June 16, Anchor Point, Alaska.

The village of Anchor Point was so named by Captain James Cook. Yep the same one; he sure got around! Poor James lost an anchor just off the point in the inlet that would eventually have his name. Cook Inlet divides the western Kenai Peninsula from the Aleutian Island chain that hooks its finger more than a thousand kilometres into the Bering Sea.

Our luck held again, with another spectacular day. Across the inlet, three snow-capped volcanoes Iliamna, Redoubt and Augustine, all over 10,000 ft, towered above the Aleutian Range, just a wisp of cloud floating around each summit. We must have taken a hundred photos before the day was out. Every few miles there was another lookout and another photo opportunity, each with something different to offer. Our favourite was the small village of Ninilchik with its bleached timber buildings, many built with the traditional dove-tail joint corners. On the cliff above the village stood a Russian Orthodox Church surrounded by an overgrown cemetery. To top off the scene, bald eagles swooped and dived above the cliffs.

Alaska is by no means a heavily populated state and it is rare to see crowds anywhere, but out on the sandy spit that reaches some 6 kms into Cook Inlet from the town of Homer, it was packed! More Rvs and trucks than we have seen in the two weeks that we have been in Alaska.

Our last stop was Anchor Point itself. Why? Anchor Point is the furthest west you can drive in the continental USA. Tick! And tick again, when we came upon several eagles on the beach, feeding on fish carcasses.