What a wonderful trip! Pam and I just got back from almost 2 weeks in Alaska. She used to live there and we’ve talked about going for 10 years so she could show me the sights. Missed you folks ... only 6,500 unread posts!
We saw birds and animals, beautiful mountains, valleys, rivers and glaciers, fished and hiked (to get to more fishing) and put over 1,800 miles on the rental car. Man, it was a blast but we’re exhausted. They’re not kidding about “Land of the Midnight Sun†… it would be light no matter how late we went to bed or got up … you just never want to stop going, seeing and doing.
We flew direct into Anchorage and headed to the bay. Tide was out (about 300 yards) but came back in swiftly. This is the only place in the US with bore tides (can be a 6 foot wall of water coming in on high tide!) and the difference between high and low can be 30 feet! Drank a few cool ones and watched the locals “combat fishing†for Kings (Chinook Salmon) on Ship Creek in Anchorage … you could lose an eye in a crowd like that.
North the next day (first full day) - must have been a 13-14 hours. Walked on a glacier and saw Mt McKinley (in my t-shirt) … gorgeous weather. Day 3 we headed south (the only other option) and saw a lot of mountain goats, sheep, and other critters … and more glaciers. Weather had turned rainy so we postponed some sightseeing activities but went all the way to Seward. Headed to Soldotna on the Kenai Peninsula the following morning (in the rain) where we had booked a 6 day stay with guided fishing back during the fishing show.
Fished the morning with the guide for Kings, then we’d grab lunch and take off for a spot 40 miles north to fish on our own for Sockeye (we did better for them than the Kings). Also caught Dolly Vardin (a small salmon) and some Rainbow Trout … my secret fishing weapon (Pam) led the board again with a beautiful 25 incher. One of our guided trips was for Halibut in Cook Inlet. Had an awesome time … 6 anglers and we all got our limit within 3 hours. Largest caught went about 55 pounds (I think the state record is around 466) but even our 28-36 pounders was like hauling a truck tire out of mud. Fished about 210 feet down using 5 pounds of lead to hold the lines. Went out on low tide that morning also, they use large tractors to launch and retrieve the boats … too cool. Saw a whale and more eagles and did a little sight seeing in Homer.
We got tired of fighting the crowds around the Kenai, so our last afternoon at the camp Pam and I headed to Russian River Falls, about a 2 ½ mile hike to the river, then another ¼ to ½ mile down the river fishing different spots. Filleted the Sockeye on the rocks to lighten our load and headed back a little after 7 pm. We had fished some nights till 11 pm but this spot was a little more remote and we had spotted bear trails and tracks in the area and they are nocturnal feeders. Didn’t want to compete with an Alaskan Brown for his favorite spot!!! There were other folks on the trail, some packing artillery, so our concerns were probably well founded.
Did more sight-seeing in our final day back to Anchorage … and hauled back over 60 pounds of fish fillets for the flight home. Save a little each month and make some plans to go to Alaska … you’ll never regret or forget what can definitely be the trip of a lifetime, even if it does take 10 years to get there.
Bob
Pics (1 of 3)
Matanuska Glacier
Little Susitna River
Bush Plane, Talkeetna
Mt McKinley
Quartz Creek, Kenai Peninsula
We saw birds and animals, beautiful mountains, valleys, rivers and glaciers, fished and hiked (to get to more fishing) and put over 1,800 miles on the rental car. Man, it was a blast but we’re exhausted. They’re not kidding about “Land of the Midnight Sun†… it would be light no matter how late we went to bed or got up … you just never want to stop going, seeing and doing.
We flew direct into Anchorage and headed to the bay. Tide was out (about 300 yards) but came back in swiftly. This is the only place in the US with bore tides (can be a 6 foot wall of water coming in on high tide!) and the difference between high and low can be 30 feet! Drank a few cool ones and watched the locals “combat fishing†for Kings (Chinook Salmon) on Ship Creek in Anchorage … you could lose an eye in a crowd like that.
North the next day (first full day) - must have been a 13-14 hours. Walked on a glacier and saw Mt McKinley (in my t-shirt) … gorgeous weather. Day 3 we headed south (the only other option) and saw a lot of mountain goats, sheep, and other critters … and more glaciers. Weather had turned rainy so we postponed some sightseeing activities but went all the way to Seward. Headed to Soldotna on the Kenai Peninsula the following morning (in the rain) where we had booked a 6 day stay with guided fishing back during the fishing show.
Fished the morning with the guide for Kings, then we’d grab lunch and take off for a spot 40 miles north to fish on our own for Sockeye (we did better for them than the Kings). Also caught Dolly Vardin (a small salmon) and some Rainbow Trout … my secret fishing weapon (Pam) led the board again with a beautiful 25 incher. One of our guided trips was for Halibut in Cook Inlet. Had an awesome time … 6 anglers and we all got our limit within 3 hours. Largest caught went about 55 pounds (I think the state record is around 466) but even our 28-36 pounders was like hauling a truck tire out of mud. Fished about 210 feet down using 5 pounds of lead to hold the lines. Went out on low tide that morning also, they use large tractors to launch and retrieve the boats … too cool. Saw a whale and more eagles and did a little sight seeing in Homer.
We got tired of fighting the crowds around the Kenai, so our last afternoon at the camp Pam and I headed to Russian River Falls, about a 2 ½ mile hike to the river, then another ¼ to ½ mile down the river fishing different spots. Filleted the Sockeye on the rocks to lighten our load and headed back a little after 7 pm. We had fished some nights till 11 pm but this spot was a little more remote and we had spotted bear trails and tracks in the area and they are nocturnal feeders. Didn’t want to compete with an Alaskan Brown for his favorite spot!!! There were other folks on the trail, some packing artillery, so our concerns were probably well founded.
Did more sight-seeing in our final day back to Anchorage … and hauled back over 60 pounds of fish fillets for the flight home. Save a little each month and make some plans to go to Alaska … you’ll never regret or forget what can definitely be the trip of a lifetime, even if it does take 10 years to get there.
Bob
Pics (1 of 3)
Matanuska Glacier
Little Susitna River
Bush Plane, Talkeetna
Mt McKinley
Quartz Creek, Kenai Peninsula