As large as Alaskan lands are, the coastline of the state is still disproportionately huge. There are thousands of islands in Alaska, and while researching possible destinations, taking the ferries to explore the various places not connected by roads is an idea that came up again and again. Many people will gladly share fond memories of taking the Alaska Marine Highway System for days and days on end to visit remote communities. They will tell you that it’s a no brainer to do this when you’re in Alaska.
There are two things that made us hesitate – time and money. First, time. Even a fairly short (by Alaskan standards) hop between Homer and Kodiak Island, which is about 130 miles in a straight line, takes at least 10 hours to complete. More if the ferry makes additional stops. The schedules for this route were not as predictable, so if we needed to make a round trip, some weeks it was only possible to go for 1 day or for 5, which to us seemed like too short and too long, respectively. Some days the ferry runs overnight, some days – during daytime. Putting all these pieces together to make good use of our time was not easy, but it so happened that stars lined up. As the bike was all buttoned up and tested on a short day trip, there was an overnight sailing coming up that would allow us to spend 3 full days on the island, and come back to mainland on another overnight.
Then there is the question of money. Is it an affordable way to explore the state? I’m not sure there is an affordable way to explore the state. The cost of a round trip fare for one rider and a bike for that Homer to Kodiak route was $500. After much deliberation, we decided to go for it, but this was firmly in the “splurge” category.
So we packed our things, said good bye to Mike and headed down the Kenai peninsula once more. The weather this time was perfectly sunny and we stopped all the time to admire the lush greenery, the distant volcanic peaks, the unbelievably turquoise Kenai river and the occasional moose. We could not get a confirmed reservation ahead of time, but it’s generally the case here that motorcycles on standby will always find a spot on board. While we waited for the ferry we had time to appreciate the danger of just hanging around at the docks. Many parts of the infrastructure are used as nesting grounds by the seagulls and the risks of getting hit by a liquid missile are high.
The crew responsible for loading and unloading the vehicles were just amazing. They were super friendly and made sure we were well taken care of, parked in a safe spot and backed us up when we had to navigate over slick metal surfaces. This ferry was not a simple roll on / roll off design, but had a lift that required loading vehicles a couple at a time. It was a lot of work for the crew, and it looked like they enjoyed the challenge.
Once on board, we managed to score a cabin to sleep in for the night. The set up was bunk beds, with the upper one mounted just low enough that even shorter people like me could not sit up straight in the lower bunk. The bathrooms and showers were in a separate shared area, but in pretty good shape. It was a smaller vessel than the one we took from Vancouver Island to Prince Rupert, so it was a bit more prone to movement, making sleep more difficult. Nonetheless, with over 14 hours of total trip time, we got plenty of rest.
In the morning we got onto the upper deck to enjoy the first look of Kodiak Island as the ferry made a brief stop in Port Lions. We got a quart sized container of yogurt at Safeway before the trip, and well, I found my new favorite yogurt, Zoi lemon cream. It was the perfect breakfast.
Shortly after noon we finally disembarked in the town of Kodiak, and headed south as far as Pasagshak Road would go. As we turned away from the coast and crossed a lush valley, I had a startling realization that this looked a lot like Hawaii. The intense green hues mixed with dramatic mountain slopes rising from the sea into the clouds. If only it was a little bit warmer, you could be fooled into thinking this was the 50th state, not the 49th.
A dirt path jutted out from the main road, and we were tempted to check it out. It climbed up for a couple of miles, ending at the edge of a cliff, 200 ft above the roaring ocean. We spent a bit of time enjoying this spot, and then turned around to continue towards the spaceport at the end of the road.
Why yes, you can casually circle a spaceport on Kodiak. There was a rocket installed to commemorate the entrance, although nothing particularly interesting was accessible to the public. Adjacent to the site was a bison ranch, and although there was a fence around it, the signs warned to be cautious of any escapees. The road eventually ended at Fossil Beach, where we paused to enjoy the views, before heading back the way we came.
We checked into the Airbnb we booked for the occasion and our parked bikes gained an unexpected fan – a tiny bunny that loved sitting next to them. He would be there in the evening, and again in the morning, and seemed to really enjoy their presence.
The next day we had a very ambitious plan in mind. First, we explored a small network of single track close to the town. For a long time it looked like a legitimate OHV area, but suddenly it became narrow and tight like a mountain bike trail, before completely disappearing due to a slide. We got very close and personal with juicy Alaskan mud while getting ourselves out of that predicament.
Part two of the day involved traversing Saltery Cove Road, an unpaved access route to a salmon spawning site, which this time of the year would be prime bear viewing area. Kodiak Island and Kodiak bears have a deep connection, and we were eager to meet these legendary bears. It started mellow but proceeded to become more and more waterlogged. Some sections were rocky with shallow fast moving streams. These quickly washed all the mud we accumulated earlier and made us feel pretty good about ourselves. Other times the water would spread into wide lakes with muddy bottoms. Many were passable with relative ease, but several times we had to try multiple spots before we found a path that did not suck us in with soft mud.
At one point we found ourselves in front of a particularly large body of water, and could not seem to find a way across nor around. We took a snack break, and just as we were about to gear up and turn around defeated, a quad rode by and casually showed us the right place to cross. It’s a moderately popular place with local fishermen, in addition to those looking to do some bear viewing. When we asked the guys where the best spots to find bears were, they looked puzzled. Everywhere, was their reply.
We eventually got to the shore of the stream where we hoped to find the bears. There were numerous entries into designated fishing sites along the shore, and when we followed the route upstream we came upon a larger lake where the salmon were making their final jumps across a small dam. A small amount of salmon, no bears in sight. There was a research cabin nearby, and the woman working there told us they haven’t seen any bears yet. We didn’t lose hope yet, and continued circling the area until we figured we had a long enough day and should get going. We spotted a deer with two fawns, but sadly, no bears.
Well, unless you count the huge taxidermy bear that welcomes you to the town Walmart, where we stopped to get some groceries. Looking at his size, I wondered if it’s for the better that we didn’t meet one on the trail.
For our final day on the island we decided to check out a few more roads. Unfortunately none of the significant roads here were loops, and we had to just ride them all the way, and then turn around and go back. One of these turn around points was at the mouth of Chiniak River. There we saw hundreds, possibly thousands of salmon in the water. It seemed the river level upstream was a bit low, and they couldn’t get further. During our entire time on the island, we did not get rained on, which by all accounts was quite unusual. For the salmon (and the bears), it wasn’t such good news.
As we turned to go to Kodiak town for the final time, we saw a bear run across the road. It was fast and no pictures to prove it, but I’ll take it! Apparently, with no easy fish in the streams, they stalk humans for some easier meals. A lady was cooking lunch in her RV and the bear figured she might share, but got spooked by the noise of our engines.
We got into town with plenty of time to spare before the ferry, checked out the architecture and some landmarks, and dog tired rolled up to the docks. It was a pretty good end to the trip, with one small problem. The rear shock on one of the bikes was leaking profusely.
But that would be a problem for tomorrow.
