Day 2 - Around Homer and Hiking in Kachemak Bay State Park

My dad and I awoke without a real plan on how to spend the day. After soliciting recommendations from the hotel staff, we settled on having breakfast at the Fresh Sourdough Express. The food was good and we read the paper and chatted. Outside, we paused to try to fix a bit of the mudwall on the front left tire that had come loose. The owner of the restaurant wandered over to talk and we chatted amicably about Palin’s nomination as the VP candidate for the GOP. (This is not a politics blog, but you can figure out what I think by my aforementioned stop at the Obama Campaign Headquarters.)

After breakfast we headed out to the Spit to find our adventure for the day. Both of the fishing charter places we went into were in the process of closing down. But the second suggested we head to Mako Water Taxi. We walked across the street and explained that we were looking for something to do. The woman suggested a water taxi ride across Kachemak Bay to a 4-mile hike. We jumped and signed up.

We spent the time before our departure by heading back into town to poke around. First we headed to the Pratt Museum, which turned out to be delightful. The museum featured historical exhibits, a wonderful collection of contemporary pictures of local Native Peoples, and natural history. Outside was a botanical garden and a homestead cabin.

Next we grabbed a set of rain pants for my dad and then headed out to find some lunch. We were more than happy with our meal at Two Sisters Bakery. Our sandwiches were very tasty and the bakery itself is in a beautiful setting about 200 yards from the beach. We sat on the back deck and watched children play.

Our water taxi left at 1:30pm. The boat picked us and four other people up at the small boat harbor on the spit and immediately headed out across the bay. The taxi was a small catamaran with two Honda motors and a cabin that could seat six. It also had a large aft open area and a rail around to the front. The ride across took about 20 minutes and the bay was glassy smooth.
We pulled up at the pebbly beach and jumped off the front of the water taxi (with the aid of a ladder). The trailhead was just down the beach and all 6 of us set off. My dad and I were the first on the trail and we were sure to make a lot of noise to alert any local bears to our presence. The undergrowth was thick with ferns and devil’s club and bear sign (scat) was often about.

The hike itself was over flat ground, but there were many roots, cobble sized stones and fallen branches to provide a challenge. We saw some Spruce Grouse and a whole lot of mushrooms. Moose and bear sign were everywhere, but we never spotted any in the flesh.

The trail soon left the woods and made its way across a more open, rocky plain that was the top of another glacial moraine. The leaves on some trees were already turning towards yellow.

Once we made it to the lake, the temperature dropped and we sat around to look at the icebergs that had been blown across the lake from the distant glacier. Gerwick Glacier empties into a large lake, across which we were looking. The glacier itself flows down from the Harding Icefield, a large expanse of ice that fills the mountains between Kachemak Bay and Seward. Peaks stood stark on either side of the glacier, with horns of rock rearing up from inside the ice’s path. (The Materhorn in Switzerland is a glacial horn that was formed when a glacier flowed around all sides of it. That’s was we were looking at here.) We also collected some glacier ice in my water bottle for a special “ceremony” later.

After eating our snacks, we decided to head to the end of our hike. The path went over a saddle of land. The forest closed in again, and we grabbed a few handfuls of wild blueberries. The climb wasn’t too bad, but the descent proved to be a bit tricky with slick mud underfoot. But we made it down and met up with the other couple that was also being picked up by the taxi.

The boat arrived right on time and we jumped aboard. The sun began to peak out on our ride back and we had fantastic views of the inlets and mountains. A number of cabins dotted the shoreline, and I envied the owners their daily view.

Our pilot made a sudden turn and told us that he wanted to show us a rare bird. He then handed my dad a fishing net. It turned out that the “rare bird” was actually a duck decoy that had washed out into the bay. We picked it up and headed on our way.

Once back at the Spit, we headed into town. We took the recommendation of the woman at the water taxi company and had dinner at Wasabi, a restaurant 5 miles east out of town.
The drive out was gorgeous. Home is situated along a hillside that rolls down to the bay. Many of the houses have fields out front and the scene was very bucolic. The restaurant was situated by the road and overlooked a hay field with the bay and the mountains in the background. The food was also good.

We finished the evening at the pub across the street from the hotel. It was suggested to us to collect the previously mentioned glacial ice to put in a nice glass of Scotch. The barkeep was very law abiding and immediately insisted that I take my water bottle outside. I explained our plan and she finally (after more coaxing that I thought should be necessary) assented to allow us to use the ice, but I then had to immediately take the water container outside. The glacial ice was very clear and tasted great. The scotch was pretty good too.