A SCENIC ALASKA ROAD TRIP.

Byline: -- Eric Noland

KENAI, Alaska -- Lakes stretch away from the shoulder of the highway. Short hikes to river banks provide glimpses of salmon leaping from the rapids and landing with great splashes. Roadside overviews of the ocean take in active volcanoes, one of which regularly belches clouds of steam.

Desirous of having a poster-quality photo of Alaska? Just aim your camera at any of these sights while on a drive down Alaska's Kenai Peninsula.

You might even have a wildlife encounter -- closer than you wish, so stay alert. Signs all along the highway urge drivers to "Give moose a brake!" We were mildly disappointed that we didn't see any of the majestic creatures on the 220-mile drive from Anchorage to Homer, but we were also relieved that we didn't encounter any as road kill.

The Kenai Peninsula drive is often written about as if it's some road-trip idyll. It is far from that. Since this is the main commercial route for the residents of the peninsula, there is a lot of traffic on the two-lane road, much of it big trucks, as well as tourists in RVs. Driving among them can be a little precarious, especially when you throw in the local daredevils who pass when they probably shouldn't. On at least four occasions we had to pull onto the shoulder to make room for an oncoming vehicle in our lane.

But there are still many sights and stops that are well worth the trouble for those headed to Homer or the Kachemak Bay lodges beyond.

Directly south of Anchorage, the waters of Turnagain Arm are a beautiful sight, especially when framed by the Chugach Mountains, whose peaks are a dark gray as they stab above the timberline, punctuated with swatches of snow. The salt flats at the south end of the arm are the result of the land falling 12 feet in the 9.2 magnitude earthquake of 1964, and the river water here runs glacial gray-green.

Just beyond, the road knifes through the steep, green slopes of Turnagain Pass. Emphasis on steep. "It looks pretty now," said a Harley rider at a turnout, "but we lost two people in here a couple of years ago. They were on snow machines when there was a snow slide, and one of them they didn't find until the thaw."

A lot of the traffic continues south on Route 9 to the busy port of Seward, so conditions lighten up a bit for drivers who turn inland on the Sterling Highway, Route 1, toward Homer.

This road is cut through a forest that crowds in on both sides. At Cooper Landing, the highway skirts the long, finger-shaped Kenai Lake, with commanding views in both directions.

At about mile marker 58, watch for signs for the Skilak Lake Loop, a 19-mile route that ultimately rejoins the highway. But unless you want to shake a few teeth loose on this gravel road, you'll probably want to venture no farther than the Kenai River Trail turnout, just a half-mile from the highway.

It was here that we took a short hike past quaking aspens and wild berry brambles to the bank of the river, where salmon leapt out of the water every few seconds.

There are a lot of undistinguished towns on the peninsula, so strung out along the highway that you're not sure when you've reached the heart of them and when you're clear of them. All the more reason to take a little detour from Soldotna up to Kenai, which has a pleasant historical Russian core.

Alaska officially may have become U.S. territory with Seward's Folly in 1867, but the residents were slow to grasp it. Here are the Holy Assumption of the Virgin Mary Russian Orthodox Church (1894-5) and tiny St. Nicholas Memorial (1906), both with onion-domed spires, and both built well after the purchase.

Convenient to the two churches is Veronica's Cafe, which you'll reach right about lunchtime. It serves sandwiches, quiches and ice tea -- opportune remedies for that highway drive. And it occupies a house of hand-hewn lumber built by farmer John Oskolkof about 1918. It's at 604 Peterson Way; [phone].

Afterward, take a short walk to an overlook of Cook Inlet and the mouth of the Kenai River. (To reach Old Town Kenai from the main road, turn left at Main Street, then go right at the "Historical Buildings" sign.)

The Sterling Highway hugs the coastline the rest of the way to Homer, offering peekaboo views of Cook Inlet and the two active volcanoes across the way, Iliamna and Redoubt (we could never figure out which was which). Iliamna hasn't erupted in recorded history, but often emits clouds of steam. Redoubt erupted as recently as 1990.

Homer lies at the end of the road. To review our recent story on this quirky town, visit www.greatescapes.com, pull down the menu under "Destinations" and click on "United States."

CAPTION(S):

3 photos, map

Photo:

(color) A great lunch spot on a drive down the Kenai Peninsula is Veronica's Cafe in Kenai. It is housed in the Oskolkof-Dolchok House, built around 1918. A couple of onion-dome Russian churches are nearby.

(2 -- 3) The Chugach Mountains form the backdrop as the Seward Highway bends through Turnagain Pass south of Anchorage, Alaska. On a drive down the Kenai Peninsula, the onion dome of the 1906 St. Nicholas Memorial Chapel can be seen during a lunch stop in Kenai.

Eric Noland/Travel Editor

Map:

KENAI PENINSULA

Gregg Miller/Staff Artist