Finding Solitude in Foggy Rain Forest on Kodiak Island

Day 17, 2024 Ultimate Alaska

Tuesday, June 25, 2024; Kodiak, Alaska

In a state as big as Alaska, you might think it would be easy to get away to be alone in nature. Not so much, especially when you are cruising on a ship with almost 2,000 passengers. But today, I did just that – for about 30 minutes – on a quiet, damp path along the water on Kodiak Island.

Fort Abercrombie State Historical Park is about five miles north of the town center, where our tenders docked. School buses made several trips to drop passengers off in the park, where the main attraction is a mile-long walk to the remains of a World War II coastal defense installation.

I let the rest of our group walk on ahead and stopped in the quiet to let my Merlin app listen and identify birds — Pacific wren, fox sparrow and varied thrush. I’ve found my AT&T cell phone service covers just about every area we’ve visited in Alaska.

Along a path that follows the shore of Lake Gertrude, heavy moss and lichens hang from the tall spruce trees, evidence that I was in a northern temperate rain forest. Small wildflowers were just beginning to bloom. A few mosquitos passed by, but not enough to cause me to pull out my head net. Low-hanging clouds and mist reinforced my sense of solitude.

I eventually stopped along the path to sketch the lake with the distant trees highlighted against nearby Marmot Bay.

Meanwhile, Eloise and Elaine walked on to the Kodiak Military History Museum and relics of bunkers, gun emplacements and other fortifications that were abandoned after the war. Unfortunately, fog limited the view from the rocky cliffs and the chance of seeing whales and other sea life.

Our two-hour tour returned us to town, where we found a local craft market set up in a new market center building.

In addition to public toilets with interesting signs, a wonderful book, coffee and gift shop anchors one corner – a surprise to me for what seemed like a small town. But more than 13,000 people live on Kodiak Island (the second largest island in the U.S., behind Hawaii Island), and the Coast Guard complex here is the country’s largest.

Fishing and in particular salmon processing has been a mainstay of the Kodiak economy, which once boasted more than 30 remote canneries. The city honors this history by decorating its trash cans with the labels from days gone by when shelf-stable canned salmon was the only option for much of America. My first experiences eating salmon were the salmon croquettes my grandmother made, probably from a similar can.

Kodiak Island Brewing Co. didn’t serve food, so we brought in a grilled salmon sandwich and Thai chicken wrap from Nuniaq next door. Locals recommended the small café known for locally sourced Alitiiq-flavored foods.

We didn’t have time to visit any of several museums in town – the Kodiak History Museum, the Alutiiq Museum or the Kodiak Maritime Museum. I’ll save them for what I hope will be a next time. We visited the display of the damage caused by the 1964 earthquake and tsunami. The 30-foot waves killed 15 people and destroyed local facilities of Standard Oil, Alaskan King Crab and much of the fishing fleet.

Kodiak was our first port after three days at sea while cruising from Nome. I used some of the time to start painting my earlier sketches. It has become evident that I will not complete my sketchbook by the end of the trip, so it will join my pile of incomplete sketchbooks from recent cruises. Obviously, I need to rethink my strategy.