Part 4 Continued: Back to the Lower 48

Monday, Aug 8^th

Birch Lake to the Yukon

As we started our trip this morning I was looking forward to seeing the Trans-Alaska Pipeline. You can see it up close where it crosses the Tanana River just west of Delta Junction.  It is 800 miles long from the north slope of Alaska to Valdez, Ak. Here is a link to the history and facts of the pipeline. (Pipeline Facts)  

There is also an historic site here, Rika’s Roadhouse. Roadhouses were like stage stops. They were usually on the bank of a river. They were about a days travel distance apart (about 15-20 miles) and spanned the Valdez-to-Fairbanks trail. The trail was 380 miles long. Some roadhouses were just lean-tos or tents.  Not only were they an overnight accommodation for travelers but a lot were the center of the small rural communities that grew up around them. Rika’s was located at the ferry landing to cross the Tanana River. This roadhouse was in operation from 1909-1947. Rika Wallen, a Swede managed the roadhouse for the builder John Hajdukovich. She bought it from him in 1923 for $10. The trail was gradually improved and by 1932 the trip only took 2 days. The roadhouses that survived did so by providing extra services, such as a post office or trading post. Her ranching and farming methods were so successful that the Cooperative Extension Service at the University of Alaska studied them.  Alaska State Parks have preserved the entire site and it is furnished in 1920-1930’s style. It is a fascinating history lesson and the grounds are really beautiful. 

(Virtual tour of Rika's Roadhouse) 

(History of Rika's Roadhouse)

(Link to pictures)

Delta Junction is the “official” end of the Alaska Highway but we did not go this way when coming up. Instead we took the Tok cut-off and went south west to Anchorage so now we’ve come full circle!

(Information about Delta Junction) 

Late afternoon found us back in Tok. We decided to go on to the border and drive as far as we could. This is the absolute worst stretch of road on the Alcan and we wanted to get past it and into Whitehorse. Even though it was still light well past midnight, when the shadows fall driving can become quite hazardous. We saw our 1^st bear in Alaska just as we were leaving…about 10 miles from the border... hanging out in the bushes. Finally seeing a bear in Alaska made my trip complete! The border crossing into Canada was a piece of cake compared to the third degree and search we went through the 1^st time east of Vancouver! We found a nice rest area to park in for the night with a beautiful view of the Kluane ice fields to the south of us. We had a fantastic sunset and a moon rise (even though it did not get dark)!

(Link to pictures of Kluane Icefield)

We were in Alaska, traveling for over a month. We did not get to see nearly as much as we wanted of this incredible state. I don’t know how people that come on tours or with schedules and itineraries can do it. They see what the tour operators have scheduled them to see but there is so much more. Ahh, but to each their own. The people we met here were for the most part very friendly and open-hearted, even total strangers. At times it felt like they were just tolerating our presence as tourists but that goes with the territory. Yet I’m sure there is more of that when traveling en masse then as we did on the cuff.

As I said before, we are already planning our return trip. Next time we’re thinking of just taking the jeep and riding the ferry up the inside passage from Bellingham, Washington to Valdez,Alaska. No motor coach…way to expensive on the ferry…will mean sleeping in a tent (yes, I’m willing to sleep on the ground – as long as I have an air mattress) and once a week showers. Not to mention the rain, cooking on a camp stove and limiting my wardrobe. But this will allow us to see an entirely different part of the state and you can bet we will time it better to coincide with the salmon runs…..we were just about a week to 10 days too early or 2 weeks too late.

So I’ll leave you with some observations on Alaska:

The wildflowers and views are amazing! Hands down, period, without a doubt ….spectacular! Being from Colorado I’ve grown up with some pretty spectacular scenery but this is all of that and more....on “steroids”….enhanced by the lack of people running amuck. Believe it or not there are almost as many people in Denver as there are in the entire state of Alaska and metropolitan areas such as Phoenix have twice as many. No urban sprawl up here…

Did you know Alaska has it’s own time zone? …yep … it is an hour earlier than pacific time. 

Here are some fun links for facts and trivia about Alaska

Alaska Facts

Other Alaska Facts

Alaska Trivia

I read somewhere that Alaskans eat more ice cream per capita than anywhere else. My favorite name for an ice cream store was “Hot Licks” featuring homemade Alaskan blueberry ice cream….yummm.

Wild natural things like berries and of course fish…especially salmon are treasured up here and everyone seems to have a garden. Most also have a greenhouse of sorts because the growing season is so short.

They must have more drive thru coffee kiosks per capita than even Seattle. What great names they come up with….Java da Hutt and The Daily Grind to name 2 in Fairbanks.

Some other fun names: Giver a Tug Towing, Blindgunner Paintball …..

Another oddity, most every laundromat I went in had tanning booths attached. I’m guessing here but maybe you put your clothes in and go and get your weekly dose of UV rays? (especially in the winter). But judging from how cloudy and cool it was the whole time we were here, maybe they do just want to work on their tans?

People in Alaska are also serious about their partying.... after all there’s only so many days of  really feel good weather. They’ve been known to party all day & night….remember the day doesn’t end during the summer months which kinda adds new meaning to the phrase” party till the cows come home”. I wonder if it is the same in the winter…do they party all night long when the nights don’t end?  Makes me laugh when I think about the gringos in Mexico who complain about the locals partying until all hours of the morning. As mentioned earlier….. to each their own and that together with tolerance seemed to be a common thread amongst the people throughout the far north …live and let live and together one can survive even the harshest conditions.

I really am in awe of the people we saw bicycling along the highway. It rained a lot while we were there and these cyclists were riding rain or shine. Their bikes were so loaded with equipment; at times it seemed they were barely moving and yet had so far to go. They did not have any support vehicles either, sometimes not even a buddy. The thought of having to pitch a tent in the rain when you are  wet, cold and tired does not appeal to me at all….perhaps we should rethink our future plans….much less taking your life in your hands riding along the highways. In many places there is no shoulder and as often as not it is loose gravel. Between the RVs and the large trucks there is not much room left over to move over! 

  

We used Google maps on our tablet to find stores, RV dumps, restaurants and other locations. It is really cool because once you find where you want to go, you get driving directions and then it will navigate like the Tom-Tom. You can overlay with the satellite view and see a lot of detail.  It didn’t work too well out on the open road. We used the Tom-Tom for the road trips, not because we were worried about taking a wrong turn (after all there is only 1 Alcan highway and only a few “main” paved highways in the whole state!) but to calculate mileages to the next gas station …. very important!

Alaskans also get very creative with street names, i.e.: Dead End Alley, Bill Smith Road (he lives at the end) or mile 153.2 road. You go by the mile markers on the highway rather than street address and the city limits actually start way out in the woods long before you ever see any sign of civilization.

We did not see a lot of landfills or junkyards. Of course they could have been hidden behind all the trees but we saw a lot of real old rusted out cars, tractors, and machinery being used as lawn ornaments and planters. Seems that when they wear out you just park em out front for the world to enjoy and let the prolific ground cover take over.  And then of course, you can keep buying the same kind of car and use the old one for spare parts.

The same kinda sorta applies to the building too. There doesn’t appear to be a standard “Alaskan” architectural style except the classic log cabin look. The older original cabins are rough hewn logs with sod roofs but many have replaced them with metal or shingled roofs. More recent construction is pretty plain and flat; leaning more towards function than appearance. Many look like they were built out of pre-fab sections. Many buildings have just a few small windows and minimal ingress. After all, 8 months of the year it is dark 20 hours a day and can get down to 40’ below zero or colder. People build out of what they can find and afford including the lots mobile homes in various states of decay with unfinished hand made additions. The asthetics come from the beautiful flowers and gardens that everyone seems to nurture and take great pride in….

Alaskans love where they live …. Summer or winter they are outdoors, enjoying and exploring… making the most of the daylight hours.  And wow!…winter…. 40 below zero is the norm and they get out in it…dog mushing, snowmachining, ice fishing. Many places are only accessible when there is snow on the ground and the rivers are frozen. They take great pride in their state and their hardiness.

Alaska and Canada are really clean. The roadsides seem to sparkle …. there is no trash to speak of along the way. The only places I really saw any trash was where people were fishing….I guess they can carry out their fish but not their beer cans and tackle packages….go figure.

  

Our cat Yaqui has become quite the traveling cat.  As soon as you start the engine she goes over the back of the couch and sleeps under there as long as we are moving. Soon after we stop, she claws her way up the back of the couch and rejoins the world. (I’m glad that the couch is permanently attached to the wall and I never have to see the back of it). She did venture outdoors some and survived. However, she does not like fresh salmon, raw or cooked, she took it out of her bowl and put it on the floor.  But she loves Sunchips, especially the jalapeno flavor, along with whole grain bread and Veggie Stix. Go figure….cats! It must be her Hispanic heritage. You’ll recall we found her as a stray kitten in Mexico and she has since become the well traveled feline.

And on a final note, no matter what you believe in we know that the Holy Spirit has been our guide along the way; allowing us to be well, happy and express our freedom. To quote a favorite daily devotion we read,” Let’s consciously recognize our freedom-not just as a wave of the flag ideal, but as a moment to moment conscious choice of how to live. Life expands through us eternally, an unstoppable force, so let’s release the tethers of the past and enjoy the ride.” Until next time, we love and wish you all the utmost happiness….

Part 4 Continued: Fairbanks

Monday, Aug 1^st

Fairbanks, AK

Well, we survived the weekend and are headed to Fairbanks. One of our new friends, Gary, grew up in western Colorado and goes to the Country Jam in Grand Junction each summer. He is also a scuba diver. So we already had a lot in common. We made plans to scuba dive at Birch Lake, where he has a cabin, next weekend. So that left us plenty of time to visit Fairbanks and Chena Hot Springs.

We followed Gary to town so he could show us some of the sights along the way. Our 1^st stop was Nenana for propane. Nenana has a lot of important pioneer history and native Athabascan history. (Link to information about Nenana)

Then we stopped at Skinny Dick’s Halfway Inn. It is a bar halfway between Nenana and Fairbanks and Dick was a tall, skinny guy. Perfectly innocent,and yes, they sell naughty novelties and have a lot of fun with the name. (R-rated pictures, viewer discretion is advised)

Gary gave us directions to Wal-Mart and we set up camp there for the week. Tuesday afternoon we went to Test the Waters scuba shop in North Pole, AK and made arrangements to pick up tanks and weights so we can dive on Saturday. (Link to Test the Waters dive shop...North Pole, AK)  We also did laundry; $37 later, and washed the jeep; $15 later, and had dinner at the Loose Moose Cafe. Our friend Rick cooks there nights so we had a chance to visit with Janet and him again. We also bought caribou steaks and reindeer hotdogs from there to bring “outside” as Alaskans call the lower 48.

Fairbanks is a beautiful city, very friendly and unique. With mining, the military and the Trans-Alaskan Pipeline just to name a few, much of people’s work schedules are 24/7. In the summer it is very intense, trying to work and play as much as possible. There is a midnight sun baseball game played on June 21^st, the only one in the world. There are 2 more hours of daylight in Fairbanks than in Anchorage, 200 miles to the south. So everyone boats, golfs and plays late into the night, only it isn’t dark! And they are very proud to have:

The northernmost Denny’s in the world;

Big Daddy’s BBQ, the northernmost southern BBQ;

The northernmost Girl Scout council….well you get the idea.

Fairbanks is also the home of the World Eskimo Indian Olympics, which we missed by 2 weeks. 

Link to the Eskimo Olympics

Link to Alaska 101 webpage on Fairbanks

Link to Explore Fairbanks

Link to a History of Fairbanks 

Wednesday we went to Pioneer Park, a beautiful park on the Chena River that is part theme park and mostly preserved historic cabins. There is a pioneer air museum and a museum focusing on pioneer gold miners, settlers, their artifacts and how they shaped the territory and later the state. There are lots of displays and dioramas on how they mined for gold, from placer mining to huge dredges. They have also preserved and are restoring the paddle boat Nenana which steamed 24 hours a day during the summer months to the coast of Alaska, a trip of over 770 miles. (link for pictures of Pioneer Park). (Link to information on The Nenana)

Thursday we went to Chena Hot Springs. (Link to Chena Hot Springs) This is an amazing place….the way up there …60 miles NE of Fairbanks, is a beautiful forested area crossing the Chena River and many forks. We saw 4 moose on the way up there. The resort itself is very unique. They are completely off the grid. They use geothermal energy for everything, including a special cooling system to maintain an ice museum year round. (Renwable energy information on the Ice Museum)  “The museum features a gallery and ice bar, overhead chandeliers made of individually carved ice crystals which change color every six seconds mimicing the northern lights, countless sculptures including a gigantic chess set, life sized jousting knights, an ice fireplace and four galleries with varying themes." Everything is made of ice,icluding special martini glasses. Here is a link to the photo gallery with pictures of the museum, renewable energy fair, the resort and 100 years of history. These are really great (Chena Hot Springs Photo Gallery)

The outdoor hot springs pool is a huge rock pool with a sand bottom and a water chute that you stand under for massages.   The grounds are landscaped with antique machinery and lots of flowers. Jim was waiting for me to shower and change and got a ring side seat as 3 moose walked right thru the resort and stood in the pond, just as calm as can  be. Of  course I had the camera with me  (Link to pictures of Chena Hot Springs)  

Friday we went to the Morris Thompson Cultural Center at the visitor center downtown. (Link to the Morris Thompson Cultural Center) This is a truly remarkable exhibit documenting rural and native Athabascan and Alaskan lifestyles throughout the four seasons in Alaska. They show how native tribes still maintain their culture and subsistence lifestyle today and show how it was a 100 years ago. It is an interactive media display with beautiful photos and dioramas. Their displays of beadwork, baskets, clothing and scrimshaw are breathtaking. 
(Link to pictures at the Morris Thompson cultural center)

Friday afternoon we met Gary at Test the waters and picked up our tanks and weights. Then we drove a little farther east and visited Santa in North Pole, AK (Link to information about North Pole, AK )(Link to pictures of Test the Waters and Santa's Shop).

Then Gary said we have to visit the Knotty Shop. Jim said, “the naughty shop?” No, the Knotty Shop. Wow, what beautiful examples of burl wood. Really creative statues, too.  
(Link to pictures of the Knotty Shop)

We got to Gary’s great little cabin in the woods at Birch Lake and had a wonderful weekend. He has an icehouse that they put on the lake in winter. Mitch, the owner of Test the Waters worked with the History Channel on Ice Road Truckers. They used Gary’s icehouse and filmed the intro to the program on Birch Lake. Can you imagine a full size semi-truck on a frozen lake? I guess 4 feet thick ice is strong enough to support it.  (Link to Ice Road Truckers)

We dove Saturday. Of course there is nothing really to see in a lake, but now we can say we dove in Alaska… with moose ... in the interior. (We wanted to dive in Homer but there wasn't a dive shop). We got to 31 feet and our computers said the water temperature was 50 degrees but it sure felt colder! My face felt like I had just plunged it into a bowl of ice cubes and water! 

(Link to pictures at Birch Lake) 

We are leaving Monday to go to Canada and continue back south. We are already planning our next trip to this incredible place. We hope to be able to return the generous, open-hearted hospitality of our friends in Alaska  when they visit us in Mexico.

Part 4: continued

Thursday, July 28^th

Anderson Bluegrass

We are really enjoying our guidebook, Bare Foot magazine. It gives you information for places all along the Alaskan highways, usually with references by milepost numbers. (Alaska 101) We have stopped at a lot of places that we probably would have passed on by, after reading their articles.

So as we are traveling north towards Fairbanks we happened to read that the town of Anderson is famous for it’s bluegrass festival. We look online and found out that it starts Friday.  We are considering checking it out. So when we are getting close I see a sign nailed to a tree that says “some people like to work all day”. Then I see another sign a little farther down the road that says “some people like to play”. The next one says “come visit us and fiddle all day” The next one says “Anderson bluegrass Festival” The last one says “July 28, 29, 30” (Remember the old Burma Shave billboards that told a story?) That decided us and we turned off the highway to check it out.

Anderson is a tiny town whose main street has 1 café/bar/liquor store and 1 public building that is the post office/city hall/DMV and 1 church. No gas station, grocery or ATM. It is mostly a residential area for Clear Air Force Station. (Information on Anderson, AK)

The park where the festival is held is huge – over 600 acres and really nice. It has power hookups for RVs for $14 a night, showers and a dump station and potable water. The festival has been going on for 24 years and is sponsored by the Anderson-Clear Lions Club. During the festival you have to park in the field but it is free. So for $75 we will be able to park for 4-5 days, listen to over 27 bands and enjoy a fireworks display. So we decide to stay and we are so glad we did…..what a party.

I n addition to listening to some great music, we really enjoyed the 1^st festival that we weren’t working. It was great just being Festvarians for a change. And the best part was meeting all the people that were camping around us. Our neighbors, Rick and Janet came over and introduced themselves. They said they were from Fairbanks and apologized in advance that they would be rowdy and loud. Then Rick brought out his homemade salsa (everything was from his garden), his home smoked salmon, reindeer/jalapeno/cheese ogs and we were forever friends. Then we met Blue, Jaime, Gary and a bunch of other great folks from Fairbanks. We listened to their stories about living, playing and working in Alaska …in summer and at 40’ below in winter, sat around an amazing 72 hour bon fire and really knew that this was a very special time.

All of the bands were homegrown Alaskan, except for the headliner Ginger Boatwright, but I think she’s lived here for some time. The bluegrass and folk music stopped around 10 pm and then the party really got started! Friday night Sport n’ Woodies (Sport n' Woodies Band)  played excellent  Reggae, Dead & Little Feat covers and Rhythm and Blues.  Saturday night Loose Gravel -- Alaskan Cabin Rock, transgenerational mud flat boogie, subversive with a social and politcal conscience sound—rocked the house until 3 am.

Here are the names of some of the bands to give you an idea of the Alaskan flavor of the music:

4 Chords, 1 Axe

White Twang

Denali Mountain Boys

New Cut Road

Red Elk

High Lonesome

Sweet Ginger Heat

All the music was excellent but High Lonesome and Sweet Ginger Heat really stood out. It was cloudy and raining for the fireworks on Saturday, but that made it a lot darker than it normally would have been and it was really spectacular (link for video).

People watching rated real high up on the entertainment scale along with the food and shopping. We had several conversations with Rick and Gary on the popularity of rubber boots and “end of the roaders”.  According to them, these are folks who live at the end of the road, out in the bush. You can usually identify them by their dreadlocks, they wear all the clothes they have in layers and smell of patchouli. What they live in and on is anybody’s guess, but they sure can hula-hoop.

For festival food in Alaska I highly recommend reindeer polish sausage, buffalo brats, smoked salmon crepes, caribou cheese steak, Alaskan Amber Beer and last but not least, deep fried Snickers (and Twinkies and Oreos)!  

There was lots of tie-dye and jewelry, hand made crafts and marshmallow shooters for the kids.  My favorite shop was Wild Interior, hand dyed Alaskan themed clothes. (Wild Alaska Clothing) Really beautiful designs.  

We left there knowing that we had made great new friends and had experienced a unique side of Alaska. (Anderson Bluegrass people and music)

Part 4: On to Denali and points north

Tuesday July 26^th

Today we are on our way to Denali Natl. Park. We stopped at an RV park in Cantwell (Information on Cantwell) for the night, about 20 miles south of the park entrance. 

We don’t really know what to expect when we arrived at the park so better to wait until morning. Besides the weather was cloudy and rainy. How lucky we were to see Denali on Saturday on the way to Little Willow Creek. This is part of our normal routine after what is called “boondocking” or dry camping if you will, without services for a few days. We’ll find an RV park where we can dump the holding tanks, shower, do laundry, access wi-fi, plug in to real power and fill our fresh water tank. The saving are significant versus staying in a park or campground  every night. We really like being away from the maddening crowd, so to speak. (Pictures of Cantwell and the Denali area)

Wednesday, July 27th

There are 3 main areas to visit around Denali National Park. The first is the Denali highway. This was the only way you could drive to the park before the Parks highway was completed.It has magnificent views of the whole mountain range but it is a gravel road and we would bypass Fairbanks if we took it.  The second is Denali State Park (Information on Denali State Park) which is supposed to have the best views of Denali, but it was really cloudy so we gave it a pass. 

Then there is Denali National Park and Park Service website

We read in the guidebook that you can only drive your vehicle 15 miles into the park. After that it is a bus ride. So we weren't sure what we were going to see. We took one look at the buses and said no way! They were school buses. There is no way I'm riding on those hard seats for 4-6 hours. Or trying to take pictures out of those windows. Plus the tickets are expensive, you have to pack your food and drink and if you want to get out to take pictures or look around you have to wait for the next bus and then you can only get on if there is room.  We got our Golden Age Passport at the visitor’s center and looked at the exhibits there, which were excellent. We have been so lucky on this trip to see wildlife up close that we weren't going to ride a bus just in the hopes of seeing a wolf or caribou. And it was so cold and cloudy and rainy that there really wasn't much to see. And we had already gotten great pictures of Mt. McKinley while driving north. So we visited the book store and got postcards that we mailed to all the grandkids from the park and we headed on down the road. 

 Most everyone knows that the mountain was originally named after President McKinley who as a member of congress lobbied extensively for the mining and gold interests at the time. The area was mined extensively for gold, silver and other precious metals before becoming a national park. The park is named using the native Alaskan name for the mountain which is Denali meaning “The Tall One”. Being the highest mountain in North America it’s easily seen from quite a distance on a clear day but there in lies the rub since the majority of the time it’s covered in clouds and fog. Rumor has it that you stand a 95% chance of seeing a bear in the park but only a 25% chance of seeing the top of Mt. McKinley! 

By the way here's a bit of Alaska trivia you may or may not have heard. Seems that after President Warren G. Harding visited Alaska in grand style to drive the golden spike signifying the completion of a major rail line (accompanied by both his wife and mistress) he traveled to Vancouver. There he feasted on a mess of Alaskan king crab soaked in butter. Shortly after which he became ill and died. You have to wonder if it was the crab or one of his female companions who did him in. My bet would be on one of the ladies but no doubt he had a massive case of the crabs…..no pun intended. This is what happens when Becky asks me to edit the blog…..keep smiling, lovin' one another and trusting in the Lord. 

Part 3: Continued. The 2nd week of fishing

Thursday July 21^st

We left Anchorage and headed north again towards Denali Natl. Park. There are 20 – 25 rivers and creeks between Anchorage and the park entrance a distance of only about 120 miles on the Parks highway. We passed through the towns of Wasilla and Willow in what is known as the Mat-Su valley. The fishing here and throughout Alaska is highly regulated…. the Dept. of Fish and Game Regulations handbook is 64 pages long and that’s just for the south central portion of the state.. The trick was to find a stream that we could wade, that was open to salmon and trout fishing and had a level spot to park the coach. It was a lot harder than it sounds and involved much turning around for a second look primarily because with so many good spots to choose from one can afford to be picky. We finally settled on a spot along the banks of Little Willow Creek…. surely Thoreau visited here. We did not have much luck fishing but who cares. We both agree that it’s as much about the experience of being here as it is catching fish. Up here the creeks are more like streams in size and the streams are like rivers. All are picture post card perfect and the further you get from the highway the better the experience. Oh and the rules for bear encounters really, really do apply. (Pictures of Denali and Little Willow Creek)

Friday July 22^nd

We moved on today to Sheep Creek a total distance of about 5 miles up the road. We had to pay to park in the access area along the creek as it is all private land. But it was really pretty and the river was beautiful. Again, not much action on the stream but I’m getting really good at wading without falling down and my casting is getting much better. A local fisherman recommended a place up the road called Sunshine Creek as an awesome place to fish. He said it was his favorite spot. So we will check it out tomorrow.

Saturday, July 23^rd

We finally found the right turnoff to Sunshine Creek which again involved a couple u-turns. That seems to be the norm when you don’t have a clue where your going or what to look for. Jim is leery about driving up dirt roads with the coach, but they said it was a good road with a place to turn around, so we decided to give it a try. Big mistake…. we have to remember that it’s Alaskans who are calling it a good road! Up here good can be nothing more than a trail through the woods. We ended up having to disconnect  the jeep  so we could continue on up the road/trail to find this awesome fishing creek. We finally arrive only to find that  the access point is a trail head with the creek no where in sight! So down the trail we go not knowing how far in flip flops and shirtsleeves. Needless to say the creek was at the bottom of a long steep hill and full of silt….so much for awesome fishing and then the mosquitoes arrived. The moral of the story is you can trust what you hear about the skeeter’s - nobody jokes about them - but take the rest of what the natives tell you with a little honey….or is that a  bit of salt?

We back tracked to Goose Creek and found paradise! The parking spot was perfect, the creek was fantastic and the fishing was great. Jim had so much fun that he was out fishing until midnight! You have to remember the sun doesn’t go down until 11 pm after which it stays twilight until the next morning. Well he decided to call it a day and come home when he couldn’t see the bottom of the creek anymore. He couldn’t figure out why he wasn’t landing any fish and discovered that his hook did not have any barbs. He remedied that situation and we went down stream Sunday.

Sunday July 24^th

We found a great “honey hole” downstream of the bridge today. We were wading in a shallow area and looked over to this pool that had been created by a downed tree with a riffle flowing past it. We looked down into the pool and there was a huge fish just lying there. It was red and at least 30-36” long, obviously a king salmon. The area is closed to king fishing so we just watched it for a few minutes and then another salmon came up followed by another king. It was so cool. Definitely the biggest fish I’ve ever seen in the wild. No sooner than we started fishing and I hooked a pink salmon followed by large rainbow trout shortly after which Jim hooked another salmon. It was so much fun I was laughing and yelling "I caught a fish, I caught a fish"….obviously I haven’t gotten over the excitement of catching them yet and doubt I ever will. Jim said I scared the rest of the fish away so with plenty of fresh fish for dinner we called it a day.  (Pictures of Goose Creek)

Monday July 25^th

Today is the last day on our licenses and it is raining …. really raining. It rained all night and the creek got about 5 feet wider, lots higher and really fast. It finally stopped raining late in the afternoon so we decided to go out and see if we could get anywhere close to where we had been fishing yesterday. We did find a nice trail that went all the way to the mouth of the creek about three miles but we did not go that far. We were a little nervous about bears as the only other people we saw on the trial had a rifle, a sidearm, bear spray and bells. All we had were fishing rods and good looks….besides, we could only access the river in a few spots and it was really rushing along. So in the name of sportsmanship we left the fishing to the bears, called it a day and had steak for dinner.

Part 3: 14 Days of Fishing and Kicking Back Colorado Style!

The 1st week: Fishing on the Kenai Peninsula

Monday, July 11th

We left Homer and headed north about 20 miles to Anchor Point. This is the most westerly highway point in North America. Listening to some Colorado Bluegrass CD’s and hummin along. After all we’re from Colorado and surprisingly a lot of the locals we’ve met are from there too.  (Anchor Point information) You can also see 2 of the volcanoes that are part of the Pacific Ring of Fire from here. They are Mt. Iliamna and Mt. Redoubt. (Ring of Fire information) They are due west across the Cook Inlet and are part of the Lake Clark National Wilderness and Preserve. (Lake Clark National Park information). While we were on the beach we had a great time watching boats get put into the water. They launch them right off the sand into the surf with huge tractors…. $60 for an in and out. We had an even better time fishing the Anchor River for salmon and dolly varden….a sea run arctic char or trout, depending on who you talk to. It was wonderful to be in the water, wading up and down the river. Jim was catching fish and I was trying. Actually I was watching bald eagles and snagging my lures in trees across the river. I saw what I thought was a female only to find out from a local fisherman that it was juvenile eagle. Something not often seen in the lower 48 where we tend to associate eagles with the look of the national symbol. These were big and brown with beautiful white spotted bellies. Truly magnificent birds no matter the stage of development. Anchor Point pictures

Wednesday, July 13th

We left there Wednesday morning and went back to Homer for some more fishing lures as I had managed to lose several. Then we continued north to Deep Creek just south of Ninilchik - don’t you just love these names? (Information on Deep Creek and the Ninilchik area). Upon arrival we had a choice of 2 campgrounds to stay in. The 1^st was on the beach. There were 4 tractors launching boats and the RVs were bumper to bumper (or rather side by side). ATVs were zipping up and down. Evidently the salmon were starting to come in and it was a week of clamming tides. What a zoo! Beach pictures

We opted for the camping and parking area right next to the stream, just south of town, about a mile up from the beach   We pretty much had the place to ourselves. What a beautiful stretch of water. We stayed until Friday and caught lots of salmon …I even caught a few, although the1st one was by the tail and I had to throw him back!

And check this out. On Thursday Jim had a  salmon on a stringer tied to a bush, laying in the water a stones throw away.  The next thing we hear is guys on the opposite bank saying, OMG, look at that! Behind our backs an  eagle flew down stripped it right off the stringer and flew off with it in it’s talons. We watched it fly off… definitely one of the coolest thing I’ve ever seen. Then Jim caught another 2 right away so it was OK!

We thought about buying a shovel and some gloves and going clamming but it really looked like a lot of work not to mention that it’s cold and wet and sandy…. and then you have to clean them! Too much like work but luckily I found a place in town where I could buy fresh clams and figured I was about $20 bucks ahead for 2 pounds. There’s also a fair amount of technique involved…..check the link. (How to dig for clams) and (How to clean clams)

Jim’s birthday was on the 15^th. It is his son Joey’s birthday also so we called him up and told him that the 1^st fish on Friday was for him. Sure enough, 1^st cast, got a fish on the line. Must be birthday karma. (Pictures of Deep Creek)

Friday afternoon found us traveling north. We stopped in Soldotna and washed clothes. Discovered Fred Meyer. They do Walmart one better (or 2 or 3).They have an RV dump and water, free overnight parking, a gas station and of course a huge store with a grocery and liquor. The prices were great, too. (Information on Soldotna)

From Soldotna we could go west along Cook Inlet and fish the Swanson River together with lots of surrounding lakes or go east up the Kenai river. The only problem going west was that to make a round trip trip to the Swanson and  back would involve having to travel on several dirt roads. Unpaved roads aren’t a good thing for the structural integrity of one’s RV so we decided to go east up the Kenai and Russian rivers, working our way back to Anchorage and points north.

Turns out we were really glad we did! The main road all the way down the Kenai Peninsula is mostly two lane and it was a solid, steady stream of traffic going west…. the  direction we decided not to go. At first we thought it was just summertime weekend traffic. Then someone said the salmon were running in the inlet at the mouth of the Kenai River. What this means is that people are going there to dip net salmon which are gathering at the inlets in preparation of spawning.  Here are links to videos on You tube. It’s incredible! 

(Kenai Chaos)  (Dip netters rodeo part deux),  (Salmon frenzy) 

Resident Alaskans are entitled to one permit per year per household for personal use to dip or gill net salmon on the Kenai Peninsula. The permit holder may take 25 salmon and 10 flounder along with an additional 10 for each member of the household. This does not include King Salmon, which is very restricted. Primarily the take is sockeye, or what the locals call red’s, which many consider to be the best eating. Needless to say it’s quite a party and the whole family takes part. If you ask me that’s a lot of salmon for a pretty cheap price…. if one is willing to put forth the effort.

We finally wound up at the Kenai River and Russian River Ferry parking area. All the campgrounds were full and every pull off along the highway was marked for no overnight use. As I had promised Jim I would make clam chowder for his birthday dinner, we decided to call a halt to the days travel there. Nothing like chowder made with fresh razor clams for dinner along with home made cookies for the birthday boy’s dessert….yummm. 

This is quite the place. It is where the Russian River joins the Kenai, both very big rivers. The Russian River Ferry was built in the 1930s to get hunters and fishermen across the Kenai and over to the Russian river. It carries people only and  uses a cable system as in the old days.  (Blog on riding the ferry, complete with video)

 People primarily fish from the banks here unless your fortunate enough to own a drift boat or can afford a guide. Believe it or not they have printed etiquette on how to do it properly along with lots of rules and restrictions. Evidently when the salmon are running….generally mid May until the end of September depending on the species…. this area can resemble a war zone and people come to blows. Imagine standing in line shoulder to shoulder, fly fishing, along the bank with a bunch of other people all trying to hook big salmon as they swim past. It’s known as combat fishing…..imagine that.

Here are some of the “Guidelines for the considerate angler”:

Land your fish quickly. 

Try not to allow your line to cross others’

Playing your fish across others’ lines is considered rude and interrupts the fishing

Try to cast in unison with those around you

Give consideration to anglers waiting their chance to fish

Here is a video of what it looks like, you can see why they have guidelines.

(Combat fishing on the Kenai) 

And in the bear guidelines:

If a bear approaches while you are fishing, be willing to give up your fishing spot.

ARE YOU SERIOUS?!? 

Oh and it’s recommended that you walk not run from a bear but it’s okay to run from a charging moose….maybe the moose has better credit!

You can only park for 48 hours and then must leave for 24 hours. They even go so far as to verify the time you checked in because if you leave during that time, you lose your spot and have to wait in line for another one. This is all done to help insure that everyone who wants to fish gets a chance. Plus there has been a lot of damage to the banks and the habitat is endangered for the salmon fry.  It is also part of the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge so that adds to all the regs. (Kenai NWR information) The Kenai Peninsula and river is a popular spot where many Alaskans go to fish especially during the time when the red’s are in the river. Cooper Landing is the closest town and it is quite the fishing spot, too. (Information on Cooper Landing)

There are an estimated 62,000 king salmon and 970, 662 sockeye in the rivers and it is rumored that between the commercial fishing and sport fishing half are caught. We missed the early runs and we are ahead of the runs going on in the Cook Inlet now. It will be a few weeks before they are up into the river this far. So we will have to settle for fishing for the dollies, grayling, rainbows other varieties of salmon or whatever else jumps on the line…..life is hard.

(Pictures of the ferry and river)

Saturday July 16^th

We continued east on the Sterling Highway past many full campgrounds looking for a creek that actually crossed the road instead of plummeting down a valley and a level place to park for a few days. We were almost to back to Anchorage when we came across Ingram Creek. There was a paved parking area off the highway and the creek was easily accessible. As a bonus the views were amazing although by now we’re getting used to seeing snow capped mountains and glaciers.  LOL The really cool part about this creek was that it emptied into Turnagain Arm making it a tidal fishery. The salmon and dolly varden came up it during high tide and gather in holes. You could see them swimming around as the tide dropped. The trick was to get them to bite….no problem - just watch the locals and do what they do. We had such a good time there and Jim caught fish everyday, I got real good at walking in the creek and got lots of practice casting. We stayed until we ran out of fresh water or we would still be there. (Pictures of Ingram Creek)

Wednesday July 20^th

We got back to Anchorage (Information on Anchorage) this afternoon and went to Walgreen’s for rx, Sam’s Club for coffee, veggie stix, and other necessary essentials, Sportsman Warehouse to get new waders for me colored turquoise ….very fashionable…. along with  fishing lures then on to Walmart  for groceries and you guessed it ….. more fishing lures. Knowing we couldn’t park in places like Walmart we began looking for something on line. Gotta love the internet when your trying to find something on the road. Sure beats the old days of searching for a phone booth with yellow pages only to discover someome’s ripped out the page you needed….remember???  Low and behold we discovered that Ft Richardson, the army base in Anchorage has an RV park as do many other military bases for use by active duty  and retired personnel. This was a new discovery for Jim who’s been retired for a number of years. Ft. Richardson is a joint use facility meaning it shares the same area as Elmendorf Air Force Base. Needless to say it’s a big place with lots of activity going on 24/7. The campground was located in the trees a fair distance from the base proper with nothing around to indicate you were on a military installation. That is nothing on the ground…. overhead was a different matter with the air traffic. Yet we quickly learned to tolerate the sound of jet fighters ….to us that’s the sound of the freedom. Sweet dreams…..