We visited The Holy Assumption of the Virgin Mary Russian Orthodox Church in Kenai. This is the Chapel of St. Nicholas, built in 1906 as a memorial to Father Nikolai and his helper Makary Ivanov, on the site of the original church. It was was inside the northwest corner of the Russian trading post of Fort St. Nicholas. The two men were honored for their distribution of the first smallpox vaccine in the territory.
We attended service at the church on Sunday. The original church was founded in 1846 by Father Nicholai, a Russian monk. The present building was built in 1894 on a $400 grant from the Russian Synod. With its three onion-shaped domes, it is considered one of the finest examples of a Russian Orthodox church built on a vessel or quadrilateral floor plan. Icons from Russia and a 1847 Russian edition of the Holy Gospel, with enameled icons of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John on the cover are displayed here. It one of the oldest standing Orthodox churches in Alaska. Regular church services are still held here.
This is the view across Cook Inlet of the Chigmit Mountains of the Aleutian Range, taken from the the church grounds.
After church services, we traveled up to the end of the Kenai Spur highway to the town of Nikiski, then on to the end of the road at the Discovery Campground in the Captain Cook State Recreation Area. This is the Swanson River, looking west, towards Cook Inlet. You can barely see the Chigmit Mountains in the background due to low-hanging cloud cover. The salmon run has not started as of yet on this river. If they were running, there would be fishermen standing all along the banks.
This is the Swanson River looking upstream, towards the east. The Swanson River is famous for its series of world-class canoe trails. The Swanson River Trail System is located within the Dave Spencer Wilderness unit of the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge. It consists of two canoe trails, the 60 mile Swan Lake route (connecting 30 lakes) and the 80 mile Swanson River route (linking 40 lakes). This is the terminus of the Swanson River route. The system is accessed via the Sterling Highway.
This a photo of Illiam Volcano, across Cook Inlet, from the Sterling Highway between Soldotna and Anchor Point, on the Kenai Peninsula, Both this volcano and the following volcano are part of the Chigmit Mountains, of the Aluetion Range.
This is Redoubt Volcano, taken from across the Cook Inlet between Kenai and Ninilchik, on the Kenai Peninsula.
On Tuesday, we drove south to see a few other churches. These are some views of the Holy Transfiguration of Our Lord Russian Orthodox Church, located in the village of Ninilchik. The Russian cemetery surrounds the church and is totally covered with wildflowers.
I always seem to find the necessary office space!
This is where boats domiciled at Ninilchik harbor enter the sea, at high tide! You can see the high tide markings on the gravel below the rocks. At high tide, the water reaches to bottom layer of rocks.
This is the Ninilchik harbor. All of the boats are out on fishing expeditions. The road leading to this area was lined on both sides with parked cars and pickups from the fishermen (persons) on the charters.
We drove to Anchor Point, then took a road to the unmarked Russian Village at Nikolaevsk, a few miles inland from Anchor Point. This is the current church, the Church of St. Nicholas. A new church building is under construction as shown on the next photo.
Anchor Point was originally named “Laida” by Captain James Cook in the summer of 1778, when the Resolution and Discovery sailed into the inlet looking for the Northwest Passage. It was later renamed Anchor Point by early homesteaders to commemorate the loss of an anchor off the point by Captain Cook. Anchor Point is the home of the “Most Westerly Highway in North America.”
The new church is being constructed just behind the original church.
This church cat came out running to me as we walked around the church area. She really wanted attention!
We spotted this theater on the way into town and had trouble finding it a second time. It was only about a mile and a half from our motorhome! We made reservations (not really necessary) and enjoyed a sequel to Jurassic Park. Even though the theater was relatively small, it was just as comfortable as any we have been in.
Travelling with the Schinglers 