Anchor Point SP
4 August 2017
Our first stop today was the Alaska Islands and Ocean Visitor Center. We saw a good short film on the Tiglax Ship (Aleut word for eagle) and the work the National Wildlilfe Refuge System does in monitoring the wildlife throughout the Aleutian Islands.
We also stayed for a presentation on the Lost Villages in the Pribilof Islands north of the Aleutian Island chain. A sort of brief history lesson on how the native people of about 600, whose ancestors had lived on these islands for thousands of years, were basically enslaved by the Russians, as the Russians did not know how to hunt for seal and sea otters. These two animals were a high priced commodity, and the Aleuts knew how to do it.
For over a hundred years the Aleuts had assimilated into the Russian culture. When the US bought the Alaska Territory, the Aleuts again had to assimilate, but both old heritages remain strong. After the bombing of Perl Harbor, the US rounded up all the island natives and placed them in interment camps near Juneau to protect them. They were later compensated.
When George talked to a fellow camper, Ryan last week, Ryan schooled George on the different sections of Homer and the “nick names” of the people who live in those areas are referred by. Ryan lives by the Fritz Creek General store, only a few miles from the Kilcher’s Homestead. He said there are the “Pointers” (from Anchor Point), “Homerittes” (from Homer), and “East Enders” (from East End Rd). If one “lives” in a tent on Homer Spit, the term “Spit Rat” applies. Apparently there is friendly “banter” between the unofficial groups here on the south end…
Today we traveled to the East Enders “territory”.
The East End Road runs along the north side of the Katchemak Bay. We drove from sea level to around 1400 feet all in a matter of a few miles.
The road was windey and overlooked the bay. The sights were beautiful seeing the glaciers of the other side of the bay.
As we have pointed out in previous posts, the Russian community is very strong in this area. I’m told some of the Russians are not known for following the “rules” and have their own set they go by: Russian mafia etc. No collusion from me….
A very common sight is seeing the women, both young and old wear very traditional Russian clothes and a scarf of some sort on top of their head.
As we drove along the road, we were surprised at all the traffic. The area has alot of residences tucked into the woods that we were not aware of in this nice “semi-remote” area.
Halfway down the road we stopped at the Fritz General Store. An old log cabin, and the hub for the East Enders. It has the Post Office, a store, the best sub sandwich ever, gas/diesel, pizza, a message board, and free condoms. I guess they got it all covered……
If you have seen the program; Alaska, The Last Frontier, you undoubtedly know about the Kilcher Family. Two brothers and their families live a subsistence life off the grid on the family homestead. George and I have watched a number of shows and since we are here we figured why not go see the Kilchers.
So all the locals “know” this reality show is a fake, but they like the Kilchers and they like the revenues the tourists bring. Otto owns and operates a machine shop in Homer.
The Kilcher Homestead is eight miles from Homer proper. As you turn down the narrow Kilcher dirt road, the first thing you notice are the power and telephone lines going down the side of the road. The road down to the Homestead is about three to four miles long with numerous houses buried deep into the wood from the road. Not sure if they are all related or not.
We remembered the 90 degree curve in the Kiltcher road that Otto had to fix a couple of years back. The next thing we saw were some of the old vehicles that were used during the different episodes. The Dodge dump truck with no brakes and the wooden cargo box that held a 1930 car.
At the end of the road was a small grassy area and a hand painted sign for visitors to go to the sod building past the barn, sign in, and look around. There was no one around and the cabin was locked. So we walked around, admired the awesome view of the Bay, flowers, and remembered some of the stuff on the homestead from the TV show. It was a neat place to visit, even though the show is fake.
We continued driving on East Point road. It turned to a dirt road as it wound around and up some hills and through an old Russian Community, a few houses, a school, and one church. The road ended on top of a huge bluff overlooking the “Head of the Bay”, with glaciers staring at us. Beautiful !
We (Pointers) turned around and headed back home to Anchor Point, well satisfied with today’s journey.
