Thursday, July 29, 2010
Mushrooms
I thought I would post pictures of some of the mushrooms I found in the wet forests in central Alaska. I haven't identified them all yet so it is going to just be photos.Mushrooms have a beauty all their own. I will edit this when I identify those I can.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Grayling and Traveling to Whitehorse
The trip up the Chena River was a very eventful one. We stayed 3 nights at the grand Tors Campground. The campground is heavily forested and you seem almost by yourself. It was also the middle of the week and few people were out camping even though we were just over 50 miles from Fairbanks. The last evening we were there (11:45 PM) I went for a dusk walk. Because it was late evening I did not take a camera with me. I walked up to the exit on to the highway. As I got there a cow moose stepped up on to the road. When she saw me she jumped back into the bushes. I hurried across the road to see if she had stopped after she had left the road. While peering into the bushes I heard a sound coming from behind me. I turned to see a fox coming up on the highway from the spot I had just been occupying. I stood still as a post as the fox looked at me and started across the road. Stopping several times he looked me over very carefully. He finally got to where he was right in front of me and looked me over again. Then he picked a small dead branch and tossed it and chased it several times. He worked his way to within a couple of feet of me and stopped and looked at me as if asking me to play with him. Picking up another stick he tossed it several more times. He would get within a couple of feet of me and shy away and then come back. He did this several times. As he did this I was try to swat mosquitoes and not frighten him. Deciding that I was no fun he decided to cross back over the road and went back into the brush in the campground.
Richard and I fished the Chena River 4 days at 2 different spots. The river is catch and release for grayling. It is managed as a trophy river. At the first spot Richard and I fished I caught 25 fish with about 5 over 14 inches. Richard caught 10 fish 2 over 13 inches. The next day I caught ony10 fish and Richard caught 2.
At the other spot we fished I caught 25 and 40. Richard caught 10 and 20. Richard caught several over 14 inches long. I caught 15 between 13 and 17 inches long. I was fishing 2 dry flies at the same time. On the second day the fishing was so good that I had 3 times where I caught 2 fish at the same time. On of the sets was a 17 inch fish and a 10 inch fish.
There is a resort at the end of the Chena Hot Springs road that is very much like Thermopolis. It has inside and outside pools and hot tubs,restaurant, rentals and rooms.
We returned to Fairbanks and stayed another couple of nights at the Chena River RV Resort. Onece again the ducks and beaver gave me some great shots.
We were planning to take The Top of The World Highway to Dawson City, Yukon Territory, Canada but heavy rains washed out the road so we headed to Whitehorse instead. We stayed the night in Tok. The rains have been following us on our trip from the time we started. The forest around Tok is quite moist. There are mushrooms every where.
We stopped for the night at Pine Lake just north of Haines Junction. We had a great Canadian
sunset and sunrise before we headed to Whitehorse.
Richard and I fished the Chena River 4 days at 2 different spots. The river is catch and release for grayling. It is managed as a trophy river. At the first spot Richard and I fished I caught 25 fish with about 5 over 14 inches. Richard caught 10 fish 2 over 13 inches. The next day I caught ony10 fish and Richard caught 2.
At the other spot we fished I caught 25 and 40. Richard caught 10 and 20. Richard caught several over 14 inches long. I caught 15 between 13 and 17 inches long. I was fishing 2 dry flies at the same time. On the second day the fishing was so good that I had 3 times where I caught 2 fish at the same time. On of the sets was a 17 inch fish and a 10 inch fish.
There is a resort at the end of the Chena Hot Springs road that is very much like Thermopolis. It has inside and outside pools and hot tubs,restaurant, rentals and rooms.
We returned to Fairbanks and stayed another couple of nights at the Chena River RV Resort. Onece again the ducks and beaver gave me some great shots.
We were planning to take The Top of The World Highway to Dawson City, Yukon Territory, Canada but heavy rains washed out the road so we headed to Whitehorse instead. We stayed the night in Tok. The rains have been following us on our trip from the time we started. The forest around Tok is quite moist. There are mushrooms every where.
We stopped for the night at Pine Lake just north of Haines Junction. We had a great Canadian
sunset and sunrise before we headed to Whitehorse.
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Fairbanks
We came up from Seward and picked Sid up at the airport. His plane was late and he arrived an hour late.. With over 20 hours of day light it really didn't make much difference. On Monday we went on a paddle wheel powered boat tour of the Chena River.
We road down the Chena River to where it joins the another river which is a glacier fed river and is very dirty and silty. The Chena is a clear water river and there is a great contrast where the waters meet.
We were able to see the late Linda Butcher's sled dog training center and an Native American fishing camp which is maintained by the tour company. They had several presentations on camp life and catching and preserving the fish (a fish wheel and smoking the salmon.
Carolyn stayed in camp to paint and rest of us headed north 275 miles to cross the meridian that marks the Arctic Circle. The highway parallel the Alaskan Pipeline. It was built to supply the materials and workers on the pipeline. Both are marvels as they were built in a short time over permafrost land and sever climatic conditions. The bridge over the Yukon River is also impressive. An information center is provided by the BLM at the bridge for information about the bridge, the Arctic Circle and the pipeline.
We went to the El Darado Gold Mine and panned for gold the 5 of us panned about $100 total of gold out of the sluice box.That same day a 60 mile drive up the Chena River produced many great photos of moose.
Mean while at the campground we had daily encounters with blue wing teal and a couple of beavers who were eating the aquatic plants along the river bank.
We are headed up the Chena River to fish for large grayling and camp for about 3 days.
We road down the Chena River to where it joins the another river which is a glacier fed river and is very dirty and silty. The Chena is a clear water river and there is a great contrast where the waters meet.
We were able to see the late Linda Butcher's sled dog training center and an Native American fishing camp which is maintained by the tour company. They had several presentations on camp life and catching and preserving the fish (a fish wheel and smoking the salmon.
Carolyn stayed in camp to paint and rest of us headed north 275 miles to cross the meridian that marks the Arctic Circle. The highway parallel the Alaskan Pipeline. It was built to supply the materials and workers on the pipeline. Both are marvels as they were built in a short time over permafrost land and sever climatic conditions. The bridge over the Yukon River is also impressive. An information center is provided by the BLM at the bridge for information about the bridge, the Arctic Circle and the pipeline.
We went to the El Darado Gold Mine and panned for gold the 5 of us panned about $100 total of gold out of the sluice box.That same day a 60 mile drive up the Chena River produced many great photos of moose.
Mean while at the campground we had daily encounters with blue wing teal and a couple of beavers who were eating the aquatic plants along the river bank.
We are headed up the Chena River to fish for large grayling and camp for about 3 days.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Seward
We made it to Seward and went on a cruse to see the National Glacier Park. Sea otters, stellar sea lions, killer whales and humpback whales were on the menu. It was as if all these animals were posing just for me!
We also went to the Marine Center. What a wonderful complex! history, sea life and wildlife all in one place.
Homer to Seward
We spent about 4 days traveling between Homer and Seward. We stayed at a campground near Ninilchik. The Russian influence on Alaska is apparent in the church and the old buildings.
On the way to Seward we saw a larger bigger moose along the road.
We stopped for a day at Coopers Landing. Richard and I took a 4 hour guided float fly fishing trip. Then in the evening Elaine, Carolyn, Richard and I took a scenic float on the Kenia. I caught a 24 inch Dolly Varden.
On the way to Seward we saw a larger bigger moose along the road.
We stopped for a day at Coopers Landing. Richard and I took a 4 hour guided float fly fishing trip. Then in the evening Elaine, Carolyn, Richard and I took a scenic float on the Kenia. I caught a 24 inch Dolly Varden.
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