Today, we left Soldotna and drove about 35 miles up the Kenai Spur road to the end of the pavement. The destination was the Discovery Campground in the Captain Cook State Recreation Area.
It's a no hook-up campground and there is no dump station. There is a pump for water, but I'm not sure I'd rely on it to fill a tank. We filled our fresh water tank and dumped before we left the Klondike RV Park this morning.
It's a first come, first served campground and the fee is $15/night.
The access road, the campground loop, and the sites are all gravel, but sites are spacious. The sites are kind of hit and miss as to how level they are. The campground sits on a bluff overlooking Cook Inlet and the mountains/volcanoes on the other side. But only a few sites have limited views of the water, as the campsites sit back from the edge of the cliffs with a vegetation barrier.
Two of the best sites for views were closed when we arrived as workers were taking down a couple of trees.
So we ended up taking Site 22, with a limited view of the water, but a nice, big private yard with picnic table and firepit.
Next to us was a trail to the rocky beach below, although paths went in several directions and it wasn't always easy to determine which one to take.
This is the type of camping we like, and our site certainly had the "it factor". It wasn't long before Linda was laid back in a lounger.
Esther & Steve parked in Site 23 next to us, .....
but later moved to a different site across the road with a bit more privacy.
We went for a little walk on a narrow path through the Devil's Club to an overlook.
The beach below is popular with agate hunters.
And across Cook Inlet was Mt. Redoubt.
Linda was ready to do some beachcombing, and since we hadn't yet explored the trail to the beach, we drove to the day use parking area where access was pretty easy. There is a gravel road leading to the beach, and ATVs and 4WD vehicles could drive out at low tide.
Soon, Linda was in her element and focused on her treasure hunting.
This was only part of the beach, so she should be able to keep busy for as many hours as she wants.
Esther & Steve joined us, and Esther moved slowly down the beach with Linda, ....
while Steve and I explored on our own. This was Steve's version of beachcombing.
I found a piece of beach glass for Linda and several agates. I've never seen so many agates anywhere else, and some of them were rather large compared to what we're used to seeing.
I walked down past the point and some larger boulders in the direction of our campsite.
Steve showed me where the trail came out that leads to our campsite, and I decided to head back after taking the keys to the Jeep to Linda.
There were some Greater Yellowlegs feeding in the mud, so I snapped a couple photos on my way.
Back at our campsite, I got my Kindle and leaned back in a lounger. Before long, I dozed off. It's very peaceful here.
Surprisingly, we have a 4G roaming signal, but my "Sockeye elbow" was too sore to do any work on the computer. I bought an elbow brace for tennis elbow to try to stabilize it.
Eventually, everyone returned, and I put a couple salmon fillets on the Blackstone.
We got a campfire going, ....
and Linda laid out her findings from the beach.
She only got a couple pieces of glass, so it was mostly rocks and agates.
We're all quite relaxed here, and it's nice to be back in nature enjoying the peace and quiet and beautiful weather.
Well, it's quiet except for the times we have to run our generators to keep our fish frozen in our freezers. Fortunately, having spent the two days with electric hook-ups and getting the freezer temps below zero, they were holding their temperatures pretty well. We feel comfortable spending a couple more nights here.
So, if you RV to Alaska, and you want to get away from the other tourists and the fishermen frenzy of the Kenai River corridor, we would suggest a little side trip to the Discovery Campground at Captain Cook State Recreation Area.
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