2012
Jutting south 150 miles from the southern coast of Alaska, the Kenai Peninsula – derived from Kenayskaya, the Russian name for Cook Inlet — is separated from the mainland on the west by Cook Inlet, and on the east by Prince William Sound. Athabaskan and Alutiiq Native groups have lived on the peninsula for thousands of years.
The glacier-covered 7,000′ high Kenai Mountains run down the southeast spine of the peninsula along the coast of the Gulf of Alaska. Kenai Peninsula’s two principal towns are Seward, located on the east coast on the Gulf of Alaska, while Homer, situated on Kachemak Bay, lies along Cook Inlet on the peninsula’s west side.
As the glaciers recede on the Kenai Mountains, various stages of gradual re-growth of these denuded mountains provide classic views of very gradual stages of faint green.
After two days of completely socked-in weather in and around Seward, we drove back north, then west across the peninsula, where the weather broke for about a half day, as we headed south allowing visibility along Cook Inlet, Kachemak Bay, and the town of Homer.
With the weather forecasts now calling for continuous clouds for at least another week, we departed Homer and headed back to Anchorage and boarded a return flight to New Mexico a week early.
