Homer is very dog friendly! Finally, a great stop for Murphy. There was a beautiful overlook right before we got into town. Helen and her camera lens went “off trail” to get a great shot of Kachemak Bay, where Homer is located.
When we first arrived at our bayfront campground, Greg, Helen, Murphy, and I walked down to the beach. This coastline has a large tidal swing, typically around 28 feet, which was evident as we walked along. Murphy was off leash and in heaven, complete with zoomies he was so happy. He only ventured in the chilly 53° water once, happy to run along the beach with us.
Day 1: We booked a water taxi to take us across the bay to Kachemak Bay State Park to hike to a glacier. Dave, Helen, Murphy, and I headed off to the “spit” to board our water taxi. Unfortunately, Greg was feeling under the weather and stayed home. The spit is a 4.5-mile piece of land that juts out into Kachemak Bay and it is quite the busy place. It includes a boat harbor, fishing hole, hotels, camping, shops, and restaurants. At 10:00 a.m., we boarded our water taxi for a 30-minute boat ride across the bay to the state park. We had a scheduled 2:30 p.m. pick-up. We had to first walk along the shore through tall reeds to get to the trail head. Helen…where are you?
The hike first went through mixed Cottonwood and Sitka spuce. By taking a spur trail, we were led down to Grewingk Glacier. Gorgeous! We ate our packed lunch at the glacier lake and then continued on another trail to take us up and over to Halibut Cove to be picked up. It was a fun day even though we had a light rain for part of it. While we were waiting for the water taxi to pick us up, Murphy met Nelson, a Border Collie/German Shepherd mix. They had a great playtime on the beach and even swam for a stick in that chilly water!
Day 2: Dave, Murphy, and I went for an Alpine Meadow Hike, high up on the cliffs surrounding Homer and was treated to spectacular views of glaciers across the bay. We walked through many varieties of wildflowers blooming. I laughed as there was a sign that dogs needed to stay on leash and they could not poop. I don’t know; I just couldn’t see telling Murphy he couldn’t go if he started to poop. We are very diligent when we walk Murphy and ensure to pack out his poop, as it is an unusual scent for the native wildlife.
Homer, besides being the Halibut capital of the world, is known for its Peonies. Helen, Murphy, and I took a Peony walking tour, however, like the tulip festival, we were a bit late. The Peonies were on their last blooms (although they last much longer than tulips). Helen and Murphy peeked out of a Peonies board along the walk.
On our return water taxi ride yesterday, our captain shared a place to get great Halibut tacos is Alibi’s, a local’s hang out. Helen, Dave, and I headed over there for dinner but they were closed on Mondays. Darn it. I guess Helen and I get to make dinner for our wonderful spouses (oh wait, Dave did grill a pork tenderloin so he helped). I really wanted to visit the restaurant as our very good sailing friends from way, way back, Joe & Karen Coleman, own a sailboat named Alibi.
Day 3: Cruise to Seldovia. Greg was feeling a bit better (yay!), so the 5 of us ventured back to the spit to board the Discovery, an 80’ ft motor boat which would cruise around the bay looking for wildlife and take us to Seldovia to enjoy the small town for several hours. We first stopped by a bird rookery and saw lots of birds nesting, including two kinds of puffins. We also spotted a sea otter just floating neaby and stopped by a few rocks that had be given names based on their shape.
We arrived in Seldovia and headed to a local restaurant for lunch. Dave enjoyed a halibut plate and the rest of us enjoyed a Halibut Salad Sandwich. We visited an old Russian Orthodox Church up on the hill near the entrance to the harbor and walked along a historic boardwalk. Throughout the town there were wonderful carved sculptures. Helen and I stopped at the salmon ready to buck us off! We enjoyed learning the interesting history of Seldovia in a museum. I hope you can zoom in read about Seldovia’s history from the museum displays.
Returning from the cruise, we thought we would try again, and headed over to Alibi’s for halibut tacos. They were scrumptious. It was a definitely a local’s hang out. The bartender seemed to know almost everyone who came in. The restaurant includes beautiful picture windows looking out at the bay and at Kachemak State Park.
Here is our route to Homer. We are now off to Seward, another coastal town on the Kenai Peninsula.
So happy for Murphy to have a good stop Brenda, Loving Alaska Dave, Why can’t all stops be like this one Murphy
So many exciting days for you guys. Extremely happy to hear this adventure was a special treat for Murphy!
Great to see Murphy, I was worried about him
What is a tidal swing. I will Google it
I’m surprised the water temp that far north is 53 degrees. It gets around 52 degrees in Monterey Bay
Yeah, I’ve told Daisy
Not yo poop and she just looks at me and poops. She likes to scatter. When she poops.
Tell the guide when he goes not to poop.
Lots of work went into that salmon you were riding. I didn’t see a coin box anywhere near
Again the Halibut sounds scrumptious.
Lots of things for locals to do in Sedona. How I’d ghe employment rate there. Lots I’ve things to experience as well
Boy you guys live hiking