Kenai Peninsula Road Trip

[NightTrain]

Went down on a work trip last week to Seward, Soldotna & Kenai (pronounced Keen-Eye) and took a few pics.


Sucks that this one wasn't in focus (hard to get good shots at 70 MPH), but it's a good size Mama Griz with two cubs right beside the highway.

[NightTrain]

About 40 miles out of Soldotna :

[NightTrain]

[NightTrain]

[NightTrain]

Kenai Lake... the headwaters to the Kenai River.

This body of water is a very unique color of blue/grey, but it doesn't show in this pic because it was such a gloomy day.

[jimnyc]

Nice! Why didn't you just stop and walk over and get a few pics of the Mama for us?

[NightTrain]

Cooper Landing... this is a tiny little town that you NEVER speed though, even though the speed limit is 35 MPH. It's about halfway from Kenai to Anchorage.

That's because a State Trooper lives here and he has nothing better to do than nail speeders. I've talked to the nice policeman a few times before it sunk in that speeding on that stretch was a Bad Idea.

[NightTrain]

About 50 miles South of Anchorage, near Girdwood.

The pass you see back there is the place where a reckless helicopter pilot almost killed us a few years ago by deliberately flying into the fog and creeping along ridges with a visibility of about 20 feet as we were trying to get over the pass to Whittier. I refused to climb in the chopper with him after that - it was stupid and reckless.

He hasn't killed himself yet, but it won't be long if he keeps doing that crap. We stopped using him completely after I watched him almost crush one of my co-workers with an 18' satellite dish he was slinging to us on an island out in Prince William Sound last year.

[NightTrain]

Turnagain Arm, about 30 miles South of Anchorage.

It was named by William Bligh, of HMS Bounty fame, while serving under Captain Cook.

Bligh served as Cook's Sailing Master on his 3rd and final voyage, the aim of which was discovery of the Northwest Passage.

Upon reaching the head of Cook Inlet, Bligh was of the opinion that both Knik Arm and Turnagain Arm were the mouths of rivers and not the opening to the Northwest Passage. Under Cook's orders Bligh organized a party to travel up Knik Arm, which quickly returned to report Knik Arm indeed led only to a river.


Afterwards a second party was dispatched up Turnagain Arm and it too returned to report only a river lay ahead. As a result of this frustration the second body of water was given the disingenuous name "Turn Again". Early maps label Turnagain Arm as the "Turnagain River".

[NightTrain]

Nice! Why didn't you just stop and walk over and get a few pics of the Mama for us?

Nyet!

I have a real healthy respect for bruin, especially Mamas. I've seen tourists stop and take pictures of such scenes, and they don't realize how incredibly fast Mama can cover that distance if she chooses to.

[Abbey Marie]

Nice! Why didn't you just stop and walk over and get a few pics of the Mama for us?

Lol, I understand they really appreciate it when you cuddle their cubs.

[Bilgerat]

Great Pictures !

[LongTermGuy]

[jimnyc]

Nyet!

I have a real healthy respect for bruin, especially Mamas. I've seen tourists stop and take pictures of such scenes, and they don't realize how incredibly fast Mama can cover that distance if she chooses to.

Yeah, I wouldn't do so but from about 75-100 yards at minimum. And even then, I've seen videos of how fast bears can run!

[Jeff]

NY you make me jealous ever time you post pictures, I wish I was 20 years younger and I would be living up there,it is absolutely beautiful up there.

I had a friend Jim probably remembers him, Tommy Mattie, he was a doper back in the day and he took his Gf and moved up there, I always thought he just moved to get away from the law, heck he probably got his life together and is living in one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen.

My cousin traveled to Alaska for like a year after his Mom dies and he got out of the navy, every picture he showed me looks like yours, they look like a post card, when he had showed them to me I thought he must of gotten all the pictures at a tourist area or something, after all nowhere is that nice. Heck he camped for most of the year and traveled, he worked odd jobs, man I wish I would of went with him. He told me a story about being chased by a young bear, he said he ran down hill because they don't do well running down hill, I thought he was full of it, but he had a picture of a bear running down the hill.

OO yea and even though you make me jealous thank you for posting, they are beautiful