We arrived right as fishing season had started! We fished the Kenai River, catching our limit after just a couple hours (7 a day for locals, 3 a day for non-residents).
Our next adventure was to hike Russian River Falls in Cooper Landing. We met up with a local and learned about the fish weir, a fish trap placed within the channel of a stream intended to capture fish as they swim along with the current to count them to get a sense of how many fish are running during the season.
We drove north from Kenai up to Hatcher Pass and stayed at Hatcher Pass Lodge in incredibly picturesque cabins in the valley.
We loved the lodge’s sauna and creek dipping spot.
We explored the abandoned mine and climbed up the cliff to the nearby lake.
On our drive back to Kenai from Hatcher Pass, we stopped in Girdwood. Here we visited Alyeska to take the tram to the top of the mountain, took a short hike to a waterfall, and ate a fabulous meal at the Double Musky.
Our next adventure was a long journey. We drove from our home base in Kenai down to Homer. From there we took a water taxi across the bay to Tutka Bay. From there we walked up the hill with our gear to our yurt for the night. This was a trip highlight and boating around in the kayak we rented through the water taxi service was quite memorable.
Our next trip was a day trip on the Chugach Explorer to Whittier and on to Spencer Glacier.
Our final adventure was a boat tour of the Kenai Fjords. We drove from Kenai to Seward for an early morning departure with a great captain from Seward Ocean Excursions. Exploring the glaciers of Kenai Fjords National Park and spotting all the wildlife was incredible.
Final thoughts: As always, I wish we had more time in each location. One night in Hatcher Pass and one night in Tutka Bay wasn’t enough! I would have liked to stay at Alyeska Resort instead of just taking the tram for the day. Although we didn’t get to spend as much time in each location as I would have liked, I’m grateful we were able to fit so much in one week.
