Well, it’s about time for some text updates from the road. We’ve been here on Kodiak Island since June 1st, and fairly away from much outside communication. Today, we wait for the ferry home tonight, so we caught a place to work on the internet at the Kodiak island public library. The library is not letting me download photos, so here is a brief text update so far (only have limited time!); pardon my timeline, it might be off a bit:
I. I met with the guys on May 31st, Memorial Day. At about 3 pm, the fellas rolled into the hostel to pick me up. They had been hitting the pavement hard, and had been through some rain, so they were feeling and smelling a bit rank, or feral as Ardie puts it. They were able to shower at the hostel and get things situated. We also threw in several loads of laundry in, and gave our local contact, Mike, a call. I need to remember how we got in contact with him- Mike is CJ’s friend’s sister-in-law’s brother??? I think that’s the connection. Either way, it’s nice to know someone in an unfamiliar place. After getting some of the clothing washed and me situated on the bike, we head over to Mike’s place, who graciously let us sleep at his place and use his dryer. Mike and Tammy, as well as their 2 dogs, were great people to meet in Anchorage. We went over to the Moose’s Tooth pub and pizzeria for a great selection of beers, some tasty pizza, and good conversation. After a good night’s sleep, we get the bikes situated and head on down the Kenai Peninsula to catch the ferry.
II. June 1st. We head down the Kenai Peninsula towards Homer, where the ferry terminal is. We leave Anchorage, and it was a bit cooler today; overcast. Hit the truck wash place to hose off the bikes and clean them up a bit. As we head south, the air continues to get cooler, and layers continue to be added. We’re getting some good use out of the heated grips and gear. It was nice riding; great views of the ocean and the Chugach Mountains. Then comes a bit of rain, nothing too drastic. As we pull into Homer, it’s about 1-2:00; we have plenty of time to kill before needing to be at the ferry terminal at 5:30. So, we bum around the Homer spit, look at some of the shops. The one thing I remember from last trip to Homer was one of the best cups of chowder that I have ever had. We find this fish processing place (I forgot the name; I will add later when I have some more time). Alas; the LAST bowl of chowder was served. Huge disappointment. However, we confirmed with the girl at the counter that she better have some waiting for us when we return on June 5th. At 9:30 am. It’s never too early for chowder. CJ and I got some steamer clams (photos to follow) and crab legs as long as our forearm. Pretty darn good. We then head over to the salty dog saloon for some beers (It was beer o’clock, after all). These beers turned into some graffiti… pictures to follow. Anyways, we got to the ferry terminal, met some people who gave us some suggestions about what to do in Kodiak, and loaded onto the boat. Last. We didn’t get loaded until pretty late; the boat was late to leave the terminal. The boat wasn’t too terribly large, we got on and staked out some places to set up our sleeping bags. Ardie and Matthew chose the observation deck, that was heated somewhat, and CJ and I chose a darker, quieter interior room. I didn’t sleep well that night, although the others fared better. In the middle of the night, we were all woken to some serious jostling by the boat. Turns out we hit some storms and were rerouted to avoid much more jostling.
III. June 2nd. woke up on the ferry; had some more time to kill before getting to Kodiak. We made some coffee and oatmeal (it’s a good idea to bring your own on, and there is free hot water in the cafeteria area.) Our boat made a brief stop in Port Lions, and then a couple hours later, we hit Kodiak at about 12:30. Luckily, bikes are unloaded first, so we unloaded the bikes, stopped at the visitor center to get the scoop on the weather and accommodations. Apparently, we were to expect some rain and temps in the 40′s (pretty common for Kodiak). CJ and I went to check out the Kodiak Hostel, which looked pretty sketchy. Only if we are totally waterlogged. We hit lunch at the Monk’s Rock cafe Go there! Fantastic sandwiches, hot coffees, and good stuff. Then, headed to Fort Abercrombie State park to camp. Fort Abercrombie is awesome. It is a rainforest (boreal, I think it’s called), full of spruce trees covered in moss. It was really cool. Also, there are bunkers and other assorted military paraphernalia around the camp. We unloaded the bikes, set up camp, and were good to go. We had enough time to head back into town to check out the scene. Got the lowdown that Island Seafoods (www.islandseafoods.com) was the place to get fresh fish, so we popped over there to pick up some halibut, yellowfin tuna, oysters, and some sole. Well, then we had to pop over to the Kodiak Island brewing company to get a couple growlers of beer. After getting some other groceries, we had a great feast that night of fish on the grill. I’ll elaborate later, and add some pics. Not quite enough beer, though. Slept great in camp, and awoke to sunny skies; still in the 40′s-50′s.
IV. June 3rd. Woke up, made some coffee/breakfast, and head out to the various places on the island. We head all the way north, then south (I’ll add town names later), and checked out the military launching site and several beaches. It was pretty cool at the beaches, had to keep our hats and gloves on to stay warm. We encountered some grazing buffalo, and there are so many bald eagles on Kodiak that they’re going out of style.
Ok… I am out of time… will add some more photos and details later.
42.888579
-88.303477
Like this:
Be the first to like this post.
kjkalfas
mdfehrmann
cjracer
