We left Homer this morning under threatening skies and by the time we passed Soldotna were in rain for a good part of the trip. This is the last leg of our trip along the coast of
Alaska and we were remembering how lucky we have been on the weather the past few weeks.
We stopped for a disappointing lunch at Gwen’s Lodge in Cooper’s Landing which is at the confluence of the Kenai and Russian rivers, THE center for sockeye salmon fishing in
Alaska. Gwen’s was completed in 1952, the year the
Sterling Highway connected the lower Kenai to Seward and
Anchorage and claims to be the oldest eatery on the Kenai. With their slow service they must have been the only eatery on the Kenai!
The fishing here is described as “combat” fishing because the anglers are standing shoulder to shoulder up and down the rivers during the salmon runs from late June through August. There are rules of “Good Sportsmanship” posted to control the crowd during the run.
Just north of the junction of the Seward Highway and the Whittier/Glacier Highway that we took through the tunnel last week is the Alaska Wildlife Refuge in Portage. Portage is located at the very end of the Turnagain Arm, one of the last fingers of the Cook Inlet reaching into interior Alaska and one that helps define the Kenai Peinsula. 
The refuge is a non-profit foundation that with the support of the Alaska park Service and US Forest Service provides a home for orphaned and injured animals until they can fend for themselves.
While it is a lot more exciting to see the animals in the wild as we travel visting the Refuge allows you an up close look at most of the wildlife species found in this section of Alaska. We enjoyed a couple of hours walking and driving through the preserve and taking lots of photos.
Just north of Portage is the town of Girdwood and the Alyeska Ski Resort. We are spending the night here to avoid a late arrival in Anchorage and enjoyed dinner at the Lift 5 restaurant here in town. Tomorrow we arrive in Anchorage to spend a few days in the “big city” and see Jeff’s niece Jo and her family.
We left Homer this morning under threatening skies and by the time we passed Soldotna were in rain for a good part of the trip. This is the last leg of our trip along the coast of 
We stopped for a disappointing lunch at Gwen’s Lodge in Cooper’s Landing which is at the confluence of the Kenai and Russian rivers, THE center for sockeye salmon fishing in 
The refuge is a non-profit foundation that with the support of the 
While it is a lot more exciting to see the animals in the wild as we travel visting the Refuge allows you an up close look at most of the wildlife species found in this section of 
