Category Archives: Travel

Tulpehocken Creek – 06/02/2012

Time: 1:00PM – 2:00PM

Location: Palisades area

Fish Landed:0

I slept in until 10AM on Saturday, June 2 after the stormy ending to the previous day. When I appeared downstairs, Jeff asked if I wanted to fish? I was convinced that the Friday night storms had blown out every stream in Pennsylvania, but Jeff told me they were holding back water at Blue Marsh Dam in Reading and the Tulpehocken Creek, which flows from the dam, was holding steady at 350 cfs, slightly above the normal reading for early June.

I was here to fish, so we decided to make the trip. Our food supplies remained in the van, so we reloaded our clothes and drove to the north side of Reading. The parking area and surroundings were greatly improved since my last visit. We munched down some snacks and climbed into our waders and grabbed our rods and descended down the bike path to the stream. We bushwhacked through some fairly dense vegetation and went to the lower end of the stretch where we found a fisherman just upstream. We observed the water for a bit and saw a fish rise three times, but agreed it was too close to the fisherman just above.

We reversed course and hiked back up the path a ways to thirty yards or so above another fisherman. I decided to wade toward the far bank where there were a series of deadfalls and work a dry/dropper combination. Initially I tied on a large foam beetle, but the fly was poorly tied and the thread wraps on the head of the fly slid up over the eye. I clipped off the beetle and replaced with a Chernobyl ant for a bit and then added a beadhead hares ear. I was making some decent casts tight to the bank under overhanging branches, but there was no reward for my efforts. Jeff meanwhile was working a terrestrial tight to the right bank.

I approached a nice deep run and swapped the Chernobyl for a yellow Letort hopper, but again no fish showed interest. This run looked ripe for deep nymphing so I undertook the task of clipping on a small split shot and strike indicator and added a light yellow caddis pupa and emerald caddis pupa. But before I could cast into the run, a man in a uniform arrived and began talking to Jeff. After a brief conversation he shouted that I might want to get out of the water as they were about to release water. He informed Jeff that they were raising the gate six inches every hour and the flows were expected to move from 350 cfs to over 2000!

I hurriedly made some upstream casts with my pair of nymphs and then moved back toward the bank where Jeff remained and made a few casts across and down. It was evident that the flows had already increased from just a few minutes ago. I reluctantly reeled up my line and joined Jeff on the bank, and we agreed we only one choice and that was to return to the car and then to Whitehall.

The highlight of Saturday was attending a pair of minor league baseball games featuring the Pawtucket Red Sox vs the Lehigh Valley Iron Pigs. The Pigs won the first game but lost the second.

Little Juniata River – 06/01/2012

Time: 11:30AM – 7:00PM

Location: Area where the river moves away from the road above Spruce Creek at a house and railroad overpass

Fish Landed: 5

Little Juniata River 06/01/2012 Photo Album

Jeff and I slept in the Odyssey van on Thursday night at the Union County Rod and Gun Club again. We decided to take showers and were optimistic that we could fish Penns Creek by Sunday if not Saturday as the flows continued to gradually fall to the high 700 cfs range. Meanwhile we used our smart phones to track flows and conditions on other central Pennsylvania trout streams. The Little Juniata had fallen to the 300’s, slightly above average for this time of year. Unfortunately the TCO fly shop in State College listed the Little Juniata drainage as dirty, so that raised some concerns.

When I awoke I felt a definite change in the weather as the air was thick with humidity. The maintenance man at the club mentioned to Jeff that the weather forecasters were predicting two inches of rain. The woman at the small supermarket confirmed the forecast for heavy rain. We packed our gear, grabbed some breakfast and headed west to the Little Juniata River near Spruce Creek, Pa. under partly cloudy skies. The sun popped through off and on but there were also some large gray clouds in the sky.

We stopped at the Spruce Creek Outfitters to buy some supplies and get advice on what flies were working and then drove along the stream. The water was a bit high and an opaque milky green color, but it appeared fishable. We parked on the left side of the road opposite the stream and hiked up the road .3 miles to a path that cut down a bank behind a house. Jeff decided to work some eddies near the road while I elected to go under the railroad overpass and explore the series of four or five nice pools on the north side of the tracks. I began fishing with a beadhead hares ear and a prince nymph with a split shot and strike indicator, but this combination didn’t produce. After thoroughly fishing one pool I switched out the prince nymph for a beadhead pheasant tail. I used one that I’d found on a tree branch that was a bit larger than my others, and it had a flash strand from the tail to the hook eye.

At the top of the second pool along the inside of the current seam I foul hooked a 12 inch brown. Initially because of the lack of clarity of the water, I thought I had a monster, but once I brought it around to the edge of the stream I could see that the powerful fight resulted from being hooked in the dorsal fin. I moved up to the head of the next pool and snagged to the bottom and broke off the flashback pheasant tail. I selected the largest beadhead pheasant tail in my patch with a flashback wing case and tied it to the end of my line. Along the current seam at the top of this pool I hooked and landed a nice 13 inch brown and photographed it. In the same general area I landed a second eight inch brown on the pheasant tail.

13 Inch Brown from Little Juniata River

Location Where 16" Fish Was Taken

The next pool had a long flat ledge rock along the opposite bank with a large submerged rock partially visible in the cloudy water at the tail of the pool. I remembered this pool as the one I’d had good success on during my previous visit to the Little J when I landed several nice trout on a small CDC olive dry fly. I began prospecting the pool with drifts upstream and then fanned each succeeding cast outward until I had covered two thirds of the flow to the opposite bank. On perhaps the tenth drift as the flies began to swing at the tail of the pool in front of the submerged rock, the indicator darted sideways and I set the hook. I battled a nice fish and looked for signs that it wasn’t foul hooked. I was pleased to get a glimpse of the fish as it fought and clearly the line was coming from its mouth.

16" Brown from Little J Was Best of the Trip

I played the fish back and forth several times until I finally coaxed it into my net. The fish stretched an inch beyond the internal width of my net, which Jeff later measured at 15 inches, so my Little Juniata brown was a sixteen inch fish, and the largest of my Pennsylvania trip. I continued working up through the remaining pool, and Jeff arrived and circled above me to the tail of a long wide smooth pool below the next railroad bridge.

The river angled away from our bank over a shallow gravel bar and then dropped off to a deeper run where two currents met. I waded up along the bank to a point where I could wade out across the shallow riffles to fish the V above the junction of the currents. I had no luck in this area, but I was now positioned to fish two marginal areas along the north bank under some overhanging tree branches. In both these small runs of three to four feet in depth I landed small eight inch browns.

Jeff Tries a Different Fly

I continued working up along the north bank while Jeff cast from the middle toward the left side. In order to progress toward the bridge I waded through some very deep but slow water that approached the top of my waders. Just above the railroad bridge the river split into three branches that merged together under the bridge. I followed the right branch facing upstream under the bridge and then to the right. In a nice deep run here I foul hooked a ten inch brown. I was attempting to find a path up to the railroad bed so I could use the bridge to cross, but it became evident that I would have to hike quite a distance north through some dense vegetation to reach a point where the bank was short enough to gain the railroad tracks. In addition the trains were quite active, and I was concerned about being on the bridge when a train approached.

Jeff Below Railroad Bridge

I did a U turn and waded back downstream a bit, then cut up to the woods and worked my way through some dense vegetation to avoid the deep wading challenge. By this time the sky was clouding up, and I could feel light drizzle or mist occasionally. It took a while but I ended up going back in the edge of the river and wading downstream to an open area across from the large pool where someone had built a bench and a rope swing. Jeff was waiting near this point and began fishing again. I elected to continue retracing my steps to the series of pools. I stopped at the productive ledge rock pool where I’d landed the 16 inch fish and gave it another shot. I fished the pool half heartedly for a bit, and then clipped my fly to the guide and went downstream in search of Jeff who had gone back to the eddies and pockets near the road.

I stopped briefly at the long riffle just above the first railroad bridge and spotted two random rises. Upon seeing these, I removed my nymphs and tied on Jeff’s parachute sulfur. It was a welcome transition to change from slinging nymphs to casting a visible dry fly, but the fish weren’t cooperative with my change in approach.

After fifteen minutes or so, I reeled in my line and continued downstream in search of Jeff. I found him near the point where the river moves away from the road, and we walked back to the car together and ate our snacks for dinner. We debated where we wanted to fish for the evening hatch. Jeff suggested the nice pool across from the parking lot, but I was inclined to return to the long riffle above the bridge where I’d seen a couple rises. I changed from my sunglasses to regular glasses, put on my headlamp, and added a layer beneath my raincoat.

We once again walked up the road to the same path down the bank and Jeff jumped into some sweet runs above the eddy. I continued back to the long riffle and once again began to notice sporadic rises. I drifted the sulfur over the rises to no avail so I decided to look closely at the water. I spotted quite a few small mayflies and was able to seine one using my net. When I inspected closely I observed a size 18 or 20 mayfly with a black body and smokey gray wings with a tinge of tan. I tied on one of my CDC olives and covered the water, but my hatch matching didn’t bring any success.

I decided to go back upstream to the series of pools and look for rising fish. As I waited and watched the water, Eric Stroup, a local guide and expert on the Little Juniata came downstream with two clients. I asked him what we might expect for an evening hatch, and he told me the sulfurs were over and the only thing that might happen would be a cornuta spinner fall. He gave me one of his cornuta spinners and I showed him one of four I had in my box with a dark olive brown body. He told me this would probably work as well. I mentioned the black body mayflies I’d discovered earlier, and he identified them as paraleptophlebia, and he said they don’t seem to bring fish to the surface.

After unsuccessfully fishing a couple of the pools, and seeing no rising fish, I decided to return and check in with Jeff. When I reached him there was a dark cloud in the northwest sky, and we could hear thunder, so we decided to walk back to the car. While doing this the wind kicked up and the leaves turned inside out and we could hear the rain hitting the leaves to the west. The rain reached us and we pulled up our hoods to avoid getting wet over the last fifty yards of our return.

We quickly got out of our waders and tried to keep the car as dry as possible but it was difficult and the rain intensified and ran off the tailgate. Once we got in the car we debated what to do next. We were out of cell range so we couldn’t look at any weather radar sites nor could we check stream flows. I’d spotted the Spruce Creek Tavern as we drove through town, so we decided to stop there and check it out for dinner. The casual restaurant was quite crowded, but we were promised a 15 minute wait so we decided to stay and have a warm meal.

After dinner we checked out the Marshall House B&B where we’d stayed on our last trip, but there was a For Sale sign and no one answered the doorbell when Jeff rang. We continued east on route 45 toward State College and the skies opened with steady rain pelting the minivan. When we got closer to State College where we could get a cell signal, we checked the radar and saw several bands of heavy rain north and south moving across Pennsylvania. The USGS streamflow graphs were showing vertical lines for Penns Creek and the streams in the area, so we decided to leave central Pa. and return to Whitehall where dry beds awaited us. It was a good decision as Jeff drove through waves of heavy rain on interstate 80. We arrived back at Jeff’s house at 1AM and crashed into our beds.

Portland, OR – 04/02/2012

Portland, OR 04/02/2012 Photo Album

Gardening

Jane and I scheduled a trip to Portland, OR at the end of March to visit Amy and help her plant a garden. This was the stated mission, but the real reason was to spend precious time with our sweet daughter. Since Portland has a milder climate than Colorado, we felt this would be a good time to plant the cold weather vegetables.

Well, things worked out more or less as planned. It rained heavily off and on during the entire weekend, but there were enough gaps in the heavy rain that we were able to find the time to prepare two raised beds and plant all the items on our list for the early season. Jane suggested that we work on the garden on Friday as soon as the rain stopped, and her strategy was very effective as we used all the available time on Friday and Saturday when it was not raining to reach our gardening goals.

The Raised Bed in Front of House

Amy’s boyfriend, Joe, had already assembled a raised bed in front of the house, so we just needed to prepare the soil and augment the raised bed with some compost in order to be ready to plant. The area facing south along the side of the house required more work, so on Saturday we prepared the soil and then persuaded Joe to build a second frame for a raised bed. Once Amy and Joe secured the corner posts and attached the frame, we added three bags of compost and had a second raised bed.

The Gardening Team

During the course of preparing and assembling the raised beds, someone asked the obvious question, why raised beds? I replied with a couple legitimate reasons, but upon further research came up with additional justification. One of the primary reasons is that it prevents soil compaction. If the beds are constructed properly, all areas can be reached from the surrounding pathway thus no need to walk on the soil and compact it. Also related to this is the ability to space plants closer due to the lack of pathways within the bed. Because the bed is raised, it typically drains better than level soil, and in a wet climate such as Oregon, this is important. The soil can be better controlled as the bed consists mostly of additives such as topsoil, fertilizer and compost. Another benefit is the garden is closer to the gardener as signified by the name, raised bed.

Amy Rakes Before Adding Compost

After our efforts,  Amy and Joe’s garden held radishes, spinach, onions, beets, leaf lettuce, kale, thyme, chives, brocolli, brussel sprouts, catnip and lavender. Unfortunately the catnip was under attack almost instantly by Joe and Amy’s cats, but it was entertaining to watch nonetheless. Even with all these items planted enough space remained to add warm weather plants later in the season.

Portland, OR

Now that my daughter lives in Portland, and after having visited numerous times, two things come readily to mind about this exciting northwestern city, and they are rain and food. The rain theme is obvious as we had to work around rain constantly throughout the weekend. But a visitor to Portland soon discovers that the residents do not allow a bit of rain to get in their way. Even under overcast rainy conditions you will still see cyclists and kayakers and hikers and any number of activities taking place. Good rain gear is observed everywhere as well as cozy coffee shops to fight the dampness and warm the soul. Another evidence of the weather is the green landscape everywhere. Winters are wet but mild, and thus the grass seems to be constantly green and flowers bloom early in the season. While we were there, daffodils seemed to be everywhere.

Dave and Amy at Pittock Mansion

If one ventures outside the urban area to forested areas such as the Forest Park area we hiked on Saturday, one will be immediately impressed with all the moss and ferns adorning the landscape. The scenery is quite different from the arid sparse landscape of Colorado.

Lots of Moss

Our second impression of Portland revolves around food. I’m sure the suburbs and outskirts feature the same chains, big box areas and strip malls as any other U.S. city, but the various areas of Portland itself are littered with locally owned neighborhood restaurants and eateries. The hospitality industry must employ 90% of the mushrooming twenty something population. Eateries range from ubiquitous food trucks to small take out locations featuring one menu item to more traditional high end sit down establishments. Another popular Portland fixture are the dessert stops, restaurants that specialize only in desserts. Amy, Jane and I anxiously looked forward to all of our meals in Portland and sampled Mexican, Irish, Thai, and Mediterranean cuisines during out stay. Another Portland favorite and a favorite to us as well is brunch. Brunch can be found everywhere on Saturdays and Sundays. Had we stayed during the week, I’m sure we could have found a brunch offering somewhere on a weekday.

Aaron and Jessica Join Us for Dinner

The Hunger Games

Our Saturday night entertainment featured watching The Hunger Games at a local cinema. Amy and Jane read the entire Hunger Games trilogy, so they were well versed on the plot and anxious to see the movie treatment of the novels they’d recently completed. Dave, on the other hand, only read movie reviews which were luke warm at best. The plot is a bit of Survivor and American Idol on steroids. Apparently the United States has been divided into twelve districts, and the ruling class holds a hunger games event each year. Two teenagers are chosen from each district, a male and female, and transported to a central location where they will attempt to survive to be the last person left standing. Of course prior to the event there is training, festivities, partying and gambling on the outcome.

The main character is Katniss from district twelve, a poor coal mining region. Katniss volunteers after her younger sister’s name is drawn from the bin. It’s a classic case of brains over brawn, but I won’t give away any more. We all enjoyed the flick quite a bit and were still discussing it on Sunday morning.

Disc Golf

08/23/2011 Clackamas River Photo Album

When Dave visited Oregon in August to be a driver in the Hood to Coast Relay, he visited Milo McIver State Park along the Clackamas River where he fished for trout. While there he picked up a brochure that described the bat barn and also noticed an extensive array of disc golf courses. With the early completion of our gardening project on Saturday, we were looking for something to do on Sunday. The weather was typically  overcast with intermittent rain showers and we considered going to the coast or up the Columbia River gorge. I mentioned the bat barn, but when we researched it online, we discovered that the bats are present in the summer and probably not an attraction on April 1.

Preparing for Disc Golf

As we discussed it, however, we decided to give the disc golf course a try. For those of you who aren’t familiar with this sport, disc golf is played similar to golf except tossing a Frisbee takes the place of hitting a small white ball with a club. There are 36 holes at Milo McIver but our threesome decided to play only the front nine on the east course. Amy wisely took five frisbees along and it was raining lightly when the three of us emerged from the car at the disc golf parking lot. Amazingly there was a small wooden box with scorecards and maps of the course layout. We elected to not keep score or keep score in our heads. The course we played essentially followed the downstream flow of the Clackamas River, which was quite high and turbid due to all the recent rain.

Amy Shows Distance Technique

There were tee boxes and “greens” and hazards of many types. The water hazards were probably larger than normal due to all the rain and quagmires created by heavy runoff. The green consisted of a metal post with a cluster of chains hanging vertically from the center post to a circular metal cage below the chains. The idea was to toss a disc into the chains, and then it fell and rested in the cage below. This compared to sinking a putt. We had a great time and were amazed at the number of fellow disc golfers in the rain. These disc golfers took their sport seriously as most possessed multiple frisbees of various sizes for driving, chipping and putting if in fact the same vernacular applies. They also possessed disc golf bags, small rectangular duffles with shoulder straps that were used to transport their assorted discs. It was a whole new world for Jane and Dave.

Jane with a Chip Shot

 

 

Presidents’ Weekend – 02/19/2012

Presidents’ Weekend 02/19/2012 Photo Album

Jane and I decided not to rent our condo in Dillon for Presidents’ Weekend as our Colorado ski passes are blacked out for Vail and Beaver Creek, and this concentrates all the skiers at the remaining available areas on the pass. Since we didn’t have this commitment, Jane decided to use some air miles that were going to expire in six months to book a trip back to New Jersey to visit her parents and sister Jill and Jill’s family. Meanwhile Dave looked forward to a restful weekend preparing federal and state income tax returns.

Dave's Valentine's Day Gift

Jane’s weekend pretty much worked out as planned, although she suffered through flight delays on Friday evening and didn’t arrive at her hotel until 3:15AM on Saturday morning. Fortunately she didn’t have any time commitments on Saturday and was able to sleep for perhaps four hours before preparing a tasty breakfast for her Mom and Dad. After breakfast she visited with sister Jill and then took her niece Jaelyn shopping for birthday gifts. Apparently they visited quite a few stores and Jaelyn bought some nice Phillies sportswear.

Hanging Out for Jaelyn's Birthday

Saturday evening Jane, the McKays and her dad went out to dinner at Bahama Breeze and apparently a great time was had by all. On Sunday Jane watched some old home movies that were converted to VHS tapes with her parents and then took a nice walk along the Cooper River before returning to the McKays for a pizza dinner.

The Presidents' Weekend Task

Meanwhile Dave cared for Pip, our maverick cat and fit in his exercise routines around preparing federal and state income tax returns. One of the highlights was opening a Valentine’s gift of Left Hand Milk Stout Nitro on Saturday followed by a delicious home cooked meal of fish sticks, lima beans and buttered egg noodles. This is a bit of a joke as Jane doesn’t like fish sticks or lima beans, so when she travels, Dave always uses that as an opportunity to make his favorites.

 

Pennsylvania Visit – 01/26/2012

Pennsylvania Visit 01/26/2012 Photo Album

As has happened for the previous three years, my friend Bill Hicks invited me to join him to attend a Bucknell basketball game and use one of his season tickets. Bucknell is doing quite well this year, so I chose the January 25 date against American University. I use these visits as an opportunity to visit my brother Jim and sister-in-law Diane and my sister Marcia.

I departed at 10:40AM on Tuesday from DIA on Southwest Airlines and arrived in Philadelphia on time at around 4:20PM. Because I carried my bag on, I was able to pick up my Chrysler Town and Country minivan and left the parking lot by 5:45PM. It was very mild for Philadelphia with a high temperature around 54 degrees, and I witnessed a gorgeous scarlet sunset in the western sky as I made my way toward Lititz, Pa. to stay with brother Jim for the night.

I entered the wrong lane at the turnpike plaza and had to pull to the shoulder and walk back to get a ticket and avoid paying the highest fee for going from New Jersey to Ohio. I made record time and arrived at Jim’s house by 6:30PM. Diane was out to a birthday dinner with friends, so Jim and I had a delicious dinner at the Country Cupboard. The baked lima beans and cranberry relish were Pennsylvania Dutch treats.

On Wednesday morning Jim and I had breakfast at the Tomato Pie Cafe in Lititz and then took a drive north to the Middle Creek State Wildlife Area. We took a short hike and snapped some pictures by one of the many lakes in the area. Next we did a big circle around the wildlife area and returned to the Hammer Creek and stopped at a covered bridge and took some more photos. The clear streams and mild weather made me wish I’d taken my fishing gear along.

Dave by Hammer Creek Covered Bridge

Next we covered some more country roads and stopped briefly at a Mennonite school house to take another picture. Finally we crossed Lititz Run and parked at the special regulation area and once again inspected the stream. Jim needed to be available by noon for his school bus driving gig, so I packed up my things and drove to Harrisburg to the Pennsylvania Automobile Association offices of Bill Hicks. Bill’s office is right next to the Susquehanna River in a pretty location. Bill and I departed from his parking lot and stopped  at a casual restaurant for some lunch before driving north on route 15 to Lewisburg, Pa.

Bucknell Starters Run Offense vs American

Our first stop at Bucknell was the site of our old KDR fraternity house which is now a vacant lot seeded with new grass. Next we drove up the hill behind TKE to the newly constructed KDR. The new facility is a vast improvement over the old house with a striking view of the new campus extension and the Susquehanna River. We left KDR and found a parking space in downtown Lewisburg and browsed the Barnes and Noble Bucknell book store. With a hour or so on our hands prior to meeting Ken Hafer and his guests at the Hotel Lewisburg, we stopped at the Smiling Chameleon and enjoyed a craft beer. The Lancaster milk stout I ordered was quite tasty.

At 5:15PM we joined the Hafer party at the Lewisburg Hotel and had an enjoyable dinner while catching up with Ken and his business ventures. After dinner we hustled to the Sojka Fieldhouse and sat down in time for the tip off. Bucknell managed to overtake American at the end of the first half, then expanded the lead to as much as 15 during the first ten minutes of half two. American scrambled and fouled and began making three point shots to close to  within four late in the game, but Bucknell began making free throws and held on for a 66-61 win. After the game Bill and I returned to his home near Hershey, Pa.

On Thursday morning I awoke to light rain and drizzle, but no freezing rain as had been feared. I had breakfast with Bill, visited with his cat Dexter, and copied a couple music CD’s to add to my collection. I departed at around 9:30 for Landis Store and arrived at sister Marcia’s house at around 10:30. Marcia and I chatted for a bit and then headed out the door to her favorite natural foods store, Echo Hill. Marcia is only working two days a week, and she has taken up making her own granola mixtures. I bought some raspberry trail mix, and we proceeded to Fleetwood where we ate lunch at a nice little lunch spot on Main Street.

After returning to Marcia’s house, we chatted a bit more, and I jumped back in the rental car and departed for the Philadelphia Airport by 3PM. I arrived at the airport in plenty of time and my return flight was on time and brought me home by 9PM.

 

Alaska Day 15 – 7/3/2011

Alaska Day 15 07/03/2011 Photo Album

Sunday morning after our usual breakfast we packed our belongings in the Ford Escape and began our return trip to Anchorage. We booked lodging for Sunday night at the Lake Hood Inn near the airport. Lake Hood Inn was the same place I slept on my first night after arriving in Anchorage on June 17, two weeks ago.

Since we had a lot of time to make our return trip, we planned to stop in the Kenai Wildlife Area again and do a few more hikes that we’d skipped on the way down the peninsula. On the outskirts of Homer on our way north we spotted a large scenic overlook area and paused for some photographs. There was a range of mountains to our south across Kachemak Bay and then two large snow-covered peaks to the west across Cook Inlet. The southern most peak to the west was Mt. Redoubt, a volcanic peak that erupted in 2010 causing the cancelation of some flights.

Map Showing Location of Peaks

Mt. Redoubt Recently Erupted

As I began driving north a huge peak appeared before us. The two peaks we’d seen at the overlook were to our left so this could only have been one mountain…Mt. McKinley. We had a brief opportunity to view McKinley, and it was in fact huge. Jane saw it as well, and we hoped to find a safe pullout to take photos, but it never happened and by the time we reached Anchorage clouds had once again rolled in and obscured any views to the north.

We pushed on to Soldotna and then east to the Kenai area. The first hike we’d chosen began in a campground so we drove a short distance and found the trailhead. The campground was very nice and appeared to be full for the Fourth of July weekend. We hiked a couple miles to an overlook where we could see a lake, and then we continued on a bit further to another high spot where we could view Skilak Lake. We retraced our steps and drove to the eastern end of the area, and then went back west for three miles to the West Kenai Canyon trailhead. We’d already done the east trail on our way to Soldotna on Thursday. On this trail we actually got quite close to a channel of the river, and it was just as aqua as it was from high above.

Dave with Hidden Lake in the Background

We Hiked in to Kenai Again on Return Trip

By now we were getting quite weary and anxious to get back to Anchorage, AK. We’d had a great time, but thoughts of work and family and Colorado began creeping into our new reality. We found the Lake Hood Inn and were surprised to discover our key was not in an envelope. I called the innkeeper, Bill, and he said to hang tight as the maid was currently getting our room ready. After a brief wait, the maid introduced us to our room which faced the lake. Jane and I sat on the deck listening to the aviator talk while float planes landed continuously on the lake. It was quite a scene.

Jane Listens to Air Traffic Talk at Lake Hood Inn

For dinner we drove back to downtown Anchorage and went to the Snow Goose for a second time as Jane wanted to purchase Snow Goose pint glasses for Dan, Kirk and me. Since we had an early flight, we returned the rental car on Sunday night and then took a cab back to the Lake Hood Inn and arranged for a taxi pickup on Monday morning.

Everything went according to plan on Monday and we arrived back in Denver in time for fireworks displays.

Alaska Day 14 – 7/2/2011

Alaska Day 14 07/02/2011 Photo Album

We woke up Saturday morning to a steady light rain in Homer, AK. After our usual tasty breakfast of giant muffins we set off for the Homer spit. This is a narrow extension of land that extends into Kachemak Bay just south of Homer. It contains beaches and numerous boats and cruise ships as well as restaurants, bars and shops.

Dave on Homer Spit Boardwalk with Wooden Fish

We found a nice convenient parking spot next to a strip of shops and a miniature boardwalk and began browsing the shops in the light rain. We covered nearly every shop and when we returned on the other side of the main street, we saw the Salty Dawg. Taylor and Bill Edrington mentioned this as a must see landmark so I took a photo and then we stepped inside. It was a dark musty bar with a low ceiling and dollar bills pinned to every wall and ceiling with individual’s personal signature on the dollar bill.

Inside Salty Dawg

Barnacles

We continued down the road and then found a place where we could stroll the beach. The beach was quite wide with several tidal pools draining back into the main body of water. We walked the beach a bit and then headed back to the road at a point where there were numerous RV’s and tents ready for the holiday weekend. As the steady rain fell the tent campers looked pretty miserable, and I felt sorry for them.

Jane Shows Surfing Form on Homer Beach

Camping on Spit in the Rain Looked Pretty Dismal

We crossed back to the other side of the road and found a seafood place for lunch. We started chatting with our waitress, Mimi, and discovered she was from Vermont, and graduated from George Washington University with a major in aerospace engineering. She was working in Homer for the summer and had worked at Breckenridge for two winters, but her parents wanted her to find a real job. We gave her Brady Young’s number and suggested she call him to network in the aerospace field.

Our parking time was up so we left the Homer spit and returned to an area near the maritime wildlife museum and took a walk on a trail that led us to Bishop Beach. We were fascinated by the huge difference in the tides in Homer, Alaska. Cars and trucks were allowed to drive on the beach where we were and we saw tire tracks, but no vehicles shared the beach with us on Saturday afternoon. As we walked back to the car we discovered a nice little restored area of Homer with several bars and restaurants and pledged to return later.

Spotlighted Peak in Range on Other Side of Bay

We found another hike in our Homer booklet that was east of town, and it looked like a nice intermediate distance so we drove to the trailhead. This trail was in an evergreen forest for much of the distance we traveled, but also traversed a marshy area. The trail builders had constructed a narrow boardwalk over the wetlands. The mosquitos were horrible and the weather had cleared to the point that the sun came out occasionally. The mosquitoes were really bothering us so we turned around after a mile or so and returned to the car the way we had come.

We decided to return to the area we’d just left and find a place for tea and coffee, and that’s exactly what we did. We discovered a cute little deli, the type with the menu choices etched on a blackboard in artsy writing and cookies displayed in clear cookie jars on the counter begging to be eaten. We responded and purchased tea and cookies and relaxed in the small deli. As we left we walked around the block and found a bookstore with an adjoining restaurant and decided we’d like to eat our dinner there.

We returned to our room and cleaned up and then returned to the Mermaid Bistro. We had not made reservations so decided to arrive early to assure seating and this worked out as planned. We were the first guests there, but the place gradually began to fill as we were eating. After dinner when we returned to our inn and walked down to the sea wall we noticed that the surf was pounding the wall and spray was flying up above it. Earlier in the afternoon there was at least fifty yards of beach visible at this same spot.

Alaska Day 13 – 7/1/2011

Alaska Day 13 07/01/2011 Photo Album

Jane booked us for two nights in Homer, AK, but we were now concerned that we would not find enough to do there for two days since we ruled out charter fishing due to the cost. There seemed to be more we wanted to see along the Kenai River so we decided to spend most of the day along the river and then drive the remaining 100 miles or so to Homer.

I found a rafting service that offered scenic floats on the Kenai out of Cooper Landing, so I called and booked an afternoon float trip. We downed our muffins and tea and coffee and headed out the door. We also read about hiking to the Russian River Falls and decided we’d like to undertake that adventure as well, so that was our first stop.

We found the parking lot and paid $9 and found a parking spot in the overflow lot. It was a nice day by Alaska standards with partly cloudy skies and temperatures that probably approached the mid-60’s. Since we read that bears frequent this area to snag salmon on their upstream migration, we maintained fairly constant chatter, chants and singing.

These Flowers Were Everywhere in Russian River Area

A young couple and their children from Kenai, AK caught up to us and eventually we arrived at the falls simultaneously. There was a large observation deck overlooking the falls, and we immediately noticed the pool at the base of the falls teeming with sockeye salmon. It was quite a sight. The father/husband of the family we’d met was a science teacher and fishing guide, and he told us that this was the end of the first wave of sockeye, and they migrate to the lake above the falls to spawn.

Salmon Stacked Up Above Birds and Log

We hiked down from the platform closer to the river and found a small side channel that was just boiling with salmon. There must have been 15 fish in an area two feet wide and three feet long. We returned to the deck, and I noticed salmon leaping from the pool at the base into the frothy falls and then bouncing back. It appeared to be a rather futule venture. I captured a few of the leaps and bounce backs using the video capability of my camera.

After viewing for 15 minutes or so we began the 2 mile hike back to the parking lot. Along the way the family stopped ahead of us and motioned us to quietly join them as they’d encountered a spruce grouse and her young chicks.

Spruce Grouse and Young

Once we returned to the car we departed the Russian River area and drove east a short distance to the rafting company. The starting point consisted of a bunch of sheds and cabins where the rafts and clothing and life jackets were stored. They served some meager snacks in the form of reindeer sausage and crackers and hot coffee, and then we put on our rubberized pants and life jackets. One of the guides ran through some safety items, although this was not a white water float and the danger was quite low.

Jane and Dave Ready to Raft

In a short amount of time our guide was pushing the inflatable raft into the aqua colored Kenai River, and we were off on our scenic float trip. Among the other raft patrons was a family from Lititz, Pa. including a grandmother, mother and three children. The grandmother was married to a guy who was a linebacker for the Philadelphia Bulldogs, a team in the USFL or some other start-up league that never got off the ground. He then played for the Pottstown Firebirds, and she said there was a movie or TV show made about the Firebirds. Also on our raft was a young lady currently attending the University of Alaska – Anchorage. She was planning to run the Marathon Mountain race on the Fourth of July in Seward, AK and was a high school friend of our guide. Also on our raft were a couple from Oklahoma. Jane named them Debbie and Jim, a couple that are friends of ours in Denver. Their lives, speech and actions all reminded us of Debbie and Jim Eckert.

End of Our Raft Trip

The raft trip was rather uneventful other than seeing at least 15 to 20 eagles perched on the trees surrounding the river. We took out near the Russian River ferry and rode a bus back to our launch point where they had some cookies and tea and coffee. We were glad to get out of our rubberized fireman pants and set off on our trip to Homer, AK.

We traveled back through the Kenai Wildlife Area and Soldotna and headed south along the coast to Homer. This was a pretty drive with numerous views of the mountain range on the western side of Cook Inlet. It was Friday of the Fourth of July weekend and we noticed numerous RV’s and boats particularly as we crossed rivers and streams draining into Cook Inlet.

Behind Our Lodging in Homer

Just before entering Homer there was a pullout and we stopped and snapped a photo or two and then continued on into Homer. The lodge owners provided us with directions, and we found the Ocean View Inn fairly easily. Once again a key was in an envelope on the office door. Our room was on the second floor of a cute building set back a bit from a sea wall overlooking the ocean. We unloaded our suitcases and took a walk down to the sea wall. There was a metal ladder that enabled us to descend to the beach.

Eagle Sharpening Beak Behind Our Homer Lodging

We were hungry and the innkeepers recommended two restaurants in Homer, so we found them, but both were exceedingly busy on the Friday night of the Fourth so we used our own instincts and found a more out of the way place tucked behind a storefront along the main road running east to west through Homer.

When we returned to the Ocean View Inn and walked down to the ocean we spotted an eagle perched on the sea wall. The eagle was using its beak to pull at some loose material on top of the wall which made a noise. Jane was convinced the eagle was sharpening its beak. At any rate I snapped a couple nice close photos of the national bird before it flew off.

Alaska Day 12 – 6/30/2011

Alaska Day 12 06/30/2011 Photo Album

Jane and I woke up early at the Harbor View Inn in Seward. We were eagerly anticipating our day on the Kenai Fjord cruise. We had a quick breakfast of (you guessed it) muffins in our room and headed down to the dock area and parked in the designated cruise parking lot. We were actually a bit early and had time for coffee and tea.

Settled in Aft Quarters for Kenai Fjord Cruise

We knew the speed of the boat over the water would create a breeze and chill, so we both took our warmest clothes and wore many layers. At the designated time we boarded the boat and initially sat in the aft of the upper deck. Almost immediately as we moved out of Resurrection Bay we saw two eagles perched on posts. We continued motoring out of the bay and angled toward the opposite shore which contained many rocky points and ledges. Here the cruise ship caption pointed out the many types of sea birds and sea lions. We focused on some puffins which look like flying penguins. They are difficult to photograph because they come up for air and then dive quickly.

Quite a Cluster of Sea Lions on This Rock

We decided to move to the fore deck; however, that was quite breezy with nothing to block the wind. I alternated between the deck and going back inside the cabin when we were moving and there wasn’t much to see besides the landscape. Of course this turned out to be a mistake because as we moved away from the sea lions and birds the captain announced a whale sighting. The passengers already on the fore deck naturally had the premium views while I scrambled to find a gap to take photos. The first whale spotted was a humpback whale and like the puffins it was difficult to capture more than the back above the water.

The Back of the First Whale Spotted

We left the first whale and moved further along toward our destination which was one of the fjords and the glacier it contained. Once again the captain announced a whale sighting and this time it was an orca, but a rare type of orca. I got a nice photo of the mist and spray coming out of this whale’s blow hole. I was riding up front with Jane and she mentioned that she’d seen someone we knew. Can you guess who? No, not Bob, but Beth the young intern who had graduated from Clemson and was sitting in the seat in front of us on the Denali bus. Her parents were visiting and they were doing the cruise before heading north to Denali. Even though Alaska is a huge place, everyone seems to do the same loop of tourist attractions.

Check Out the Spout

We continued on and entered the fjord and drew closer and closer to the gray-white mass of ice that filled the valley and reached down to the water. As we neared the glacier the captain announced that we needed to be cautious to avoid all the mini-icebergs floating in the bay. Sure enough they were everywhere and occasionally one could hear them clanking against the hull. I noticed some movement ahead and spotted a sea otter swimming past us in the frigid icy water. When we drew within 50 yards the captain cut the motor and we watched the glacier. This may sound boring but we were anxiously anticipating calving.

Right Side Ripe to Fall in the Ocean

Mini-Icebergs

Calving occurs when slices of the glacier split off and slide into the ocean. There were some fairly deep fissures on the right side that forecast calving, but a major event never occurred. We did see some minor slides. The other interesting thing about glacier watching is how noisy they are. We constantly heard cracking and creaking sounds so it definitely left the impression of a living moving phenomenon.

Couple in Icy Environment

We turned around and began motoring out of the fjord, and I noticed a pair of sea kayaks along the shore. Where did they come from? The captain said they get dropped off by a larger boat so they don’t paddle the entire distance from Seward. What a neat way to see the glacier. It also seemed like there were scout boats out ahead of us that radioed the captain when they spotted whales.

Sure enough as we headed back toward home, the captain announced that two whales were spotted bubble netting. Bubble netting is a technique used by the whales to confuse the bait fish. The bubbles make it difficult for the small fish to see, and then the whales swoop upward with their huge mouths open and scoop up massive quantities of fish. It’s a heck of an appetizer. They also told us this was a learned behavior as the northern hemisphere whales learned it from their southern hemisphere friends. I got some pretty neat photos and movies of the whales bubble netting by holding my camera up high above the heads and shooting semi-blindly toward the whale spot.

Head and Tail

After the bubble netting episode we chugged at a fairly quick pace back to the harbor. I went to the snack bar for a cup of tea, and one of the cruise ship assistants had one of the icebergs that she’d netted and people were looking at it up close and touching it.

Ice Chunk Netted Near Glacier

Once we landed we returned to the car and stopped for gas and departed Seward. Our scheduled lodging for Thursday night was Soldotna which was across the Kenai along the Kenai River not far from Cook Inlet. We backtracked on the same road we’d traveled on our way to Seward, but before Turnagain Arm, we made a left turn and it wasn’t long before we were in Cooper Landing and then traveling along the Kenai River. As we got closer to Soldotna we saw a small visitor center cabin for the Kenai Wildlife Area so we stopped to see what the area had to offer. We chatted with a sweet young lady who had lived her entire life in the area, and she gave us a brochure and recommended some of the trails in the area and detouring off the main paved road and taking a well maintained dirt road. We did this and stopped fairly early and did a short hike on the East Kenai River trail to an overlook high above the turquoise colored Kenai River. Once again we were on guard for bears as Donna told us there had been quite a few during the first wave of sockeye salmon which had just passed.

Looking Downstream

We hiked back to the car and continued on the side road through the wildlife area and then after approximately 16 miles we merged back on the main road and continued on to Soldotna. We found our Kenai River Lodge just off the main road and positioned next to the Kenai River. We walked behind the hotel and checked out the fish cleaning table and the array of hooks available for hanging your catch.

Where Are My Fish?

After returning to the room we researched our Soldotna book and found a couple restaurant choices. We elected the St. Elias Brew Pub and it turned out to be a good choice. There were two musicians playing guitar and singing and we sampled the brew and had a hearty meal.

Alaska Day 11 – 6/29/2011

Alaska Day 11 06/29/2011 Photo Album

Wednesday was a travel day as Jane reserved lodging in Seward, AK. Seward was on the eastern side of the Kenai Peninsula south of Anchorage. We slept in a bit longer on Wednesday morning at our nice digs at the Agate Inn. The innkeepers left oatmeal and a few goodies for us, and then I ran into some other guests while taking things to the car. The couple was from Saskatchewan, and they had also driven to Alaska. I mentioned that there were supposed to be reindeer to feed but I hadn’t seen them, and the man told me we needed to go to the other side of the lodge through the lower level.

Jane Feeds Our Friend Grass

Jane and I followed his directions and sure enough there were five reindeer behind a fence on the south side of the house. We fed them some grass and carrots, and I snapped a few photos, and then we were on our way traveling south to Anchorage. We passed through Anchorage again and then traveled along Turnagain Arm on the same path we had driven Sunday night looking for wildlife. Captain Cook named this inlet Turnagain Arm because he mistakenly sailed up the arm only to realize it ended, and he had to “turn again”.

Dave and Jane at Bird Point

As we approached Bird Point we noticed a nice parking area and a walkway to the point that juts into Turnagain Arm, so we stopped and took a brief walk and snapped some photos. Once again we climbed in the car and after passing the end of Turnagain Arm, we passed the turn off that leads south to Homer and continued southeast across the Kenai Peninsula to Seward. This proved to be a very pretty drive with many lakes and evergreen forests and mountains. Finally we reached the picturesque seaside town of Seward, AK.

First we found our hotel and checked in to our room. Next we drove down to the rocky beach and found a park with picnic tables and had our lunch. There was an area right next to the beach for RV’s and tents. After lunch we took a walk along Resurrection Bay and then looped back on the main business district and browsed a few shops. We noticed many tsunami evacuation route signs as Seward suffered fairly extensively from the 1964 earthquake and tsunami. Eventually we returned to our rental car parked near the picnic table where we ate lunch.

Jane Walks the Rocky Beach

The Other Side of Resurrection Bay

Our next adventure was to drive back out of Seward to the road that took us to Exit Glacier. We parked in a fairly crowded parking lot and hiked the half mile or so required to reach the edge of the glacier. The glacier had many small dimples in its surface which made it look soft and slushy, but when I leaned against the thick edge I realized it was as hard as recently frozen ice. The information told us that it was moving approximately one foot a day and scouring the dirt beneath it. We hiked down the trail to the outflow and observed the dark gray water flowing from the melting glacier.

Dave Leans on Dirty Hard Glacier

Dave Next to Dirty Gray Outflow

We returned to Seward and decided to investigate the Kenai Fjord cruise trip for Thursday and also check out the charter fishing boats. The cost of the Kenai Fjord cruise was $180/day, and we could select the cruise ship or the catamaran. The catamaran left later but traveled faster; however, it still returned later in the afternoon. We chose the cruise boat as it left earlier, but returned in early afternoon and reserved space for Thursday. Jane and I both liked the atmosphere of the harbor area and walked down the docks between the moored boats then circled back on the street that runs along the water. By now it was dinner time and we liked the idea of eating in one of the many restaurants located in the waterfront district.

Hundreds of Boats

We had our eyes on a place called Chinooks, so we entered and were seated at a table on the second level overlooking the boats and the fish cleaning tables. Since I was at the Rainbow Point Lodge for our anniversary, we decided to make this our anniversary dinner and splurged on seafood medleys that contained salmon, rock fish, mussels, and crab. Meanwhile we were mesmerized by the activity around the fish cleaning tables and the guides removed fish after fish from the wheelbarrows and threw them up on the tables and filleted them. Jane asked me to time one of the men, and it took him eight minutes to clean a huge halibut.

Guide Was Asked to Kiss the Big Fish...and He Did

After dinner we went downstairs and gazed at the returning fishermen and their guides as they hung their catch on the board of hooks for all to see. We located the booking office for the fish charters and discovered this was a fairly expensive proposition. The Kenai Fjord tour was probably our best choice.