Soldotna

Eagle?  No, just a raven.  Here in AK they average 24 -26 inches in height with a wingspan of about 4-5 feet!  Big birds.

 

We wanted to try something a little safer than the Kenai for Jason so we took a trip to Skilak Lake.  This lake is on the Kenai and separates the “Upper” Kenai from the “Lower” Kenai.  We accessed the lake from the Upper Skilak Lake Campground, a 14 mile dirt road from the Sterling Highway. This is Cathy with her “heavy” salmon outfit.

Again, I went with the Ultralight rig, expecting only small trout and grayling.  I hooked onto a silver salmon.  This was the biggest one yet and a bear to get landed.  I let Cathy try to fight the fish for about 15 minutes as it kept its distance from shore, stripping the line at will.  Once it got tired, we landed it with a net, took the picture and decided to return it to the lake.  It was heavy with eggs and needed to make it to the spawning grounds upstream, not into our smoker. Michael labeled me a explicative when he discovered I turned it back.  You can see where it jumped on the first shot of Cathy, the tail was just entering the water on the shot.

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On the second straight day of total sunshine, we took Michael and Jason back to the airport in Anchorage.  We will certainly miss them.  We made it an all day lollipop, taking in the scenery along the way.  Michael was the first to spot a moose, and we turned around so Jason could see it.  Cathy spotted two moose (mooses?) running down the hill near a pit stop on the Seward Highway.

This is what the mountains looked like as we were crossing Turnagain Arm, near the Portage.  The tide was out at the time . .

 

We took the Whittier/Portage Glacier Access Road and a few miles up we saw the Williwaw Fish Viewing Platform on Williwaw Creek. The creek was loaded with fish, both silver salmon and rainbow trout.  I did not bring my polarizer so the shot of the fish was not as good as it should have been.  There were four silvers in this shot.  Jason enjoyed watching the fish swim upstream

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This is a typical view going up the road to Whittier.

 

 

To get to Whittier, you have to share a single lane tunnel with the Alaska Railroad, a unique concept.  Tolls range from $13 to well over $300 round trip!  We waited at the eastbound tunnel entrance until we received clearance to enter.  Notice, the large center access door was closed until we were ready to enter the tunnel.  This tunnel is the longest in the U.S. at two and a half miles. They have paved between the rails and a couple of feet on each side to provide access for cars, buses and trucks.  Whittier is a port of call for cruise ships but there really is not much of a town there, just access to glaciers and icefields. There was a Princess ship docked while we were there, and most passengers debark directly on to a waiting Alaska Railroad train or many, many tour buses.

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This is a shot, across Prince William Sound looking out to one of many  glaciers.

I took this shot looking down at the junction of a clear stream emptying into a glacier-fed river. The glacial rivers and streams are all silty looking but the silt is so fine it passes through the fish gills allowing trout, grayling, salmon etc. to thrive in it.

While waiting for the tunnel to open westbound, I took this shot looking northward.

We stopped for lunch at the  Alyeska Ski Resort.  Of course, we had to take the tram to the top of the mountain (about 2,000 feet vertical) to get a good view of Turnagain Arm and the surrounding countryside.  Unfortunately, this was the day of the Alyska Challenge, a hill climbing/endurance footrace that lasts ten hours.  The runners make laps from the lodge at the bottom of the mountain to the very top of the mountain.  The goal is to do as many laps as possible in the allotted 10 hours.  Many were on their 5th lap by 1500 and they still had until 1900 to finish.  The record is 11 laps, or the equivalent of climbing Denali, from seal level in 10 hours.  I wish I would have known, but we will be back. Nevertheless, it was really crowded with runners at the top and I did not want to get in anyone’s way setting up a tripod for a panorama.

We delivered Michael and Jason to the Anchorage for their flight home right on time. Michael breezed through check-in just before the tour buses arrived . .

Jason wanted his picture taken at this exhibit, I thought for the grizzly and deer shown, but he pointed out the salmon under the glass “water” just under the deer . . BTW, the grizzly weighed 1,500 pounds.

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Jason goofing at security.  He got through unscathed, but Michael did not have as much fun (ha ha).  They are both safe in Georgia now.  We enjoyed having them along for a couple of weeks.

On the way back to Soldotna, we made a 40 mile side trip on the Hope Highway to the to the community of Hope, AK., population 151. There was a RV campground right in the “center” of town, and as we drove through, the bar / store / lodge had a live band outside playing country music.  The crowd appeared to be enjoying themselves dancing to the music.  It was dark at this point, Alaska dark and  we had to drive out 18 miles to the Sterling Highway then 80 miles back to Soldotna watching for BIG animals on the roadway all the way.  I now see the benefit of the “moose lights” on the AK Trooper cars.  We arrived in back in camp,  exhausted at 2300.