North Along Cook Inlet to Captain Cook State Recreation Area

We've been staying in Soldotna, Alaska for almost a week, and we've had a chance to get to know the area pretty well.  That's not to say we've seen much wildlife here in the Soldotna area; the only wild life has been the tourists and fishermen, but Kathy did bag this big bull moose on the first day of our visit:

Our campground is part of an old ranch that stretches along the south bank of the Kenai River.  A mile's walk or so takes a camper out to a bluff overlooking this legendary salmon river:

Despite all we've seen here, we were still curious to see how far we could drive on the Kenai Peninsula north along the shore of Cook Inlet. So, on July 14, 2019, we set up Kalifornsky Beach Road to Kenai Spur Highway, to see how far around toward Hope, Alaska it would take us.

As we set out on our drive, we found the fireweed at the height of its color and fullness.  It was everywhere!

The glacier-covered Kenai Mountains, rising 7,000 feet, run along the southeast spine of the peninsula, from Portage to the northeast down to Homer in the southwest. Much of the Kenai Peninsula was covered in glaciers, some of which remain in the Harding Icefield.  The glaciers have carved the Kenai Peninsula into a unique landscape: several larger lakes extend through the interior of the peninsula, including Skilak Lake (where we took our wilderness tour and spent part of our fishing trip) and Tustumena Lake. The northwest coast along the Cook Inlet is flatter and marshy, dotted with numerous small lakes.  As we drove north, we saw what seemed like an endless number of lakes, both large and small, all edged by marshy wetlands and beribboned with stands of spruce:

The map suggested that, at least by dirt road, we might even be able to drive as far around the peninsula as Hope, which sits on Turnagain Arm, or that we might at least reach a point opposite Anchorage.  Neither of those were to be:  the paved road ended at Captain Cook State Recreation Area, and all that continued on around the shoreline is a 4-wheel drive road that appeared more suited to ATV's than our Jeep.  So we thought better of a driving adventure and decided to explore Captain Cook State Recreation Area.

Our parking area was perched on a bluff over Cook Inlet.  If offered a view north to a forested point a couple miles away along the rocky beach --

-- and nothing but flat gravel and rocks for a beach to the south:

We set out on foot down an old gravel road to the beach:

While gravel beaches aren't necessarily as soft and welcoming as sandy beaches, they offer some unique possibilities.

One can still walk along the water's edge and look for what the sea has tossed up onto the littoral.

You can look for interesting rocks, both big and small, and, indeed, we read that this beach is popular for agate hunting.  Kathy could barely be restrained in her rock-hunting, but David drew the line when Kathy found a chunky friend she wanted to bring home:

Never mind the big ones; we had millions upon millions of smaller, collectible rocks to examine as we strolled the couple miles to the near point of land:

We found some interesting rocks, but the most interesting one was too big to bring home.  We believe it is a type of mudstone laid down in layers, which, after hardening under pressure, later fractured in straight edges, making an almost cubist impression:

The rocks also presented us with beachside assemblages, causing us to wonder how this accidental gathering of stone and wood occurred:

We find that the history of the places we visit is often the most interesting thing to learn about.  History tells us how a place came to be what it is.  And, as our son Matt has said, geology is the oldest history.  How a region came to have the shape of its landscape, what plants and animals it fosters, how humans came to live in it and either settle or simply pass through -- all are influenced by the region's geology.

We're about to leave the Kenai Peninsula and, looking back on each of the places we've visited and the varying geologic features, wildlife and vegetation we've explored, we have had no trouble coming to one simple conclusion:

Kenai rocks!