Kenai River Dipnetting

We went to the Kenai River to dipnet for red (sockeye) salmon on Friday evening. I had a really bad attitude about it - the runs have been really slow, numbers of fish very low. Dave wanted to give it go since it's a short 2 hour drive from Seward versus the 6-7 hour drive to Chitina where we usually go.

It was a zoo. The definition of pandemonium. Because the escapement numbers were so low, there was an emergency order to close the fishery for the season at 11pm on Friday night. So we headed down late in the afternoon and didn't put the zodiac in the water until after 7pm. There were boats everywhere. Fortunately, most of them cleared out ~ 9pm and we finally figured out the scene.

Dave ended up dipnetting and I drove the boat - I have a bruised chestwall/ribs from my mountain biking adventure with Keira (see previous entry) and had a hard time holding the net steady in the water.

15 fish in less than 4 hours!!! Dave even netted two fish at the same time once but one got away. Pretty good for having only one net in the water. With minutes to spare, Dave netted fish #14 and then quickly put his net back in the water and right as the clock struck 11pm fish #15 hit the net!

It was close to 3am by the time we got the boat out of the water, cleaned the fish, rinsed off the boat and gear at the car wash etc. etc. The plan was to fish at the Kasilof River on Saturday and so we drove to a nearby campground which was full, proceeded to get yelled at by some woman who was parked in the day-use parking lot whose six+ kids were running around the camping area (Dave was trying to turn around in the parking lot and she had her truck in reverse to Dave honked his horn to let her know that he was behind her and she yelled out 'A--HOLE' in front of all her kids and sleeping campers). So, we ended up driving out to the Kasilof dipnetting area to try to find a campsite and it was just covered with vehicles and campers and we ended up getting yelled at by some jerks who were anxious to get their nets in the water (again, we were trying to turn the truck & boat trailer around) - marshall law rules down there.

It totally stressed me out - no where to park, camp, no sleep.

Dave, 'What do you want to do?'. Shiway, 'I'd like to go home.' Dave, 'What do you want to do?' (obviously, this wasn't the answer he wanted to hear). Shiway, 'I'd like to go home - why do you keep asking me?'. Dave, 'What do you want to do?'.... ARGH. We found a place to pull over temporarily and Dave went down and checked out the fishing - it was really slow, commercial gillnetters had started fishing, the fish that were being caught were really small. All the more reason to just GO HOME.

So we did. I definitely prefer fishing at Chitina. I don't care that it's a longer drive for us now that we live in Seward and that we have to pack out our fish a couple miles back to the truck. It is definitely a more 'relaxing' and 'friendly' atmosphere. AND after tasting some of the fish last night - they have a lighter, weaker flavor than the Chitina reds. We gave it go and got 15 fish which is 15 more than I thought we were going to net - Dave says he'd fish at the Kenai again.

no pictures of fishing because it was too intense - time was of the essence and we were too stressed to take any pictures. But here are a couple from the processing -

Keira's Adventure in AK!

Day 1 - 3: Russian River Trail

We hiked in 9 miles the first night to the Upper Russian River cabin (should've been named The Cave). Several miles before we hit the cabin, we ran into some young guy hiking by himself. He passed us and mumbled something about seeing a bear and anxiously hiked past us in the opposite direction. So, we continued hiking: Keira and Emma in front, Shiway, and Dave bringing up the rear. I had bear spray with me. Dave had his version of bear spray (firearm), and Keira trusted that we weren't going to let her become some bear's dinner.

We continued to randomly yell out, 'HEY BEAR!' and about a mile before we hit the cabin Keira started calling Emma back because Emma was growling at something and her hackles were up. Before I knew it, there was black fur moving through the bushes and Dave running past us with his gun drawn yelling, 'GET BACK!! GET BACK!!'. 15-20ft in front of us was a black bear. It got up on her hind legs to get a better look at us and Dave started yelling obscenities that I won't repeat in this PG-rated blog. And then I swear he said, "You leave us alone Bear!!" which he will emphatically deny but Keira heard it, too. The bear was looking up a tree and wouldn't leave which led Dave to believe that it was a sow with cubs in the tree so we backed off 100 yds, waited ~15 min and she had left the vicinity.

Needless to say, the adrenaline was pumping and every rustle of the bushes made my heart jump a bit. THEN Dave started yelling at the dog again and it turns out the Emma got too close to a porcupine and almost got quilled... Keira and I almost fell over when he started yelling again.

Finally got to the cabin without any more incidents. The next morning we took the row boat out for a spin. Lots of goldeneyes (ducks), loons, and 1/2 decayed sockeye salmon that had spawned in the lake.

It was a short 3 mile hike to the next cabin: Aspen Flats which should've been named Mosquito Flats. We spent 5 hours in the cabin with periodic attempts to go outside and enjoy nature but the skeeters were relentless. AND Keira had another bear encounter - she was filtering water at the creek right in front of the cabin when she heard some rustling in the bushes. She looked up and there was a giant head of a brown bear peeking out of the bushes. They both disappeared in the opposite direction.

We've started to call her bear bait. :)

Next day we hiked out 9 miles to the trail head. Gorgeous day. Amazing scenery.

sausages for dinner!

Dave rowing, Emma helping

the CAVE

hiking through the cow parsnip

just going out to filter water..

lunch at the lake

Grouse mama and 6 babies

back at the truck!

Day 4: in town
We took a tour of the Sealife Center. Met up with Beate for lunch at Yoli's and walked along the waterfront path down to the boat harbor and back. and then a hike up the Mt. Marathon jeep trail. Keira ran it. of course.

Day 5: Lost Lake Trail
Keira, Emma and I hiked the Lost Lake Trail starting at the Primrose side. We did it in ~ 5 hours which doesn't include a 45 min lunch break.

lunch break at the lake

partial view of the harbor

Panorama of Lost Lake

Day 6: Resurrection Bay Boat Tour
Keira went on a boat tour today!! Sounds like it was a great day - humpback whales breaching, orcas, seabirds etc...

Day 7: Johnson Pass
Keira and I went mountain biking for the first time. We had heard from an experienced mountain biker (which is probably the source of our problem - she's a mountain biker) that Johnson Pass was the best biking trail around here. I'm not sure what I was thinking - it was a little too technical for me. I'm not used to maneuvering over rocks, tree stumps, small children etc. And it's been ingrained in my head since I was a midget that I shouldn't do certain things because I might fall and hit my head which didn't help the situation. We also had some ancient bikes with us - my Nishiki that is older than dirt, and Dave's bike that he's had since before dirt was created (Trek 800: Keira, "Does the 800 mean that it weighs 800 pounds???"). No shocks or any of that fancy crap - who would ever need THAT stuff???

We made it ~ 8 miles with ~5 miles remaining before getting to Johnson Lake. And because we had to make it back to the car at some point, we turned around.

Yes, we bailed several times. I have a really large bruise on my right butt cheek. and I took a handle bar to the chest area which was really fun! There were sections on the trail that were grown over by 6ft cow parsnip plants which we bathed ourselves in (cow parsnip has an oil that if you get on your skin, reacts to sunlight and creates amazingly large blisters on the infected area). Keira kept reminding me that this was my idea... what was I THINKING?!?!?

Anyways - I think this was type II fun, as Adrian would say: type I fun is when you're having fun during the activity, type II fun is when you're having fun thinking about the activity after the fact. OR something like that. But I have to admit, we had lots of laughs through the pain of it all and I was quite impressed that Keira just went for it. and as usual, the scenery was amazing.

Trail lake

Still smiling towards the end!

Keira & the 800 lb bike

Day 8: Caines Head
We all hiked out to Caines Head yesterday. Peaceful beachwalk. The fog added a nice 'Lord of the Rings' effect. We hiked up to the top of the Alpine trail and didn't see anything but fog. Then we went over to North Beach and went back to the previous beach for dinner over a campfire and to wait for the tide to go out so we could hike back to Lowell Point. It was a wet but calm day with hardly any bugs and no bears!

Chum salmon spawning

Dave & Emma waiting for Ewoks to appear from the trees

more fog in the Alpine Trail

Day 9: Exit Glacier
Dave and Keira went to Exit Glacier today. My legs are like jello after a week of Keira's bootcamp. I haven't quite recovered from our mountain biking expedition so Emma and I are at home stretching.

Sounds like it was a breath-taking hike. 7 bear observations including a sow with 3 cubs!