We arrived at the Scenic View RV Park about 8 miles north of Ninilchik around 1:00. We were immediately greeted by Bob the campground host. After we got registered he directed us to and into our campsite. He was a very friendly sort who had suggestions of what to see and where to go.
The campground sits about 200 feet above the waters of Cook Inlet. Bob forewarned us about getting too close to the edge as areas of the bluff have been undercut and are prone to small landslides all the way down to the short beach. The views of the Cook Inlet and across to the mountains are quite impressive as long as it is clear which it was to a degree today.
The air here is naturally cooled by the water temperatures of the Cook Inlet. Daytime highs here are typically in the mid 60's by day and drop to the 40's during the short summer night.
After getting set up and lunch, Peggy and I drove to the small village of Ninilchik. Our first stop was the Russian Orthodox Church established in 1901. This small church is well kept with abundant flowers growing around it. The Orthodox cemetery was also unique in that many of the graves have small picket fences around them along with heavy growths of flowers.
We drove past the office of the outfitter for our Thursday fishing excursion so we know where we need to be by 4:30 a.m.. Don't want to hold up the ship by being late!
Bob told us not to miss the fishing boats coming and going from Ninilchik. Since the town does not have a protected harbor, boats are launched directly into Cook Inlet using old 4 wheel drive tractors. The tractors back right into the water until the boat floats off of its trailer and away it goes. The tractor then puts the trailer up on the shore. When the boat returns, it radios the tractor service which hooks up to the trailer and backs it into the water. The boat is driven up on the trailer, a worker then winches it on tight after which the tractor pulls the boat and trailer up to a parking lot where the trailer and boat get dropped off. The boat's captain then gets a pickup or truck from the lot and hooks up to the trailer and away they go. I have included several pictures of this activity in Picasa.
Across Cook Inlet, a distance of about 30-40 miles are the mountains of the Aleutian Range. Several high peaks of the Chigmet Mts, part of the Aleutian Range, are active volcanos. Mt. Iliamna and Mt. Redoubt are volcanos directly across the Inlet from Ninilchik. Mt. Redoubt last erupted in 2009 with ash dusting Ninilchik and causing flights in and out of Anchorage to be canceled or rerouted.
We then drove the Oil Well Road going about 18 miles east of Ninilchik. This road goes up into the Caribou Hills area of the Kenai Peninsula and supposedly moose and bears are frequently seen. However, we saw no wildlife. We did find that areas along the Oil Well Road contain sporadic populations of people living in cabins, some of which are very well appointed. About the last half of the road is gravel and made for a bumpy ride.
After we arrived back in Ninilchik we went to Rosco's Pizza. The pizza is hand tossed and very good. Of course it could have been that we were extra hungary!
We got back to our campground around 6:45. Fortunately, the RV Park has wifi, and I was able to do some business to help get my dad's bills paid and of course, to upload photos and write today's edition of the blog.
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