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Soak up the Alaskan wilderness at
the intimate, timber framed Alaska's Ridgewood
Wilderness Lodge on Ishmailof Island adjoining Kachemak Bay State Park, part of the Kenai Peninsula Mountain Range. Enjoy three gourmet meals a day, and highly personal attention with majestic scenery, miles of beaches, and secluded salt water coves right out the front door.
The hosts of this secluded getaway are two sourdough Alaskans, Kevin and Lucinda Sidelinger. Kevin, who built the lodge using timbers from the Pacific Northwest and Alaska, created a building that compliments the environment. The Douglas fir, timber-framed bedrooms offer plenty of space as well as large windows and panoramic views of the bay, mountains, and beaches, along with private baths and an undeniably Alaskan flavor. Or indulge your senses watching for whales, porpoises, sea otters, and seals from the decks that surround the lodge. This eco system is quite unlike any other. Enjoy the sounds and the smells of this rich marine environment.
Lucinda can book you into area day tours like a brown bear photography trip, halibut or salmon charter, guided kayaking, heli-hiking, and flight seeing. Other guided activities to enjoy are bird watching, hiking the extensive trail system within the Kachemak Bay State Park, miles of beaches to walk and beach comb, or let your imagination wander, visiting an early last century trapper's cabin set in amongst massive cotton woods along a clear mountain stream. Don't forget your trout rod for this may be the opportunity to catch that big rainbow trout. Then return to the Island to relax in the lodge with dramatic high ceilings cut across by rustic timbers, or enjoy the mountains, and the cove from a comfy deck chair, talking to Kevin and Lucinda about their life in Alaska. They can always be encouraged to share their years of pioneering oyster farming on the bay, or trekking across remote wilderness areas in the Great Land with their favorite Llamas. It is the perfect complement to a very Alaskan experience. Join Lucinda as she prepares your meals, or just enjoy the melding of scents wafting from the kitchen.
Alaska Bear Viewing
One of the truly unique experiences of Alaska is seeing and photographing bears in their natural environment. And when you stay at Ridgewood, Kevin and Lucinda can book you on a brown bear viewing trip out of Homer, with the best pilots and guides in Alaska. You can also see local black bears in Halibut Cove.
The couple has a very close connection to bear viewing. In 1978, they and their partners made (as far as they knew) the first organized, intentional effort to take wildlife photographers on brown bear viewing excursions. They established a camp 8 miles north of McNeil Cove and made daily boat trips to see bears fishing for salmon on remote rivers. They met with the Fish and Game personnel to gain access to McNeil Falls; during that time space was always available, even without a permit (this all changed when travelers realized what a magical spot this was). Four years later, Kevin and Lucinda started Alaska Wildlife Photography Adventures, flying their guests directly to McNeil Sanctuary to visit the bears and the falls.
See Alaska's Ridgewood Wilderness Lodge Bear Viewing Photos »
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