Score!!

Sue finally got the monkey off her back today. She's been wanting this for a long time. Here she is with her fishing guide, JJ,and her Sockeye Salmon. I didn't go with her today since I had no burning desire. Maybe if I actually liked eating salmon it'd be different.

They boated down the Kenai river till they got to the secret spot and got out and spent the day fly fishing. She's never used a fly rod before, so that was an experience in itself. She's pretty tired right about now. Fortunately for me, JJ lives right down the street from the campground so I didn't have to drive her over to the boat ramp at 4:45 a.m. I feel fine. If she didn't have to beat off the bears, she probably wouldn't be so exhausted.

I'd mention all the eagles they saw today also, but she didn't get any pictures of them, and I don't want JSL asking for pics, so I won't mention the eagles. Or the black bear.

To top it all off, it's been raining for the past 24 hrs, so she was in her element. All in all, a wonderful day of fishing.

Our friends Jan and Larry from Atascadero are here in the campground tonight, so I get to grill salmon for dinner for us. We'll be pairing that with a Gloria Ferrer Pinot Noir from Carneros, in case you're wondering. I hope I don't burn the fish....

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Rain and Coffee

We moved up the road a ways to explore another area. Since it's raining today we decided to go for a hike. We ended up doing a 7 mile O & B to Ptarmagin Lake. The trail was much easier than the last one we did, but they did mention it could be overgrown. Here's a shot looking up the trail.

The rain didn't bother us much, as it was typically light, but the wet plants got my pants so soaked I had to remove the legs.  We have been remarkably lucky with the mosquitoes though. When we got to the lake we got a couple of bites and I actually used Janet and Brian's parting gift of Deet. But for the most part we've had no bug issues to speak of. Sue's good friend Jan and her husband Larry are on the road up here also (Once they heard we were having so much fun, they had to come up here too). We haven't been able to connect with them yet, but the girls are texting each other and Jan told her the mosquitoes are so bad they have to stay in the trailer. Perhaps on the way back, we'll run into bugs.

Oh, here's the lake-

We're at the coffee shop again; Sue's checking out the good looking guy a couple of tables away, and I'm slaving away updating the blog for my public.

We will be off the grid again for an undetermined time. Come to find out, Verizon is not a good carrier up here. I'll check in again when I can.

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Into the Netherland

We're leaving Seward today and heading back into the woods, so I won't have internet access for a while I fear. We were going to stay in Seward longer, but they only have the one brewery anyway, so what the heck.

Yesterday it was clear, sunny, and temps were in the 70's, which made it a perfect day to hike. We decided to tackle Mt. Alice, which is rated as difficult, but should have been called extreme. It's basically a dry waterfall down the mountain side in most places, with some trail work done occasionally. So it's straight up the mountainside. It was the steepest hike we've ever done, eclipsing anything we encountered in the Sierras. Great views once we got up there though; looking down on Seward, Resurrection Bay, and the glaciers.

The day before we hiked to Exit Glacier, which was not that big in the scheme of things, but it's fed by the Harding Ice Field, which is 700 miles long and feeds over 50 glaciers!

So you may not hear from me in a while, but when I report in again, I'm sure to have something to say. Fish caught, beers drunk, hikes hoofed; who knows?

P.S. Fish size doesn't really count for that much does it? It's how much fun you have. Sue says it was huge.

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More on the epic battle

Well, I'm sitting in the Sea Bean coffee shop now in Seward with great wifi. Yahoo!!

OK, back to Homer for a minute. We stayed there for 5 days because we were waiting to get on the fishing boat for halibut. It was a great day on the water; the sky was overcast all day, the water was very calm (like a lake), and there were only four of us fishing on the boat plus the captain and his ten year old son- it was fathers day. The other couple had been halibut fishing 23 times before and had caught a 138 lb fish in the past. So we spent most of the day hunting for the big guys. We never found the monsters though. Good thing too, because it was more than Sue could do to bring in her trophy fish of 28.5. The captain helped her quite a bit.

It was a hell of a battle and she got everyone excited and laughing just watching her. At one point she let go and handed the rod to the captain so she could shake out her arms. She was pretty stoked when she got him landed.

Then it was off to Buttwhackers (as in halibut) where they filet the fish for us. I felt kind of sorry for the other experienced couple since Sue and I caught the two biggest fish.

While we were hanging out in Homer we saw a lot of bald eagles. The best one was the guy who landed on the beach 8 ft away from Sue, but I didn't get a picture of that. This one was sitting 50 ft from our camper one morning.

It's the funniest thing, but when we were in Homer, all the locals badmouthed Seward whenever the subject came up. We like Seward much better. The town is very cute, great views, we have an awesome campsite, and there is a lot of hiking for us here. We should have some more pics for you soon, but I should mention it's overcast today and the forecast is for rain the next 8 days. Sue will probably want to go for a bike ride tomorrow if it's actually raining.

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Halibut

Really poor internet connection. Here's some highlights from yesterday's fishing expedition. We both caught our limit and are shipping fish home. Sue really had an epic battle bringing in her biggest catch(28.5 lbs)

It looks like this is the only pic I can upload. Sue was so excited because she caught the biggest fish of her life. It was even more fun for the rest of us on the boat to watch her. She's so sore today all she could do was lift a pint in celebration.

BTW, I grilled some of the halibut last night for dinner and it was the best we've ever had.

We're in Seward now and expect to be spending some time here hiking and drinking. Too bad the reception is so bad, I have some great pics to share. I'll send 'em later for your viewing pleasure.

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Homer

This is a great place to hang out. Fishing everywhere, Two Sisters Bakery (phenomenal sticky buns), great views.

We got up early so Sue could try her hand st Salmon fishing; no luck yet, but we did break a borrowed reel. Sorry Manny. Bald eagles, the sunrise over the glaciers- WOW!

We'll go Halibut fishing on Sunday. In the mean time, she'd really like to catch a salmon, so she isn't done yet. Plus, we haven't tried the local brew yet either. We did stop by the Salty Dog, which is the local bar where the fisherman hang out. You don't see a place like that every day. I'd show you a picture, but my connection is really poor. I'm glad I was able to get the sunrise for you.

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Soldotna

We were relaxing in the campground yesterday afternoon. It seemed like every day we were off running around doing something, and I felt a little down time was warranted. So we went to the St. Elias brewery for lunch and came back for a little nap. It felt nice doing nothing for a while. Especially since we're in the middle of a heat wave. Neither of us feels like hiking in this heat, but napping...that's another story.

Today we drove to the city of Kenai and beyond. If it weren't for the smoke we would have had some awesome views across the Cook Inlet to the Alaskan Range. There is a fire just down the road from us in Sterling; fortunately we are headed in the other direction on Thursday towards Homer. We're still debating if we're going halibut fishing or not. We'll make a decision when we have all the pertinent data.

I think that tall amber ale I had with lunch is sneaking up on me. I feel another nap coming on. Till next time.

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The fish are jumping

But Sue didn't fish today after all. She wants to wait till the salmon are thick in the water. It's a little early in the season and the fish are just now starting to show up. Here in the Russian River the fisherman are so thick they have to time their casts according to their neighbors. I'm not kidding; they synchronized their efforts to avoid crossing their lines. The people we talked to weren't catching anything though.

So we went for an 8 mile hike today instead. We hoofed it up to the Russian River Falls, where you can't fish, but sometimes you can see the grizzlies feeding on the salmon. No bears today, but if they had been there they would have had a feast. We saw at least 100 lolling around in a little cove waiting to catch their breath before they tried getting up the falls. We can see them in the picture, but only because we know they're there. On the other hand, they were jumping enough that I was able to get some pics of that too. We were standing on a viewing platform 100' from the action.

One thing about this trip, we're seeing things we haven't seen before. Awesome!!

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Cooper Landing

Manny told us Cooper landing was one of his favorite places on the Kenai Peninsula. We're here camping on the Kenai River. It's gorgeous for sure and I'd include pics but my connection speed is too slow for that.

She'll be salmon fishing tomorrow. I'm sure that'll be an adventure. Yesterday we rode our bikes on the Blue Ice Trail in Portage Valley. She says it was the best bike ride she's ever had.

The weather finally turned. We had 10 days of clouds and rain, but now it's sunny and warm.

I'm not sure we'll have good internet service for a while, but I'll post when I can. Unless you hear otherwise you'll know we're having a blast.

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Loose Moose on the bike trail

We went for a ride on one of the trails today. It's an odd thing, Sue is not a cyclist per se, but she does ride short distances on paved trails. Oddly enough though, she likes riding in the rain. Those of you who ride with me know I'm adamantly against riding when it's wet; not Kristen, Peggy, or even Bernice, can get me out there if it's raining. I'll be in the coffee shop with John. But Susie.... that's another matter. So out we go, riding for three hours with it raining half the time. It was a beautiful trail right in town. We were able to get in 22 miles total. Susie wants to say it wasn't raining that much. Dave wants you to know half the time we were out there, water was falling from the sky.

Along the way we had great views of the Cook Inlet. In one direction we saw the skyscrapers downtown, in the other direction we would have seen Denali if the clouds hadn't been in the way.

There was also a moose just off the trail; if you look closely in this pic you can see a brown lump not far off.

After that we went to the Moose's Tooth Pub and Pizzeria for a well deserved refueling. Tomorrow the Kenai Peninsula.

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Anchorage

So far we like Anchorage. It has a nicer downtown area than Portland. And great microbrews. The state of Alaska has 24 breweries, putting it in the top tier nationally for breweries per capita. Anchorage has 135 miles of paved trails for your biking pleasure, and another 300 miles of unpaved/wilderness trails for you hikers out there. There's fishing in Ship Creek right in town, literally.

It's possible you could run across a mosquito, but we haven't yet. The warning signs are there though.

Today was our work day, shopping, laundry, quaffing ale. Tomorrow we get to play, and if the weather is nice, we'll even go for a bike ride. Woohoo!!

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Talkeetna

Remember the tv show called "Northern Exposure"? We loved that show. Talkeetna is the town that show was modeled after. Lots of gifts shops, one coffee house, and one microbrew. So we were both happy today.

We drove in the rain all day today. Unfortunately my trailer has a leak at the very front. Whenever we drive in the rain the bed gets wet. For the life of me I can't find where it's coming from. I've caulked extensively around everything I can think of but I'm not done yet apparently.

The drive was pretty uneventful except for a cow moose ran across the road right in front of us. I hit the brakes pretty hard as I watched her look over her shoulder at us, and thank goodness she had some speed, because I couldn't have stopped on that wet road. Tomorrow we drive through an area the Milepost calls a "moose danger zone". I'll keep my eyes peeled there for sure.

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Hiking Denali

The last two days we've been hiking the trails. Boy, these are the best trails we've ever seen. They're well marked, wide, and easily traversed. Most of the time we're in forested area, so Sue is nervous a bear will be around the corner. We sure see a lot of moose tracks on the trail, but have never spotted any wildlife on the trails. I saw a funny looking caribou at a pullover.

 We saw three different beaver dams at Horseshoe, which was kinda cool. Those beavers are very industrious. Sue did a little fishing at Horseshoe lake. Nibbles, but nothing hooked.

We saw a demonstration of the sled dogs today. They have quite a few, 50 maybe. They're very sweet and well behaved. They are also quite large, but surprisingly they only weigh 60-80 lbs. During the winter they are working animals and run approximately 3000 miles in a season. They're favorite climate is cold; 20 below 0 is where they work best. Sue tried to get a picture of them pulling the sled, but they were moving too fast for a good shot.

Tomorrow we head out of the park to Talkeetna, and then down to Anchorage. If one of us is attacked again, you'll be the first to know.

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ATTACK!

You never think it's going to happen to you. It's always someone else who made a dumb mistake. We know the rules and obey them all: Make noise on the trail so you don't startle a wild animal, hike with your head up and look around you at all times, carry your bear spray for worst case scenarios. And then all hell breaks loose.

Here's the scene. We hiked 2.5 miles to the top of a peak to get a great view, which we surely did. Those triangular looking clouds on the horizon are actually Denali.

The wind was blowing 30-40 mph up at the top, so we were hiding behind a natural wind barrier of some big rocks, eating lunch. Granted, we couldn't hear anything except the howling wind. Susie was joking how it'd be funny if a grizzly poked it's head over the rocks and looked at us.

 Out of nowhere it comes running at us! He actually started chewing on my boot! And the claws on this thing! OMG!! Our first, and hopefully last, close encounter with the wildlife. I knew JSL wouldn't be a believer without proof, so I whipped out my camera and got a quick shot. My hands were shaking so much I'm surprised it's in focus.

We quickly hightailed it down the trail before he brought over his buddies and overpowered us. What a day!!

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A Wild Ride

In as much as we saw many animals today on our tour bus trip. Let's start at the begining. We were driving out of the campground on our way to the bus when we saw the Loose Moose. She's been hanging around for a while scaring the rangers because she's a little aggresive. She kicked a lady in the head and the lady lost an ear in the incident. I'm guessing she got too close. Here she is laying in the brush.

Once we got on the bus, the first thing we saw was a momma moose with her calf. She was walking down the middle of the road, and my picture is out the front window of the bus.

We saw a number of birds which we did not get any pictures of; Willow Ptarmigan, golden eagles, arctic falcon.There were a number of birders in our bus, so they really went wild. Apparently the falcon is rarely seen. We saw a herd of thirteen Dahl Sheep, but the picture is not that good since they were way, way far away on the mountain. Plus they were moving around a lot.

From there to the Eielson Visitor center at mile 65.9, we didn't see much more wildlife.:-(. The weather was not really in our favor either. We did get a glimpse of Denali through the clouds, but if you didn't know what you were looking at, you wouldn't know what you're looking at. This is the north peak, which is shorter than the south peak, which is 3 miles from there.

We took a short hike while at the visitor center. It was really windy and cold, so we called it our popsicle hike. It was climbing the whole way though so we got a little workout.

We hopped onto another bus for the trip back. We didn't ride the same bus line as Marsha did, no tv or boxed lunch. We rode the shuttle bus, which runs every 30 minutes, and you can get off and on whenever you want. So, we're driving back when we ran into a grizzly walking down the road. It's important to note there are about 350 grizzly bears in a park of 6,000,000 acres. The chances of seeing one are slim at best. This guy wouldn't get off the road, and the bus is not supposed to pass until they are off the road. So we followed him for a while. Once he did get off, it was to grap a ground squirrel, so of course we couldn't leave then either.

We finally got to see some caribou up close too.

WOW! We finally got back and were so excited we had the chance to see so much wildlife. As we were driving back to camp, we found Loose Moose again. She loves our campground.

After a day like today, we opened one of our two remaining LouieD's. What a day!!

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Lazy Day

Today we spent exploring the surrounding area at the entrance to the park. That includes the visitor center, the railroad depot, hiking a local trail; plus we drove into the shopping area outside the park. We bought lots of gifts (which we've been doing all along), had lunch at the 49th State Brewery, and coffee at the Black Bear Coffee shop. They had more brews to select from then we've ever seen at any other brewery, and the food was not only fantastic but not your typical brewpub fare. We were so impressed we may go back. Clouds and rain all day today, but we better get used to that.

Tomorrow we take the bus ride into the park. Unlike most national parks, driving is resticted here. The road is open to the public for 13 miles; after that you have to take a tour bus. The road is actually 92.4 miles long. We'll be going in to mile 65.9. That's a total of 8 hrs on the bus plus time to get off and explore. It'll be a full day, but we should have animal pictures when we return. If we're lucky we might see the peak again.

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Denali!!

OK, I know JSL will be making some comment, so let me cut him off at the pass. This is our first view of the mountain, as we were just leaving Fairbanks, which makes it some 158 miles away. So it's a ways off, but the thing is, there's only a 25% chance of seeing the darn thing on your trip here. It's so big it creates it's own weather patterns, and it's often in the clouds. We're hoping to see it again, but it's forecast for rain the next three days, and who knows? There are only two view points of the peak in the park, unless of course you go backpacking, which we won't be doing. We're keeping our fingers crossed.

If you're confused about the name, let me try to clarify it for you. Thousands of years ago the native Athabascans named this mountain Denali, which means "The High One", which at 20,237', was a pretty savvy move. Then along came some white guys in 1896 who 'discovered' it and claimed the name McKinley, who was then running for president. In 1917 it officially became the McKinley National Park. Alaska changed the name back to Denali, which is how all the locals refer to it, but the Ohio congressmen (who's district include McKinleys home town) won't let  congress allow Alaska to name their mountain. I will be using the Denali moniker.

We'll be here for the next six days, hiking, biking, fishing. And of course we have to check out the 49th State Brewery. So, more news as it's created. Stay tuned.

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