Traveling to the Kenai Peninsula

We had some time off before Luke started his new job (June 18) so we headed down to the Kenai Peninsula. First we camped out on the Parks Highway near Montana Creek, then the next day we passed through Anchorage and headed down the Seward Highway toward Skilak Lake area, near Soldotna. We had never been to Skilak Lake, so we were suprised at how awesome it was. Really beautiful, quiet, and alot of hiking trails and wildlife. In fact we saw a black bear with a cub.

Next we headed down to Homer, one of our favorite cities in Alaska, and fished some of the creeks along the coast, where the King salmon were running. Didn't catch any, but Luke had some on the line.

We started heading north back to Soldotna for a 4 day canoe trip on the Swan Lakes. It's kind of like a little boundary waters. We were going in on a Sunday so all the weekenders were heading back in to work, we got the lakes pretty much to ourselves, except for a few tourists who rented canoes. The portages were pretty short, but we weren't very well prepared with frame packs, etc. At least we had one big backbag and a duffle bag and our gear is pretty light and compact so we fit it all in those two bags. We saw a baby moose with its mother, a ton of loons and swans, and caught a ton of rainbow trout.

After that, we headed back through Anchorage, where we responded to a classified ad for a camper that goes on the back of your truck (cabover, popup style) and decided to buy it (used). We will head back to Anchorage this weekend to pick it up. Then headed to Byer's Lake, near Mount McKinley and had great views of the mountain while paddling around on the lake.

Now Luke is working and Emily still looking around for a job, but we still have more trips planned for the summer around Alaska and should be pretty exciting now with our new camper!