Sterling Highway and Skilak Lake Road

July 28, 2012

One more beautiful morning at our site on Homer Spit,

 One more walk on the beach,

 One more peek in the tide pools,

 One more chance to watch others having fun,

 Not sure what this sport is called, but they alternately sat or kneeled on surfboards and paddled with a long-handled paddle through the waves.

 I noticed they wore wet/dry suits.

One more stroll through the estuary to look at birds and wildflowers. This Common Redpoll doesn't look at all common in his bright breeding plumage.

God's flower arrangement.

Then I followed Birdie north out of Homer on the Sterling Highway. Notice Mount ReDoubt Volcano rising majestically in front of her.

Once past Soldotna, we decided to take a side route off the Sterling Highway through a wildlife preserve.

Skilak Lake Road is gravel for 18 miles. It was pretty, but the vibrations shook things up pretty good in my RV. 

Flowers at an overlook.

 A view of Skilak Lake.

 Rock Lake, a small lake provided some birding opportunities. This is likely an Alder Flycatcher....but those Flycatchers are hard to tell apart.

 But the best find for me was this Pacific Loon, a new one to me.

 There was a pair of them on Rock Lake.

 Note his gray head unlike the Common Loon I'm used to seeing.

 Pacific Loon

 Sorry, I took a lot of pictures of them.

 This is Hidden Lake where we hoped to stay in the campground, but it was a busy Saturday for fishermen, and the campground was full.

No wonder the fishermen like it....two kinds of salmon and 3 kinds of trout live here.

So we ended up in the overflow area of Russian River Campground...another favorite with salmon fishermen. On Sunday we were able to get a regular site in the campground.

We've decided to stay a few days and explore more of the area around Cooper Landing....and do chores like laundry. Birdie and I hiked the 2.3 mile trail up to Russian River Falls to see the salmon.  

 Birdie was excited to spot an American Dipper flying around the swift water, but I couldn't get a picture.

 They hike back down was easier, but our feet hurt and we were tired.

 This is most likely the work of an ambitious and hungry porcupine.

More from here next time.