The logistics of getting to Alaska’s McNeil River State Game Sanctuary at first seemed a bit daunting. The area’s remote — there are no roads, the nearest village is probably Kokhanok, ~30 miles NW. King Salmon is “only” about 75 miles WSW of McNeil, but what almost all visitors do is fly from Homer (100 miles ENE of McNeil River) with Northwind Aviation. Also, the weather’s crappy at McNeil so you need good rain gear, waders for crossing the tidal/mud flats, camping gear since there’s no accommodation, and food for quite a few days since there’s a good chance you’ll be staying longer (or shorter) than you planned because of bad weather.
Thankfully Kevin and Elise were able to loan us one of their cars for the week, and other friends in Anchorage — Peter, Galen, and Todd — got us set up with fancy rain gear, boots, and the requisite waders. Even with the car, getting to and from Homer turned out to be more of an adventure than we expected. We drove out of Anchorage in pouring rain, stopping a couple times to try and figure out why the car was making such strange noises. Our first real stop was at the Byron Glacier Trailhead at Todd’s recommendation. We didn’t get to the base of the glacier — like Mendenhall, it has retreated greatly — but we were able to test our rain gear!
After a brief stop in Kenai to see where I worked over 25 years ago, we visited the Russian Orthodox Church at Ninilchik and camped nearby with beautiful views of the Redoubt and Iliamna volcanoes.
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