Homer Alaska – A Quaint Little Drinking Village with a Fishing Problem

Tuesday, June 09 to Wednesday, June 10, 2009 – Days 40 & 41

On Tuesday we drove from Seward to Homer along the Seward and Sterling highways.  Some of the most stunning scenery so far!  The roads were pretty good most of the way.  We got a late start and made a lot of photo stops along the way so we didn’t get into Homer till about 3:30 in the afternoon.  We saw Mount Redoubt across the inlet from where we were travelling.  It was very hazy so I couldn’t tell if it was venting or not; but from the Alaska Volcano Observatory  web site it is only in a Watch condition at the present time.

Homer is a beautiful little town.  You descend from a high mountain area towards the bay and you get a phenomenal view of the town and the “Homer Spit”.  The spit is where most of the boutiques, art galleries, beach camping and of course ALL the fishing charters are located.  The title of this post is from a bumper sticker that they give away in the stores and it reflects the character of the town very succinctly.  Fishermen and Fisherwomen  make up the bulk of the summer population here and drinking establishments cater to them.  There are also lots of packing businesses up and down the spit who will prepare your catch; flash freeze it and ship it for you.  As we toured the boardwalk we saw a crowd around one of the “weighing stations”; and for good reason.  Someone had just landed a 200 lb. halibut.  Apparently it took the guy 1 1/2 hours to land this lunker.  He had been fishing for salmon and caught the halibut on 30 lb. test line, which I think is pretty amazing.  It took two young guys to lift it on to the cleaning table. 

We opted not to take the beach camping as we would not have any “amenities” and the wind just seems to coming howling up the inlet from the Gulf of Alaska and slams into the beach.   With the temperature hovering in the middle teens it tends to feel rather chilly.

We took in the Islands and Oceans Visitors Centre.  This is a fairly new exhibit showing how the US Fish and Wildlife Service has been working to repair the habitat of the rich Aleutian Island food chain and to restore the islands to their pre-contact condition.  The US Fish and Wildlife Service has eradicated non-native foxes and rats from many of the islands and is seeing a steady return of many of the species that were almost wiped out due to over harvesting or habitat destruction.  They have also cleaned up much of the rusting debris and toxic chemicals left on the islands from World War II. There is a boardwalk trail that leads to the ocean, unfortunately building ordinances in Homer are pretty loose.  This is a motor home with real wood siding and some “stuff”

Later in the day we took the Skyline Drive self driving tour that overlooks the town.  Mountains, glaciers and ocean as far as the eye can see.  Just a spectacular view and a nice way to finish our trip to Homer.

Another “Spot the Moose(s)” picture.  The first one is easy, the other two – not so much.