STAYING AND HIKING IN HOMER, ALASKA

Back in July 2022 I traveled to Alaska to spend another month working (remotely), hiking, and exploring as much of the beautiful state as I could. Ever since my month there in 2021, my heart had been yearning to go back. It’s sincerely very hard to describe how magical Alaska is. Just thinking about how grateful I am for my time there makes me emotional!

In July I went back to spend more time with family, complete some hikes on my bucket list, fish for salmon, and visit some of my favorite spots.

I spent the first 2 weeks hiking as much as I could around Palmer and Eagle River. I made some new hiking friends and reconnected with ones from the previous summer. I spent a weekend on the Kenai River at “fish camp” with my cousin, uncle and some of their friends. We fished for salmon and trout, hiked and spent a lot of time chatting around the campfire. To wrap up my time in Alaska, I took a solo trip down the Kenai peninsula, stopping at various towns along the way and ending up in Homer to complete a hike I didn’t get to last summer.

I don’t think I will ever have enough time in Alaska. I have explored such a small portion of the state and each time I go back, my list of things to see and do grows exponentially. Each time I visit, I grow exponentially as well which I think is part of the reason I love my time in Alaska so much!

In this post, I want to talk about my fun trip down to Homer and some hikes and things I did along the way.

Restaurants and Hiking in Seward

The first stop on my road trip was in Seward, which I have visited quite a few times. Seward is a 3 hour drive from Palmer and is a good mid point stop. It’s a beautiful town on the ocean with amazing hikes, ocean cruises (I highly recommend one of these to see ocean life!) and areas to explore. While I was there I hiked the Tonsina Creek Trail, had amazing tacos at the Lone Chicharron Taqueria, and stayed at an awesome hostel! The salmon were spawning and swimming up stream from the ocean so I was able to witness flying salmon jumping up river as well. I capped my day off with an amazing dinner of oysters and halibut at The Cookery.

Bed & Breakfasts in Homer

After one night in Seward, I drove the last 3.5 hours to visit Homer for a few days. Homer has quite a few true bed and breakfasts and I make sure to stay at one of them when I travel there. I’ve stayed at Brigitte’s Bavarian Bed und Breakfast and most recently, Homer Stay and Play. They each were incredible and had beautiful views from the property. The owners were so lovely and each had an amazing homemade breakfast with food from the on property garden. I couldn’t have been more impressed with the accommodations and hospitality at each of these B&Bs!

Hiking Grewingk Glacier Lake Trail

The previous summer when I visited Homer, I wanted to hike the Grewingk Glacier Lake Trail but prioritized fishing for halibut instead so this summer was my time to check this hike off. This trail is located in Kachemak Bay State Park which is across the bay from Homer. To get there you have to take a water taxi that drops you off at the start of the trailhead at Glacier Spit and will pick you up where the trail ends in Halibut Cove. There are quite a few water taxi options from Homer to Kachemak Bay State Park including Mako’s Water Taxi, Coldwater Alaska, True North Kayak Adventures and it costs about $85 per person for the round trip journey. The taxi ride across the bay is between 20 and 30 minutes and you’ll have a chance to view sea life from the boat! Everyone on the taxi ride over will probably be hiking the same trail you are so you will be in good company. The trail is about 6.4 miles: 3.2 miles to the lake to view the glacier and then another 3.2 miles to Halibut Cove where the boat picks you up. Carrying bear spray is highly recommended on this trail along with making noise as you hike. I hiked with a very nice couple I met on the boat and we had the best time getting to know each other and taking in all the beauty this trail has to offer.

We were able to spend about an hour at the Grewingk Glacier lake looking at the glacier, icebergs, and walking down the rocky beach. Some people even jumped in the freezing lake! When we got to Halibut Cove, it started pouring rain while we were waiting for the water taxi to come get us. There was no wind and watching the rain drops hit the ocean was a beautiful way to end a great day. This hike was magical and I would definitely recommend it to anyone looking for an adventure when visiting Homer.

Other things I did while in Homer included walking, shopping and going for runs down “The Spit”. There’s great halibut fishing charters you can take out of Homer which I did the previous summer and the restaurants on the Spit are great. I really don’t think you can go wrong as all the food I’ve tried, I’ve really enjoyed! I loved Swell Taco so much, I went multiple times. Enjoy your time in Homer and the amazing adventures that you’re bound to experience there!

Until the next tale… Happy trails.

-Hannah