When friends come to visit, I like to take them to do things. Like see dead whales.
Or go up hills.
Carve pumpkins.
Make them look at tall things.
Make them look at pretty things.
Make them go up more hills.
Make them take selfies with me.
Make them like it here.
I showed them some glaciers and told them that the water was cold.
I guess that some people need to figure things out for themselves.
As real Alaska residents we are allowed to put a net into the water and scoop out fish. We previously did this for Hooligan. Now it was time to do it for salmon.
ADF&G: This popular fishery takes place from late June through July in the marine waters of Cook Inlet just off the mouth of the Kenai River. Since 2003, Alaskans harvest between 130,000 and 540,000 sockeye salmon annually in this fishery.
The Kenai River is a large glacial system draining the central Kenai Peninsula. The river begins at Kenai Lake near the community of Cooper Landing and flows approximately 82 miles down to its mouth in Upper Cook Inlet, near the community of Kenai. The City of Kenai is approximately 160 highway miles south of Anchorage.
We loaded onto the boat on this rainy day and stuck our nets in the water.
We held the nets in the water until feeling a thrashing fish. Then you quickly lift the net out of the water and into the boat. Your crew pounces on the fish (or multiple fish if you are lucky) and swiftly kills and bleeds them.
Occasionally, you get a monster!
When you get home, the real work begins.
The (borrowed) smoker was hard at work.
The (new) freezer is full now!
Floated a creek up north with a couple of friends. Only used mouse patterns. Had blue skies and a lot of fun.
Life is better with dogs.
Navigating the cold clear water.
We caught lots of fish. They weren’t all this happy.
After the madness of Memorial Day, we headed south to the Anchor River to see if we could catch a King Salmon on a fly. The patriotism of the bald eagles were in full swing.
The night before we fished, we got to spend some time by a campfire doing the usual things. It seemed like a good omen.
The evening was lovely.
The next day, we had a hook up! Hanapa’a.
The eagles were vigilantly watching to see what would happen.
We did it! We landed one.
That gave us plenty of time to explore the beaches in the area. What a beautiful spot!
Maybe it looks hard. Maybe it was. Maybe it was hillier than we thought it would be. Whatever. Totally counts as hike 5/52 also!
Amanda: 1:50:33 7/146 AG 179/1583 OA
Rory: 1:47:11 13/82 AG 125/1583
As I was coming home from work one recent morning, a moose crossed the road in front of me. Luckily, I had plenty of time to stop. Then the moose stopped as well. He stood in the middle of the road and I stopped. Idling the bike, I lowered my feet unsure of what to do. If he charged, could I turn around fast enough and gun it? Probably not. Would we play chicken and I try to skirt around to the other lane? Doubtful. We looked at each other for a while. I think that he realized that I wasn’t too much of a threat. He walked down the road keeping a wary eye on me.
He was on the same side of the road as I was, so I was going to have to drive on the opposite side of the road to give him plenty of space. A couple of cars came by. Some stopped to make sure that he wouldn’t charge them as well. Some zoomed by either not noticing or not caring. I slowly started approaching him from behind, but got into the other lane (hoping there was no oncoming traffic) and he stopped to watch as I passed him nervously.
These giant animals are still amazing to me. To the locals, they are like dairy cows in Wisconsin. Big, never trusted, and seen everywhere. Locals don’t take pictures of moose. I still do. I got home and took the dogs on a short walk. A few minutes later, this brute come clomping down the road just like he was when I passed him. He still didn’t seem to have a care in the world. He is a true local.
Just the beginning of the trail. Or I guess it is the end if you start in Eagle River. 
