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.  

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. 

 

Fishing Trip Whales

As we were going from the rock fish and lingcod fishing spot to the halibut fishing spot Richard and I spotted a group of whales sounding about a mile from our boat but the captain didn't see them. They stayed in the area as we fished for halibut. Richard and I kept track of them the 2 hours it took us to limit out on halibut. Our captain took us over to them when we were leaving. He stopped the boat and drifted right into the group. We spent about 45 minuets floating with the whales. These gray whales were bubble netting the fish and the birds were enjoying the fruits of the whale's efforts.

  It is nice when a fishing charter is able to eliminate the cost for a whale watching expedition! My wife is also a very happy lady.

Homer Fishing

.Homer is a busy place on the 4th of July. All the campgrounds are full and so are the motels. The spit is also full and busy.

We went out fishing for rock  fish, lingcod and halibut on the 4th of July. We left the dock at 6:30 AM and got back in at 5:15 PM. We were on the Ashtikan. 

The trip was a success! Carolyn, Richard, Elaine and I where joined by two Texans for the trip. The group caught 28 rock fish, 3 lingcod and 12 halibut.

In the picture above the middle lingcod   weighed 35 pounds and was caught by your's truly.

I also caught 2 halibut at the same time on one hook. They each weighed about 20 pounds. Here are a couple of shots of my traveling companions.

This was a great trip! More about the whale viewing that took place on the trip on the next blog.

Homer

On the way down to Home from Palmer we were able to see some dall sheep on the steep mountain sides around the Turnagain Arm of the Cook Inlet.

                                                         We also saw a young bull moose later in the evening.

Tolsona to Palmer

   We didn't make it all the way to Anchorage we stopped at Palmer. This is a very scenic highway which swings to and from tangled scruffy black spruce forest to mountains and glaciers or a combination of both. This is a photo of the Matanuska Glacier

Some of the mountains have rocks and dirt with colorful minerals mixed into them. We were told that you sometimes see Dall Sheep here but they didn't show themselves while we were here.

At Palmer you can look right up the Knik River and see the Kink Glacier.

We also drove by a raindeer farm near Palmer and took pictures of the raindeer.