People can enjoy outdoor activities in Homer all year long. Cross-country skiers can see the Kachemak Bay from the Baycrest-Diamond Ridge trails. There are alpine skiing trails on Ohlson Mountain. Ice skaters can skate on Beluga Lake or on the town’s skating rink.

Those who enjoy ice fishing can catch salmon in Caribou Lake during the winter. There are places at the end of Homer Spit to catch salmon during the summer. Other things to do on the water in the Homer area include sailing, kayaking and whitewater rafting.

Things to do on the land in the Homer area during the warmer months of the year include hiking, horseback riding and camping. A trip to the Alaska Maritime National Wildlife Refuge gives visitors a chance to see a variety of birds and animals.

People who are looking for indoor activities in Homer can buy handmade goods in the town’s shops or visit the Pratt Museum to learn about the history of Kachemak Bay area.

The park, at the end of the Kenai Peninsula, is located across from Homer, a charming fishing town that hosts thousands of tourists annually. The park’s 400,000 acres of wilderness are accessible only by boat or airplane; there are no roads within the park. The Alaska Department of Natural Resources, which operates the park, suggests boaters time arrivals to high tides as it is easier to navigate the shoreline then. Most boats access the park at Halibut Cove.

Kachemak Bay State Park is home to the eagle and puffin, as well as numerous other wild animals, including moose, black bears and wolves. More than 80 miles of trails take hikers into the backcountry for an even more astounding outdoors experience. Camping is permitted almost everywhere in the park; some sites even have amenities such as fireplaces, picnic tables and outhouses.

In areas around Homer, Alaska, the largest of the sea lion breed can be glimpsed swimming the nearby waters and lounging on the shoreline. I found some more information here. Sea Lions can be quite entertaining and interesting to watch. Taking an afternoon to go out and view these animals is a real treat. Sea Lions can be aggressive, so viewing from a distance or with a tour is recommended.

Steller Sea Lions are dark brown in color, with strong flippers for swimming and hunting down several varieties of fish for food. Females can live up to 30 years, while males only live until about 20. Protecting their habitat has become a priority for many environmentalists, scientists and people in the community.

Kachemak Bay State Park – has many trails on the south side of Kachemak Bay good for observing a variety of land birds as well as some nesting seabirds.

Seabird activity is good on the way to Seldovia. Several species of auklets and tubenoses are common. Walk the old harbor area of Seldovia to see Great-blue Heron, Chestnut-backed Chickadee, and both crossbills.

The State Ferry Tustemena can be a birding adventure, cruising to Seldovia, Kodiak, Dutch Harbor and other small towns of the Alaska Peninsula. A naturalist from the Alaska National Maritime Wildlife Refuge is on duty for the round trip Dutch Harbor ride and the Sunday and Monday trips to Seldovia.

During the 1800′s Russians relocated the silver and blue foxes to the Aleutian Islands and Americans followed with fox farming near Kodak. In 1920s fur farming become popular and during World War I fur prices increased until the depression in 1930s. The price of furs dropped forcing many of the fur farming operations to close. After World War II the few remaining fur farms continued to thrive with new farms starting up to include mink, beaver and muskrat furs.

Today fur farming continues to endure allowing nature to take its course with reproductive cycles. Foxes are breed during the early part of the year and give birth in the second quarter. Farmers are required to vaccinate and maintained acceptable habitats. As the coats develop and mature later in the year, farmers are harvesting the pelts.

A bush plane trip to Katmai gives visitors fantastic opportunities to see grizzly bears in a special sanctuary set aside for their protection Bears of all sizes and ages can be seen playing, fishing and mingling with their mothers and other cubs.

At Pratt Museum, there is a special exhibit of pictures taken during the Exon-Valdez oil spill. Other exhibits afford visitors the opportunity to learn what life was like for early Alaskans. Among the exhibits are skeletons of a Bering Sea Whale, a sea lion and other large creatures native to Alaska. One section is devoted to the art of quilting with 2 quilts being made each year, one to be kept for viewing and the other to be sold at auction.

Another interesting place to visit is Kachemak State Park where visitors are treated to sightings of bears, puffins, seals, eagles, whales and porpoises along its 10 mile shoreline.

It is the Pacific walrus that is native to Alaska and holds a high position in native cultures. The walrus is crucial to not only the native diet, the walrus by-products are also crucial to authentic native handcrafted items. The walrus is protected by the Marine Mammal Protection Act. Commercial hunting of this mammal is banned, but private hunting is not.

The walrus is a pinniped, meaning it is a wing, or fin-footed carnivore, who feeds predominantly on clams, mussels. The Pacific Walrus is the largest of the walrus family and both the male and female are equipped with tusks that can measure from two and a half to three feet in length. The Pacific walrus main habitats are along the continental shelf waters of the Chukchi and Bering Seas.

- The sea otter has the densest fur of any animal on earth — over 600,000 hairs in a square inch. They do not use blubber to stay warm like other mammals do, but rather rely on their fur. Their fur also contains oil that makes them somewhat waterproof, and it traps air bubbles between their skin and the fur, which helps them stay warm.

- There are two distinct groups of sea otters in North America; there are the California sea otters and the Alaska sea otters.

- Sea Otters spend half of the hours during the day grooming themselves. They use their claws to comb through their fur. afterward they smooth their fur by rolling in the water.

- Sea otters do almost everything on their backs, from sleeping and swimming to resting. This is one of the major differences between California and Alaska sea otters: California otters stay in the water almost all the time, while Alaskan ones groom and sleep on land.

- Sea otters are one of the animals most vulnerable when there is an oil spill. If an otter swims through oil, their fur becomes no longer insulated. Eventually this allows water to penetrate their fur, causing them to freeze and die.

Sea otters are one of the cutest, sweetest, and most entertaining sea animals. Hopefully they will be around for a long time for everyone to enjoy.