Real Estate Information Archive

I had the opportunity to visit one of the truly magnificent places in Alaska.  Let me start with "I Love Cooper Landing"  I would move there if I could.  The area is known for its biking and hiking trails, and of course the Kenai River.

My family and I visit friends that are lucky enough to have found Kenai Lake front homes.  We try to spend several weekends each summer floating the Kenai River.  The fishing can be phenomenal.  Last summer it was.  The river was clear, and the water was low, which made for great fishing.

Fishing is Alaska, and Alaska is fishing.  We love it, which is why Cooper Landing, Alaska is one of my favorite destinations.  The fishing here is great year round.

So this last month I was really happy when Ed Galvez came to me to assist him in marketing a property on the Kenai River, right in the middle of Cooper Landing.  My favorite place. 

The home turned out to be my personal favorite.  If I could live anywhere in Alaska, this would be it.  This home is tremendous, and with 600 feet of Kenai River frontage the views are awesome.

We finished our video on Wednesday and the link is just below.  Let me know what you think, and be sure to pass it on if you know someone that would like this home.

This wonderful log home has 2624 square feet of living space, a fire pavilion, a 3 car garage and a 200 square foot wood working shop.  The Garage and shop are 1392 square feet.  The home is easy to get to, which is very important.  The home is easily seen from the Bridge and public boat launch.  However the log home face south west down the river, so the views are great. 

Cooper Landing is a great destination.  Princess Cruise Lines thought so, they bought an old lodge and built the Kenai Princess Lodge.  1000's of visitors come to Cooper Landing.  Imagine if this was your home.  Wow. 

January 14th, 2010.  Eagle River Community Council Meeting; the meeting was held at the new Eagle River Town Center, just down the hall from the new Eagle River Library.  The Eagle River Community Council meets on the second Thursday of each month. 

Last night’s meeting was lightly attended, with a majority of the participants being from the local High Schools.  There were several persons visiting from other community councils; they were there to hear the gust spear from Land Design North, more about this later.

 Assembly women Debbie Ossiander was in attendance and gave a recap of recent developments.  Funding was restored for the Eagle River Library; they will open one more day during the week; although one full time position will be cut.  There maybe other budget concerns as the year progresses; they will be doing a quarterly review in April. 

Local roads are being plowed on a frequent basis; one concerned citizen spoke up asking that the plow trucks be a little more responsible about how much snow they dropped in his driveway (gating).  Michael Melielo is the council representative to the Road Board; he addresses this concern and provides the contact information to the homeowner so that the proper people we notified.  The discussion at this point was how our road board worked differently from Anchorages.  The end result was that Eagle River/Chugiak was more efficient and home owner’s property taxes were lower as a result; less mill rate for road maintenance.  

The next topic was the Master Plan for Beach Lake Park; guest speaker Mrs. S Doyle of Land Design North.  This discussion was very lively; there are many different uses for the park.  In the summer you have bikers as well as hikers, and there are several different areas within the park that are in use.  Beach Lake Park does see more traffic in the winter as there are miles of cross country ski trails; as well as several dog sledding trails.  For the most part these trails do not cross.  There have been several meetings to layout the master plan, and the next meeting is February 9th 2010, 6:00 - 8:30 pm at the Eagle River Town Center.  Click here for PDF Flyer of Event.

The meeting was concluded shortly after this lively discussion. The Eagle River Community Council meetings typically last between 1-2 hours.  There is always good information about the community.

Christmas had come and the our kids had a great time opening presents.  They spent the entire day in the PJ's until we went out Christmas night to see a movie.  Yes. you should go see Avatar, but I am not writing about that, I am sure there will be plenty of write ups and you do not need my opinion.  No, I want to share with you the next day, the day after Christmas.

Our son was engrossed in Mario Kart on the Wii, and my teenage daughter was sleeping in.  My wife, Debbie, and I decided to go skiing (figured it would be a little more fun without the kids).  Just the two of us, jumped in the car and headed for Hatchers Pass.  This area is in the mountains above Wasilla and Palmer, and just 20 minutes from our house.  Very close and convenient.  We visit there are mainly during the summer months, as this is where my great grand father's gold mining claims are.  There is still a small cabin from 1936 on the site.

But today we were going cross country skiing. There are many trails in the area, local clubs keep them groomed.  There is the Arch Angel Valley trail, and the Independence mine trails that we would visit today.  There is also several sledding areas, including one that you drive and drop off the sledders.  They the sled down a run that is close to 3/4 of a mile in length.

There is also a great skiing/snow boarding area that may people frequent.  This are is similar to the sledding area.  Groups of skiers jump the car and one  lucky person chauffeurs them up to the top.  This is how I refined my back country skiing skills as a teen.

Today's trip was to the Independence Mine area.  The area has several trails that crisscross the mountain.  Our plan was to make it up to the Higrade Mine (The family mine), which is about a mile up the valley above the Indepence Mine.  We thought we'd check on the cabin and make sure everything was ok.  We started out the slow up hill slug from the parking lot to the Independence mine, this was about a mile.  We did good, and I only had to stop a couple of times.

Once we arrived at the half way point, halfway to the Higrade, we started the steeper climb. This became a bit of a challenge, as much of this was untouched snow.  Luckily it was only about 24 inches deep.  We made it another 300 yards and decided to call it quits.  Next time we will bring snowshoes for the final push to the cabin.  Cross Country skis were not going to get us there.

We headed back down, and yes this was a challenge.  Cross country skis do not work well on steep downhill runs.  S, after two backward flops, we made it back to the main trail system. (Picture to the right:Trail Closed).  We made it back to the groomed trails.  From here we made it across the valley.  The trail system is really nice, short uphills and gentle down hill runs. 

The trails guided us back towards the Hatchers pass Lodge.  We had a really great time, and made it back to the parking lot in about 45 minutes.  Then it was time to relax, so over to the Hatchers Pass Lodge for a nice Coffee nudge and Raspberry/Blackberry pie Ala mode.  This is a must do for anyone living in Alaska.  The trails are easy and the views are spectacular.