grand time. Our next challenge is to find a workout center that will honor our Silver Sneakers pass so we can take showers.

The photo below is from the ports web site: portofkenai.com. The arrow shows the approximate location of our camper. There are maybe 6-8 other campers here including tents. It is truly an Alaskan experience, rough, rustic, and requires being extremely resourceful! More on the Port of Kenai later.