| Mona Painter |
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| "I was surprised at how many people came up in August-usually a rainy month-thinking it would be the hottest time of the year. They'd even talked to travel agents who said that'd be the best time." |
| Who
she is: Cooper Landing resident
since 1959. Local historian, president
of the Cooper Landing Historical
Society and Museum. |
| Age: 67 |
| Don't miss: A trip down the Kenai River. Watch for bear, moose, and fishermen. |
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| Why did you come to Alaska? |
| My aunt and uncle lived in Seward, and I loved the pictures they sent home and their stories about the Kenai Peninsula. I started putting away money at age 10, made it up there a few years later, and came back the first chance I got. First I lived in Seward, then moved to Cooper Landing, where I met a man and married him. |
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| Why Cooper Landing? |
| I'd made a scrapbook before moving and thought Cooper Landing was the most beautiful town. It just intrigued me even then. The friendships I've made over the years and the beauty of the land are why I've never wanted to leave. |
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| What's your favorite book on Alaska? |
| Golly, I have a whole library of books about Alaska that go way back. I suppose because I worked so hard on it, I like Alaska's Kenai Peninsula: The Road We Traveled. I was one of several editors who put it together, and I wrote two chapters, Cooper Landing and Anchor Point. We sell it at the museum. We actually updated and added to a book that came out in 1947- probably the first tourist guide about the peninsula-written by Lois Hudson Allen, a very interesting character. |
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| How did the museum get started? |
| Some of the original settlers were still around when I moved here-they were really generous with photographs and stories and all kinds of things I've collected over the years. I was looking toward the day when we could start a museum, which we did in 2003. The Cooper Landing Museum is in two of the community's oldest buildings: a school building used for 45 years, and a post office used for 40. The museum has a wonderful site, right on the Kenai River. Some people raft by and pull over and visit. It's almost too good to believe. |
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| What can I see in the museum? |
| The school exhibits include "Dead Bear Walking," a Romig collection, the history of guiding, mining, recreation in Cooper Landing, as well as items for sale by the museum and local artists and crafts people. The old post office is outfitted with vignettes of early cabin living on the Jack Lean cabin side, with displays and meeting space on the down-river side. |
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| What's "Dead Bear Walking" about? |
| The year before we opened, the school children took an adult male brown bear and made an articulated skeleton-such a rarity to have a complete, mature skeleton. The bear died in a collision with a vehicle on the Spur Highway. It took them a whole year, and they finished just hours before the museum opened. It's the centerpiece of the schoolhouse building, and you can see pictures of them putting it together. |
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| Museum info: |
The Cooper Landing Museum is located on the Sterling Highway at Mile 48.7
Hours: Open noon – 6pm, Mon – Sun in summer
Phone: 907-595-3500
Email: museum@arctic.net
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| What's your favorite local hidden treasure? |
| Coyote Notch! How many years did I live here before I even knew it was there? It's a notch between a hill and Langille Mountain (named for the forester who came up with the idea of the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge)-the mountain where people see sheep all the time. I counted 13 just looking in one place last night. In the notch there are sheer, colorful rock formations, and these little pools with tiny bugs and fishes. Then you climb up on top of this little hill. If you're driving from Cooper Landing toward Anchorage, you can see these little hills, like they fell off the big mountain. That's where you are. From there, you can look way up the lake toward Porcupine Island, or down toward the bridge. It's so different from everything, and so unexpected. |
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| How do I find Coyote Notch? |
| If you were coming into Cooper Landing from the east (from Anchorage), it would be the first old gravel road to the right after you pass the Sunrise Inn. The road goes right up the hill, and you follow it to the trail. No signs of course. If you can't find it, you could always ask us at the museum. |
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| What's one experience or attraction you think visitors should not miss in Cooper Landing? |
| Outside of a visit to the museum, get on the Kenai River-float trips, fishing trips, etc. If you start at the bridge, you'd see a lot of the homes along the river, which you don't see from the highway. Go through Skilak Lake and the Kenai River Canyon; watch for bear and moose. It's just a beautiful trip. You do go by a lot of fishermen in summer, which is kind of interesting, too. |
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| If you had to plan a day with just $10-$20 in Cooper Landing, what would you do? |
| I'd get a few good sandwiches or pizzas at the grocery store, plus a few drinks, and take an easy, three-mile hike to the platform over Russian River falls, to watch the salmon jump the falls (in summer). Sometimes I've seen a grizzly sow and cubs. You could walk up Coyote Notch, or drive up to Cooper Lake: go down Snug Harbor Road, then onto Cooper Lake Road, and there's a beautiful hidden waterfall. The trees that were blocking it have fallen, so it's more evident. It's at least 60 feet long, falling in a series, and you look down on it. I lived here for many years before I knew it was there-and nobody ever mentioned it! From there you could go up to the lake and have a picnic. Look for the entrance to K'Beq Interpretive Site directly across from the entrance to the Russian River Campground. You can take a guided or self-guided tour and walk in the footprints of the past. The Dena'ina tribe used natural plants and trees for food, medicines, construction of buildings and boats-in virtual every aspect of daily life. If you're not into walking, go over to the museum or library. |
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| What are top myths that tourists/outsiders have about Alaska? |
| For a while I gave talks and slideshows at the Kenai Princess, and I was surprised at how many people came up in August-usually a rainy month-thinking it would be the hottest time of the year. They'd even talked to travel agents who said that'd be the best time. Usually May and June would be the hottest around here. Also, fishing is earlier-the first run is June 9 for salmon. |
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