Bears

One day Don and I were biking on the Coastal Trail.  We stopped to rest at Westchester Lagoon and were approached by a young woman doing a university project on bear encounters.  She said most press is about bad encounters, and they wanted to know how people actually felt.  We were asked to count the number of bears we had seen in our life and to describe one encounter, how we felt, where we were etc.

At first I thought I had seen about a dozen bears and as we spoke to her I realized I have seen many more than that.  The funny thing was that I forgot to count the times I had actually gone out of my way to see them!

The following is my memory of bears in Alaska.   I also saw a bear running across a road in New Hampshire once.

1. Two sets of  grizzly sows with two cubs in Denali.
2. Two black bears alone while fishing on the Russian River with the BOW program.
3. Grizzly sow and two cubs at the military base fishing with Jan and Cindy.
4. Bear seen at Alyska from the tram.
5. Grizzly seen while fishing with Karen and Jim and Don at Big River Lake.
6. Five bears at Brooks Lodge.
7. Smelled a bear at Princess Lodge Cooper's Landing.

Halibut Fishing in Homer

 

Our day began quite early as we were to meet our captain at 6 am.  We motored out for an hour to a depth of about eighty feet deep.  Our captain had  been in the business about three decades and is going to retire at the end of the month.  We each caught two halibut and an additional two for the captain.   Each halibut was about twenty pounds.  To fish, one simply drops the weighted line with a dead mackerel and weights for a tug on the line.  Then reel in.  It is fairly heavy to reel in, but halibut don't give much of a fight.

A crew came and took our fish from the boat to filet them and send them for processing, packaging.  We kept one filet for dinner that night.  Yum.

Halibut Cove and dining at The Saltry

Riding across Halibut Cove on the Danny J

Dining at The Saltry by the fire pit.  Notice the hats and layers!

August 4, 2012

We drove to Homer and visited the Alaska Islands and Ocean Visitor Center. It was nicely done with exhibits and movies.  Our lodging was the Almost Home Accomodations which was a two bedroom apartment about 4 miles up a steep hill from town with lovely views of the water and mountains.

For dinner, we took the Danny J across the bay to Halibut Cove.  It was quite windy and a bit of a drizzle so we put on rain ponchos to keep us warm.  I got to steer the boat for a bit.  The cove area was very quaint.  The ride took about a half hour.  We dined at The Saltry  which is  the only restaurant in town!  We sat outside next to the fire pit, and the food was very good.  After dinner we walked along the boardwalk and saw some cute art boutiques.  We took the ferry back about 9 p.m. and we were tired after a full day.

Big River Lake near Soldotna, Ak

Float plane

Getting ready to fly out.

Silver Salmon

Grizzly on search for his salmon dinner

our

Grizzly swimming about 75 feet from us.

The drive down was nice and the clouds were clearing.  I had packed a picnic lunch and we stopped at a remote state recreation area.  Quite to our surprise we ran into our friends, Connie and Winston Shero there!

Karen and Jim came to visit us.  This day we took a float plane out of Soldotna to Wolverine Creek and Big River Lake.  The plane flew over the Kenai area where we dipnet, and then across the Cook Inlet to an area near Lake Clark.  It was gorgeous scenery seeing glaciers,  Redoubt Volcano (inactive) and Illiamna.  We were fishing for silver salmon and hoping to see bears.  Altogether we caught three salmon and one white fish. I had the worst bite to land ratio.  The rod was quite heavy with a fish on and I was not fast enough at setting the hook, so  many of my bites got away.  The legal limit is three salmon per person per day.  

Midway through our day a grizzly came across a field and swam right by us.  Our guide, Skip, said a different outfitter was fileting salmon nearby and the bear was after the carcass.  Sure enough the bear swam about 75 feet away from our boat. I was amazed to watch it, but not really scared because bears don't attack boats.  He swam over to get his dinner and then swam back and walked across the same field.  Very cool.  The outfitter was not supposed to filet in a lake.  It is okay to filet in a river because the carcass will float down stream with the current.

We flew back and then took the fish to a processor and had dinner at the St. Elias pizza place and then to the River Raven B and B.  Don had stayed at the Raven before and it was a nice place.

Fly fishing at Tangle Lakes, AK

For the summer solstice weekend, much of Alaska has some sort of celebration event.  My two fishing buddies, Jan Schnoor  and Cindy Crawford celebrate by going to the Tangle Lakes area to fish.  I was lucky enough to be included in their group.  Don was going with a group of coworkers salmon fishing for kings on the Gulkana which was supposed to be about an hour away, so I dropped him to meet his buddies and continued on.

So the adventure begins at Glenallen with me continuing north on the Glenn highway about 200 miles north of Anchorage.  I had directions from my friend, but got somewhat confused.  She said go briefly on a gravel road over a bridge and turn left into the campground.  The gravel road went on for about 20 plus miles, I was starting to get concerned that I had missed my turnoff.  This area is very remote with no or limited cell service and no businesses to stop and ask for directions.  I was not concerned about darkness or running out of light (summer solstice ), but I didn't want to have to back track over the gravel road.  I  turned on my lights, flagged down and on coming car and asked for directions!  Traffic was so infrequent both of us could stop in the middle of the highway with no other cars in sight.  Anyway, they verified I was on the right path and then I watched the mileage to make sure I was ok.  The lodge that I was to turn on to on the Denali highway didn't even have a sign.  I made it to my friends about 9 pm.

We went out to fish after we loaded up the car with our gear.  We unloaded a canoe which could remain off for the week.  We were dressed in chest waders with long underwear and fleece under.  We fished until midnight for Artic greyling.  I caught about six the first night.  As a beginner fisher I was pretty awkward with my rod and gear when trying to unhook a fish.  I improved much throughout the weekend.  It is so pretty there and very remote.

Jan has an RV that we slept in which was another first for me. She slept over the driver's seat,  I slept on a bed that was the kitchen table area during the day.  The campground was very nice.  It had outhouses and pump water and bear proof trash cans.  There were about 50 spaces.  We knew two other fisher ladies.  On Saturday the weather was perfect and about 70 degrees.  We only wore long underwear and waders not fleece also.  We mainly fished near a creek.  We would cast into where the water was coming in and let out line.  The current would carry our fly and line out and then we would gradually strip in the line.  I caught about 12 fish that day.  I learned how to make knots to tie on the fly and add additional leader.  That evening we had a potluck with other Alaska Fly Fishers.

On Sunday, the weather had turned to colder and windy.  We paddled the canoe to the creek spot again.  The wind was about 30 knots, so it was nearly impossible to cast.  We gave up after about 15 minutes and moved to a less windy spot.  I did not catch any fish on Sunday, Jan and Cindy each caught about a dozen.

We got a call from Don that his group had finished early.  Cindy was riding home with us.  We left and had about a two hour drive until we picked up Don.  Cindy was familiar with the area and gave us insights into some of her previous adventures .

You know you are in AK when....part XIV during the winter 2011-2012

1. Almost daily you see trucks hauling snow away.

2. You cannot see the traffic on the opposite side of the highway because the snow berms are too tall.

3. Everyone is excited to break the record because we have already had so much snow. At the present 129", Anchorage is in second most snowfall since 1917.

4. You have to be careful at corners to peek out around the snow berms and see if anyone is coming.

5. Snow mountains are in parking lots everywhere and the snow lots are full.

Going for the snow record!

The first photo is of me standing in the driveway which shows how high the mounds are. They are up to my shoulders. The next is a picnic table at Westchester Lagoon during the Tour of Anchorage. About in the low 20s to upper teens. Kinda chilly for a picnic. The stop sign is in the upper hillside. Where is the pole? Under snow.

So far this season we have received 123 inches which put this year at the third snowiest season since 1917. The record is 132.8 inches. At this point we all want to break the record. There are huge snow mountains everywhere. Crazy! We are pretty certain the record will be broken by the end of the season possibly even this week or next.

Coastal trail

The larger moose was resting in the snow when we went by. He noticed us but did not move. The track were not great, but the skiing was still fun. Eileen, Kitty, Joan and I went from Westchester Lagoon to the lookout spot. We ran into Dodie and Gavin at the start and they joined us. We could see the water moving farther out but near the shore it was all frozen. I was surprised it was not a large dropoff at the lookout as it is in the summer time. The view of downtown and the mountains were pretty. The temp was near 30.

Snow, Snow and more snow!

This has been a very cold, snowy winter in Anchorage. We have had 107 inches officially, and I think much more at our house. Our snowfall is about twice the average and has broken some records. The January average temperature was 2.7 degrees. Many days it was below zero and minus 14 took my breath away literally! Almost everyday I still get out of the house, twice my car was stuck in the driveway and once it was so deep I couldn't even back out. A friend picked me up for our bridge Christmas party that day.

We have had some problems with the furnace being able to keep up with the cold and it was replaced. Also we had to have the roof shoveled to prevent leaks. We have huge icicles now and all of the streets and lots in town are icy.

Elmendorf Airforce Base Eagle Glen Golf Course

This was my first time to ski at this golf course. It was almost all flat with just one small hill. The free course was groomed. and the map provided distances. We saw moose tracks but no moose. The m ost challenging part was the drive which was not plowed. Fortunately, I rode with Dodie. Also on the event Kitty, Vicki, Lonnie and Zo along with many of Mary Jane's Tuesday hikers. We had lunch at the club house. It was fun and near 30 which seemed springlike!

Girdwood, AK

This first week of February, I went on a church retreat to Aleyska in Girdwood. It snowed 11 inches in Anchorage and 20 inches in Girdwood with 3 feet of snow at the top of the mountain. I would have "bailed" on driving the 40 miles on my own, but I had prearranged a carpool with a women, Christina Schegel,who grew up in Cordova and didn't mind driving. The retreat was emphasized the wisdom of women. I met many lovely ladies from my church and the community. We had time to cross country ski which was fairly challenging ungroomed after all the snow the previous day.

You know you are in Alaska when ....part VIII

it snows for 13 days in a row, your town has 24 inches of snow this month and it is only the middle of November.

you hear the snow machine come around at midnight to scraping the curbs to widen the street.


cars going through traffic circles wibble-wobble from side to side on the ice after hitting the curbs.

you see an 18-wheeler hauling off snow to create a snow mountain somewhere.

the snow mounds next to the driveways are already hip high.

it is five degrees outside and you can still have fun cross country skiing with your girlfriends!

Half-Hikers

The Half-hikers are a newly formed group among the Petroleum Wives Group. I am one of the group founders. We hike, bike or cross country ski at a comfortable pace for about 5 miles or so. This hike was on the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail which is also a popular biking spot. Not enough snow yet to ski. We saw two moose and decided they were a mother and calf.

Last night it snowed about eight inches. so next week it may be time to ski

Women Listen Fly Fish Retreat

The weekend of August 19-21, I was asked to be a staff member at a fly fishing weekend for a women's cancer support group. It was held at LaVerne Griffith Camp in Wasilla. The weather forecast was rain, but fortunately, It did not rain as much as predicted.

There were about 11 women participants and 8-10 staff members, including Jan Schnorr and Cindy Crawford. They are the two women teaching me to fly fish. Throughout the weekend we helped the women learn how to make knots and when to use them. The perfection knot is used to connect leader and line. The improved clinch knot is used to put a fly on. We fished from float tubes which are small individual seats that you sit in while wearing chest waders and cast from them. Fun and tricky at first.

Wet flys sink and dry fly float. You try to match the fly to the insects the fish are feeding on.

We stayed in cabins with heat and had a separate shower building. All of the meals were provided. The staff was able to fish when the ladies were having meetings.

It was a fun weekend and I also learned about fishing and caught a large rainbow trout.

Dip-netting on the Kenai River

We were invited to join Cindy C and Jan S. to dip-net on the Kenai. One needs to be an Alaskan resident for at least one year and get a free permit in order to fish by this method. The first person in the family can get 25 fish and 10 more are allowed for each family member.

We left early in the am for the 150 mile drive to the mouth of the Kenai and met them at the RV park across from the beach. It was a beautiful, warm, sunny day. We began by loading all the gear into Jan's SUV, the coolers, a wagon and two large and one small dipnet. The dipnets are five feet in diameter with a twenty foot pole attached. Then we drove around to the beach to unload the car and load the pull wagon. It was heavy empty.

We pushed it out on the beach and unloaded. The beach was not too crowded at 9:30 am, but as fishermen and women began to arrive near the high water tide time an hour later, it became incredibly crowded. On each side of the shore for about a mile long, people were staggered about three feet apart.

The process begins as one "drives" the pole into the water. The net is perpendicular to the sand. It was heavy and hard to control with the current. When a large boat came along, it was even more challenging. Then we waited for a tug on the net indicating a Red Salmon. When that happens the net is flipped to the side and the fisherman turns around and runs to the shore. We were wearing chest waders and it was hard to run through the water with the weight of the net and fish. Our team had three nets for four people, so we took turns being the bonker. That means to hit the fish on the head between the eyes to kill it and then to rip the gills and let it bleed out in the water. It sounds pretty barbaric, but actually is more humane than letting the fish suffocate to death. Next the fish is put in the cooler and the whole process begins again.

The whole beach looked to me like an ant scene with everyone in perpetual motion doing their own thing again and again. In the end, Don caught 10 and I caught 6. Our team divided the fish equally by thirds for three families. We could have caught more fish, but our two coolers were full and we were all exhausted and the work had just begun.

We began the process of reloading the wagon only this time it was full of nets and heavy coolers full of fish. Fortunately, some young strong men helped us get it up the bridge as we left the beach. We had a break and lunch at the RV and then found another spot to clean the fish.

We had an assembly line. I washed the fish with a hose, Jan filleted them, Cindy cut the filets in half and Don packaged them and put them in ice coolers. We were all tired when we headed for home about 7:30 pm.

After about an hour on the road, we stopped in a traffic jam and the trooper explained there were two fatal accidents and the highway would be closed south of Cooper's Landing until 2 am. UGH. We tried to stop at lodges along the way and check for opening with no luck. We called the Princess Lodge and were put on a waitlist. Luckily after dinner we got a room. I didn't even ask how much it was. ($229). We were so happy to have a room.

In the morning we took our fish someplace to be vacuum packed and hiked the Russian River Falls. We came home with 37 pounds of fish.

Bird Creek to Girdwood

Anna and Rick Button organized the first Bird to Gird bike ride. The ladies are Pat H., me, Kitty P, Anna B., Fran, Mary S., Vickie M, and Meg S. It was a very nice, warm Saturday afternoon for the hike. We all met and began the bike ride together and the plan was to end at the Sitz-Mark for drinks and dinner in Girdwood. It was a fun bike. It was also very windy and hilly which made it hard for me. Many of us ended up waking it part of the way uphill.

I called it the Tour de France, Anchorage style, the Winds of Girdwood.

Charter Fishing in Seward

I am a fisherwoman! I was the first person to hit the legal limit of the day. Two halibut, three silver salmon and two rockfish. Everyone on our boat of about twelve people hit the legal limit--hurrah! The event began with Don, Bob Strathman and I getting up early to be on the boat at 6:30 am after breakfast. We were given the safety instructions and then took off out to sea. Fortunately, the seas were calm. Don had a seasickness patch and I had taken dramamine, just in case. First we went fishing for halibut who swim near the bottom. We were told to lower our lines to the bottom and then crank up three times. The poles were heavy and had four pound weights on them. There was a metal rod holder and our poles were laced to the boat so they wouldn't go off if we dropped them. We could tell when the pole bent that we had a hit and then wait about 30 seconds for them to eat the bait which was fish. After that release the pole from the holder and reel it. It was pretty heavy and hard to reel it, but the halibut don't give much of a fight at all. Next we switched to silver salmon, the pole and hook were much smaller and were not tied on. These fish swim about 20 feet below the surface so we lowered the hook just that far. Then when we felt a tug, raise the pole to set the hook and yell "Fish on" as usual so the captain or helper could come with the net. Mine did not give much of a fight, but Don and Bob each had a fighter who tried to take off before being reeled in. We each also caught rockfish. They are sort of ugly and short. In the end we took home about 32 pounds of fish. It was a fun day. Occasionally our lines would get tangled with another person, but it wasn't a big deal.
After I was finished fishing, I enjoyed taking photos. The captain and mate filleted our fish for us. We took them somewhere on the dock to be vacuum sealed while we had dinner and then drove home. Fun day!