Alaska 2024

We returned to Alaska, 32 years after my parents took the whole family, 5 years after we took ours and 2 years after we returned by ourselves. (Previous visits here.)

Here's some description of where we went and what we did. There's a link to the slideshow at the bottom.

We stayed at the same lodge near Homer — Kachemak Bay Wilderness Lodge which highlights how wonderful it is.

If you like to hike, tide pool, kayak, view fantastical mountains, take a flight to view bears (others did but we didn't this time), fish (we didn't but others did and shared their fresh catch), eat scrumptiously, and be treated as family, this is the place.

We flew to Anchorage, spent the night, took an Alaska Bus Company shuttle bus to Homer where we spent four nights in an AirBnB on Bishop's Beach. We decided to try the shuttle bus vs. flying as perhaps more time reliable and perhaps a way to see more scenery. While it was cloudy/rainy, we did see more and the several stops gave us a taste of a different Alaska. We would do it again. Although a few days later the (two-lane) highway was blocked for hours due to an accident.



A Google Earth view of Homer, the spit, Kachemak Bay and China Poot Bay where the lodge is located.



Our 4 nights in Homer were spent beach walking, eagle sighting (after awhile we almost didn't pay much attention to yet another eagle) and some shopping.



I loved Homer Book Store which is an absolute delight and the book store all book stores should be. They had detailed notes on a variety of books and they were spot on for the ones I purchased. Valerie had called them up and asked them to order a (heavy) book for pickup, which they did without asking for payment up front. And Valerie really likes Homer's Jeans, where we bumped into Shannon, co-owner of the Lodge.

The highlight of our days in Homer was a float plane flight with Kachemak Air Service. Jimmy Christensen flies a Robertson STOL (Short Take Off and Landing) as designed and manufactured by James Robertson - Valerie's Dad. What a treat! We did a two hour "flightseeing" excursion over the mountains west of Homer.






Then on to the Lodge.



Green is vegetation and the gray is sandbars which appear at low tide and disappear at high tide. Boaters have to always be aware of the tides.

Diane and Michael McBride built the lodge and their kids, Shannon McBride-Morin and Morgan McBride, now own and run it. Both Diane and Mike came by while we were there and we reminisced about old times.

The lodge has 4 cabins and 1 apartment attached to the dining room. That's it.

Here's an overview taken when Jimmy did a flyby.



And our cabin.



And the view from our front deck.




What makes the entire experience is the staff. Mostly/entirely young and mostly from the Homer area, they really know, love and enjoy sharing the Alaskan wilderness. They each do it all - guiding, cleaning, serving meals, ensuring guest safety, etc.

And the kind of folks who stay at the lodge are the kind of folks who are interested and interesting. So fun to be with.

They definitely go the extra mile, including alternate modes of transportion when required.



What did we do?

• Our perhaps most favorite activity is tide pooling; in fact, we chose the dates to get the lowest low tide of the season at -4.4 feet; high tide that day was 21.1 feet for a total swing of 25.5 feet!
  
  
  
  
  Here Lily, also known widely as "Kelp Girl", is leading a tide pool exploration.
  
  
  
  And here we are "communing" with a resident octopus (that's a sea star out of focus above the tentacle).
  
  
  
  
• Hiking, which we could do from the lodge
  
  
  
  or by taking a boat ride to hike a nearby old growth forest, river valley or a ridge.
  
  Here we are in an old growth Hemlock forest.
  
  
  
  
  
  Where there was plenty for your faithful correspondent to correspond about.
  
  
  
  We saw no bears this trip, but there were plenty of bear signs about.
  
  
  
  
• Kayaking; up China Poot Bay with a s'mores feast on Coalition Beach.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  And when the wind came up against us, Parker came to the rescue!
  
  
  
  Kayaked twice more; once up China Poot Bay focusing on the northern shoreline and once down the bay, out into Kachemak Bay, around and into Peterson Bay where we beached and walked back. Staff went out later and retrieved the kayaks.
  
  
• And there is eating. Breakfast and dinner are served in the dining room and are simply exquisite. Tastewise and presentation wise. Wine, beer and sodas are there to enjoy. Lunch is your pick of sandwiches, fruit, cookies, etc., packed into a container for taking along. We gather at 6 pm on the deck or in the solarium, weather dependent, for hors d'oeuvres, chit chat and thinking about what to do tomorrow. Staff shows with the dinner menu presentataion. Your meals are prepared with care following your individual preferences, allergies, etc.
  
  Here's one sample (fortunately guests do not have to dress for dinner).
  
  
  
  
  
  

A sad side note. Here's a not-very-good comparison of Grewingk Glacier, the most popular hike in the area and one we've take every visit. You can easily see the glacier retreat. Wise Mike captures our new reality with the phrase "Climate Disruption".


Our return was "interesting". It started off great as we decided to take a Steller Air float plane from the lodge (actually from the larger bay around the corner which we had kayaked to; staff transports your luggage) to a lake in Anchorage. He flew low over the mountains; much more fun than the regular commercial flight. Turns out the Steller Air plane also has the Robertson STOL modifications although not the name explicitly on the tail.

Next day the Delta flight was 30 minutes late arriving in Anchorage. They asked for two volunteers to take a later flight. We boarded. After announcing that boarding was complete, they added two passengers. We waited. They made the two get off. We waited. We eventually departed 1-1/2 hours late. We had a connection time of 1-1/2 hours in Minneapolis/St. Paul. Our arrival gate was directly across the skybridge from our departure gate. So some hope. We landed. There was no ground crew. The Delta app told us that we had been rescheduled from our 7:19am flight to a flight departing at 8:30pm. So we made a hotel reservation and left the airport. When I checked on our luggage, the app told us that our luggage had actually made the original flight. Could we have? But then we no longer had seats. By the evening, rain had really hit the area and our 8:30pm flight was 2 hours late departing. Arriving at Dulles we found our luggage patiently waiting our arrival. And, more fortunately, there was a taxi outside. We arrived home at 2:30am. 15 hours late.

and the Photos