The Trail From Hell
On June 26, my middle sister's birthday, (happy birthday,) my brother, my nephews and I drove to the Copper River at Chitina. The old road downstream from Chitina to the salmon dipnetting area follows an old railroad bed perched precariously on the edge of cliff. Above the road bed rises a mountain of loose shale covered with timber and top soil. Landslides and mudslides during wet wheather are common. Below the road bed is a 50 to 250 foot steep drop off into the Copper River. The lower part varies from shale slide areas, shale slide areas covered with loose soil and trees to vertical cliffs of shale. The first 10 miles of road to OBrian Creek has been maintained and actually improved slightly in the last few years. There is no problem driving a 4X4 pickup to that point. However after multiple large mud slides a few years ago the road past OBrian creek is officially closed. Climbing on our Honda 4-wheelers we continued past the large orange signs that warned you of possible death and trekked the 8 miles back to Haley creek. That meant traversing several slide areas on sketchy 4-wheeler trails weaving between Volkswagon sized rocks that are just waiting for the next rain to destabilize the mud enough so they can continue thier slide into the Copper River below. We caught 6 fish in 10 hours. (When I say "we" I'm including all 4 of us although actually the nephews caught the fish.)
It was a fun trip anyway.
Showing posts with label brother. Show all posts
Showing posts with label brother. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Friday, June 19, 2009
First 2009 Salmon Fishing Trip
The Russian River.
Brother Glen and I played hooky from work on Thursday and drove to the Russian River to join the stampede for our part of the record setting Red Salmon run. It being Thursday morning when we arrived the fishermen lining the bank were 10 to 15 feet apart. For Russian River combat fishing that not too crowded. The wait in line to get into the parking lot at the ferry was only 40 minutes. Considering that the Alaska Fish and Feathers Department had doubled the daily bag limit to 6 fish, we actually stayed and joined our fellow fisher folk. This is unusual because as a general rule we hate combat fishing. We fished the Russian in our youth when the population of Southcentral Alaska was a quarter of what it is today. On more than one occasion in the last decade and as recently as 2 years ago we have made the drive, taken a look at the crowds and driven home without wetting a line. After our ride across the river on the ferry we found room and began trashing the water. All around us people were constantly hooking fish. Maybe 1 in 12 of the hook ups were legal, that is hooked in the mouth not snagged in the tail, back, or belly and could be harvested instead of being released. We each landed a legal fish in the first hour. For the next 5 hours or so the ferry brought another 25 people to join us about every 10 minutes. As the new people arrived the space between fishermen slowly shrank from 12 feet to 3. I gave up when the space between people got to 6 feet. I had at least 10 tangles with someone else's line. People were starting to get hooked by flying hooks and whacked with flying sinkers. I spent the rest of the afternoon watching. My brother lasted several hours longer than I but landed no more legally hooked fish. In the early afternoon an adult Brown Bear came out of the woods across the river and walked to the rivers edge creating an otherwise empty river bank as people pulled back giving him all the room he wanted. He seem unconcerned by the hundreds of people sharing the river bank with him. After a few moment he trotted back into the woods. At which time I remembered I had packed my camera in the back pack.
P.S. I forgot to take pictures not only of the Brown Bear but of combat fishing itself . If you've never seen it check out these links for pictures...
http://www.wildnatureimages.com/Combat_Fishing_Photos.htm
http://www.fs.fed.us/r10/ro/sd_notes/winter_07/russian_rv/bears_russian.shtml
http://www.sf.adfg.state.ak.us/Management/areas.cfm/FA/kenai.russian
Brother Glen and I played hooky from work on Thursday and drove to the Russian River to join the stampede for our part of the record setting Red Salmon run. It being Thursday morning when we arrived the fishermen lining the bank were 10 to 15 feet apart. For Russian River combat fishing that not too crowded. The wait in line to get into the parking lot at the ferry was only 40 minutes. Considering that the Alaska Fish and Feathers Department had doubled the daily bag limit to 6 fish, we actually stayed and joined our fellow fisher folk. This is unusual because as a general rule we hate combat fishing. We fished the Russian in our youth when the population of Southcentral Alaska was a quarter of what it is today. On more than one occasion in the last decade and as recently as 2 years ago we have made the drive, taken a look at the crowds and driven home without wetting a line. After our ride across the river on the ferry we found room and began trashing the water. All around us people were constantly hooking fish. Maybe 1 in 12 of the hook ups were legal, that is hooked in the mouth not snagged in the tail, back, or belly and could be harvested instead of being released. We each landed a legal fish in the first hour. For the next 5 hours or so the ferry brought another 25 people to join us about every 10 minutes. As the new people arrived the space between fishermen slowly shrank from 12 feet to 3. I gave up when the space between people got to 6 feet. I had at least 10 tangles with someone else's line. People were starting to get hooked by flying hooks and whacked with flying sinkers. I spent the rest of the afternoon watching. My brother lasted several hours longer than I but landed no more legally hooked fish. In the early afternoon an adult Brown Bear came out of the woods across the river and walked to the rivers edge creating an otherwise empty river bank as people pulled back giving him all the room he wanted. He seem unconcerned by the hundreds of people sharing the river bank with him. After a few moment he trotted back into the woods. At which time I remembered I had packed my camera in the back pack.
P.S. I forgot to take pictures not only of the Brown Bear but of combat fishing itself . If you've never seen it check out these links for pictures...
http://www.wildnatureimages.com/Combat_Fishing_Photos.htm
http://www.fs.fed.us/r10/ro/sd_notes/winter_07/russian_rv/bears_russian.shtml
http://www.sf.adfg.state.ak.us/Management/areas.cfm/FA/kenai.russian
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Google Street View
Waiting for daylight...
We started into work this morning. The temps were
in the 40s and the roads were wet but clear of ice.
About half way there a phone call alerted us to the
schools, buses and what have you still being closed.
My brother called his work and discovered his building
wasn't open either, so we turned around and returned
home. Once home, I called my work and found out my
facility was open. I'll probably go to work later this
morning after the traffic dies down.
Meanwhile I got the idea to look at my workplace from
Google Street view. Here it is...
The fire truck parked in front told me that the
Google probably drove by when we were having
a fire drill. If so my coworkers and I would
be standing in our parking lot. I negotiated around
to the back of the building and there we all were.
I'm in the group marked with the arrow, immortalized
by Google Street View.
We started into work this morning. The temps were
in the 40s and the roads were wet but clear of ice.
About half way there a phone call alerted us to the
schools, buses and what have you still being closed.
My brother called his work and discovered his building
wasn't open either, so we turned around and returned
home. Once home, I called my work and found out my
facility was open. I'll probably go to work later this
morning after the traffic dies down.
Meanwhile I got the idea to look at my workplace from
Google Street view. Here it is...
The fire truck parked in front told me that the
Google probably drove by when we were having
a fire drill. If so my coworkers and I would
be standing in our parking lot. I negotiated around
to the back of the building and there we all were.
I'm in the group marked with the arrow, immortalized
by Google Street View.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Bears in the Woods
Neighborhood Gossip
I heard the other day, from my brother, that a bear had killed a moose in the woods behind my house. I thought, "That explains the smell of rotting moose that I smelled coming from the woods behind my garage."
Yesterday, at the mailbox, I was talking to my next door neighbor (east side). He heard that my neighbor, two lots to the west, had actually seen the bear take down the moose in his yard. That would be around 600-900 feet to the west of my house. He also heard that the moose remains were buried deep with a backhoe to discourage the bear.
So I wasn't smelling that dead moose two days ago. There must be another dead moose behind my garage. I don't think I'll check it just now.
Two years ago I had a dead moose back there. It didn't appear to be a bear kill however, as it was whole and was slowly scavanged by smaller animals.
The neighbor at the mailbox also told me that early last winter he found that someone had poached a cow and calf moose in his *yard. He called the Alaska Fish and Game and they told him they already knew about it. In fact they had caught the poacher. He was one of our other neighbors and he moved the moose meat by sled leaving a trail from the dead moose to his back door. Criminals are so smart.
*For those unfamiliar with the "yards" in my area. I have a 9 acre yard. The neighbor to the east has a 15 acre yard. The neighbor where the bear killed the moose has a 5 acre yard.
I heard the other day, from my brother, that a bear had killed a moose in the woods behind my house. I thought, "That explains the smell of rotting moose that I smelled coming from the woods behind my garage."
Yesterday, at the mailbox, I was talking to my next door neighbor (east side). He heard that my neighbor, two lots to the west, had actually seen the bear take down the moose in his yard. That would be around 600-900 feet to the west of my house. He also heard that the moose remains were buried deep with a backhoe to discourage the bear.
So I wasn't smelling that dead moose two days ago. There must be another dead moose behind my garage. I don't think I'll check it just now.
Two years ago I had a dead moose back there. It didn't appear to be a bear kill however, as it was whole and was slowly scavanged by smaller animals.
The neighbor at the mailbox also told me that early last winter he found that someone had poached a cow and calf moose in his *yard. He called the Alaska Fish and Game and they told him they already knew about it. In fact they had caught the poacher. He was one of our other neighbors and he moved the moose meat by sled leaving a trail from the dead moose to his back door. Criminals are so smart.
*For those unfamiliar with the "yards" in my area. I have a 9 acre yard. The neighbor to the east has a 15 acre yard. The neighbor where the bear killed the moose has a 5 acre yard.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Back at Work
Day 7 of the rest of my life.
Kate's wake-memorial went well, large turn out of friends and family.
Starting yesterday my brother is car pooling with me now and walking at lunch. It helps, gives me a little something to anticipate.
My posts may be sparse again for a while. I don't want to broadcast my feelings. I'll post if and when I have thoughts, observations and or images not related to my emptiness.
Kate's wake-memorial went well, large turn out of friends and family.
Starting yesterday my brother is car pooling with me now and walking at lunch. It helps, gives me a little something to anticipate.
My posts may be sparse again for a while. I don't want to broadcast my feelings. I'll post if and when I have thoughts, observations and or images not related to my emptiness.
Friday, June 20, 2008
Fishless Trip To Chitina
Glen, Daniel and I made a trip to Chitina to dip net the famous Copper River Sockeye Salmon. It was a lovely 4 hour drive, this morning, during which we saw a cow moose with twin babies, a young bull moose with his anters in velvet, numerous Snowshoe hares and squirrels. We had the choice of trailering a Honda 4-wheeler or two up to Chitina and riding back to our old fishing hole on what is now an officially closed road, or having the charter boat run us in. We choose to do the charter this time. However the charter operator told us when we arrived that he'd run us it, but we'd be wasting our money. No one was catching fish today. Since they charge $100 dollars a piece we took his advice, saved our money, and drove 4 hours home. On the trip home within sight of the junction at Glennallen a young Grizzly bear ran across the road in front of us.
Pictures of the trip: no animal pictures though, they were too quick for me...
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Snow
It's snowing again. Predicting 4 to 8 inches today and more tomorrow. We figured out what is causing it. My brother and I planned on towing his disabled truck to the local repair shop on Saturday. It snowed. Since he lives on a hill above Peters Creek, we canceled until the snow melted. We rescheduled it for today. It snowed. We are not going to make any more advance plan for the tow. We'll try to sneak up on it by spontaneously grabbing the truck next time the snow melts.
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
Feeling Old
Today is my youngest child's 32nd birthday. Happy birthday, Son. The youngest of my nieces and nephews are in High School. One of my nephews is driving home to Alaska right now after finishing 4 years in the U.S. Coast Guard. Didn't his father and I just get out of the Army a few years ago? My older sister and I are both Grandparents. Except for the fact that every joint hurts nearly all the time, I take a stack of prescription medication every morning, there is an old guy with white hair and a long white beard staring back at me from the mirror when I brush my teeth, and I've been working the same job for over 20 years, I feel like I should only be 32. Time speeds up. The days feel like a couple hours. The months like weeks and the years like months. Summer just got here and now it's gone. Time is running down hill. The only advantage is the winters are shorter than when I was young, since a day on a snow machine cripples me up for a week.
Thursday, October 4, 2007
It's coming!
My brother sent me this picture from our neighborhood, taken yesterday. His message was, "In case you forget when everything is dark and covered in snow next month." Summer and especially fall is why we live in Alaska.
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