About this time last year we started putting together our first trip to Alask. The economy was absolutely in the tank and it didn't seem like a great time to plan on spending the kind of money that an Alaska vacation requires. We did it anyways. It may not be the most prudent way to think but sometimes we do things with the rationale that this may be the last time we'll be able to do this. That was the though process for last year's trip.
This year hopefully the economy is on the mend. Either way, we're heading back to Alaska in August. This trip should be fairly packed full of fun stuff (but not allot of time for connections).
We'll start the trip by flying all day on a Thursday. We'll stay at an as of yet undetermined bed and breakfast in Gustavus, Alaska. The next day after what I can only imagine is a brief orientation we'll get on a boat and cross Icy Bay to Point Adolphus on the norther tip of Chichagof Island. We'll tent camp on the bank for the next two nights while we cruise around about 5 miles each day in a 2 man sea kayak watching whales, observing nature and enjoying the great outdoors.
After 3 days on the water hopefully we'll make it back to the airport in time to catch the last flight to Kodiak by way of Anchorage. We get to enjoy a few hours of civilation (and a much needed shower and a bed) before catching a float plane on Monday to fly to Munsey's bear camp.
I hate to give away a secret but if someone wants to go spend some time seeing a whole lot of what Alaska is about Munsey's Bear Camp is as close to one stop shopping as you can ask for. Munsey's offers a very comfortable environment with great food and wonderful hospitality. Mike and Robin have this thing down pat. The food is great, the schedule is easy. Each day you'll be up close and personal with raw nature (simply indescribable) but each night you have a delicious meal and a great place to stay waiting for you. Given the logistical nightmare that running a remote fishing and bear viewing lodge must be they offer this at an incredible price. If we had the vacation time and money I could see spending a few weeks a summer with the Munseys.
We'll finish up with the Munsey's about noon on Saturday and start the marathon 2500 mile journey home hopefully arriving home around 6am Sunday morning. Hopefully we'll be worn out from another awesome trip.
It saddens me already to think about this trip coming to an end...
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Friday, January 8, 2010
Various wonderings going in to 2010...
Here we are a week into the new year. 2009 is in the books and it'll go down as one of my favorites. Work was good, our vacation was amazing and we got to spend a fair amount of quality time with family. We made some new friends, lost some old ones and reconnected with a few that for whatever reason, we lost contact with. I hope I have better years ahead of me than 2009 but it'll go into the books as a great year.
Now I've never been big on New Year's resolutions but if you want to pick a date on a calendar to commit to making notable improvements to your life why not pick a date in early January? I'm definitely going to try to make some improvements this year. I won't go so far as to call them "changes." I think the word "improvement" will do nicely.
In a little under 5 months I'm going to be 40. In the 7 months since I turned 39 I've become more sedentary and amazingly heavier... I can change one of those 2 and I can't help but think that will affect the other as well.
I'm going to try to eat more food that we cook from scratch and less from a box in the freezer.
I'm going to try to drink less. Anyone that knows me well also understands my affinity for red wine and couch time every evening. That glass of wine leads to couch time and I need to get rid of the couch time. The glass of wine needs to go away as well.
My work schedule can get pretty odd some weeks. Working late, working early and working out of town really kill my workout and eating programs. I can't change work but I can work harder to make sure that I get back on track sooner after any disruptions.
We moved to Colorado away from family and friends because we love being outdoors up here. The price has been paid so I'm going to endeavor to work harder to get out and enjoy Colorado as much as possible this year.
I'm going to try to be more thankful and appreciative for what I've been given.
I'm going to work harder for the relationships that I want and not get so caught up in the ones I have.
I'm going to try to be a tourist again. I love photography (LOVE IT)... but somewhere along the way I got a little caught up in trying to "capture an image" and forgot so much about enjoying whatever it was I was doing to put me in that place to capture that image.
I'm sure there's plenty more that I could put down here but what's here will be hard enough I'm sure...
Happy New Year everyone!
Now I've never been big on New Year's resolutions but if you want to pick a date on a calendar to commit to making notable improvements to your life why not pick a date in early January? I'm definitely going to try to make some improvements this year. I won't go so far as to call them "changes." I think the word "improvement" will do nicely.
In a little under 5 months I'm going to be 40. In the 7 months since I turned 39 I've become more sedentary and amazingly heavier... I can change one of those 2 and I can't help but think that will affect the other as well.
I'm going to try to eat more food that we cook from scratch and less from a box in the freezer.
I'm going to try to drink less. Anyone that knows me well also understands my affinity for red wine and couch time every evening. That glass of wine leads to couch time and I need to get rid of the couch time. The glass of wine needs to go away as well.
My work schedule can get pretty odd some weeks. Working late, working early and working out of town really kill my workout and eating programs. I can't change work but I can work harder to make sure that I get back on track sooner after any disruptions.
We moved to Colorado away from family and friends because we love being outdoors up here. The price has been paid so I'm going to endeavor to work harder to get out and enjoy Colorado as much as possible this year.
I'm going to try to be more thankful and appreciative for what I've been given.
I'm going to work harder for the relationships that I want and not get so caught up in the ones I have.
I'm going to try to be a tourist again. I love photography (LOVE IT)... but somewhere along the way I got a little caught up in trying to "capture an image" and forgot so much about enjoying whatever it was I was doing to put me in that place to capture that image.
I'm sure there's plenty more that I could put down here but what's here will be hard enough I'm sure...
Happy New Year everyone!
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
ANWR 2011?
Last night Pam and I were watching a television show called Art Wolfe/Travels to the Edge. In short, a camera crew follows a professional nature photographer all over the world while he's capturing some amazing images and having some incredible experiences. Last night's show was filmed in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in north east Alaska. I think it would be an incredible adventure to make that trip some day... I think that day may come in about 20 months...
I'm not saying that we'll make the trip but I'm in the investigation phase right now and its very exciting to think about. This past summer we had a glorious trip in southern Alaska. It was amazing and we'll go back but I love the thought of another adventure to an even wilder and more remote piece of that amazing country.
Hopefully more updates will follow...
I'm not saying that we'll make the trip but I'm in the investigation phase right now and its very exciting to think about. This past summer we had a glorious trip in southern Alaska. It was amazing and we'll go back but I love the thought of another adventure to an even wilder and more remote piece of that amazing country.
Hopefully more updates will follow...
Friday, August 28, 2009
Reflections on Kodiak...
We left Munsey's Bear Camp shortly after noon on Wednesday. We flew from camp to Kodiak via float plane, Kodiak to Anchorage on Alaska Air and then took the red eye home on Frontier Wednesday night arriving in Denver on Thursday around 6 am. I had no access to the internet while in camp but I did jot down a few notes each night. Those notes follow...
kodiak-days 1 and 2
Friday morning we woke up at 3:30 to catch a 4:20 ride to the airport. We got checked in and boarded the plane by 5:45. At 6:10 we were headed for Kodiak. The trip to Kodiak is very short. You fly over some spectacular country along the way. We took the first flight to give ourselves time for any weather delays that may have come up. We were on the ground in Kodiak by 7:15. The Kodiak airport is out of "town" about 10 minutes and resembles a bus depot. There's one baggage area so you can't really miss it. Security only clears passengers immediately prior to their boarding their flight. Its small.
We caught a cab (suburban) into town. The driver took us to our float plane station to dump our luggage and then dropped us back in town by a diner to get some breakfast. He was a really nice guy. Both of the cab drivers on this trip were normal white American men. They spoke perfect English... Amazing. It was just like when you watched an old movie or something...
Anyways, we kicked around town for a few hours killing time. We ended up at a new wildlife conservatory to learn more about Kodiak's history, the people and the bears. A driver from Andrews air service picked us up at 11:00. At Andrews we met a man from Germany named Albrecht. He was joining us at Munsey's. Albrecht is a teacher from Germany. He had flown into Fairbanks and rented a truck with a camper shell and was seeing Alaska by car. He had driven through Denali and the Kenai Peninisula where he caught a ferry to Kodiak. Very nice guy.
We hung out and Andrews until about 12:45 when we finally boarded our float plane and left for Munseys. The pilot's name was Willie. Willie was great. He gave us a tour of the island. Its about 60 miles to Munseys so saw a good portion of the island (kodiak is 40 x100 miles). We saw several herds of mountain goats along the way. Very cool flight. There are 2 small glaciers left on the island.
Once we arrived at Munsey's we met Dick. Dick is a retired gentleman from Maryland. He worked for black and decker. He has been here for a few weeks and will leave with us when we leave camp. Dick has been coming here since 1987 and he likes to fish. We helped unload some supplies that were on our plane, stowed our gear in our assigned cabins and had a bite of lunch. Mike and Robin took us for a 3 hour cruise to the south end of the bay for a look around. We saw tons of birds and a few seals. Bears are to the south end. Whales are to the north. Mike has a degree in zoology and Robin has a degree in wildlife and fisheries. They really know alot about alot.
That night we had an excellent dinner with strawberry shortcake for desert.
The generator runs her from 7 to 10 pm at night and then again in the morning until we leave on the boat. Water comes straight out of the creek. Its rustic but very relaxing. The hosts are very cordial and they know how to treat people. There's lots of snacks and the meals are excellent (made by Marsha from Sedona, AZ)
.
Day 2
I slept all night and woke up just before 7am. Breakfast was at 8 and consisted of eggs (sort of poached) and bacon and toast and oatmeal. We then packed our gear and headed for the boat. Today would be about bear photography! It takes about 1.5 hours to get to the south end of the bay. On the boat ride south Mike swung by Seal Island. Seal Island is covered by water at high tide. During the low tide 30-40 seals beach themselves on this stretch of rock to enjoy whatever sun happens to shine. Seals are quite shy but they stayed on the rocks as we cruised by.
We made our way to the lower end of the bay then we took a ride up the river in their boston whaler until we could go no further. We had to put on hip waders to get to the beach. Pam fell once along the way. When we hit the beach we ditched the waders and put on knee boots for the walk in. The walk in is about 2 miles. We walked around 2 large tidal flats. We saw lots of bears on the way in and 3 or 4 eagles. We saw a large male bear on the way in but he winded us and headed for higher ground. The mature males really work hard to avoid humans.
As we continued up river we climbed a bit of the hillside and worked through an alder patch. A lone bear was feeding in the tidal flat below us. As we continued up river a bear stood up on the path in front of us. I wasn't sure that Mike could see the bear so I said, "Mike, there's a bear ahead." When I said that the bear ahead and below us on the flat both heard me and headed for higher new country. I was concerned that I had now scared every bear from the river valley.
We continued on and crossed a creek that fed into a tidal creek. There were several salmon trapped in the tidal creek. They would stay there until the tide moved back in or a bear found them. Salmon have allot of choices to make as they move upstream but the outcome is certain. They can only affect their lifespan by a few days either way...
Just past the trapped salmon we found a brown bear digging into a beaver den. He allowed us to approach to within 30 yards or so. We snapped a few pictures and continued up the creek to our destination. We made our way to a river and setup behind a log. The log was right on the river (5 feet or so). Mike dug into his pack and produced a thermos full of hot bean soup and ham and cheese sandwiches for everyone. He's sort of like superman. As we were finishing lunch a bear made its way down the stream. For 3 hours this bear chased salmon back and forth giving us tons of photo opportunities from 100 yards to 20 feet in front of us. It was amazing. This was what we had made the trip for and it happened right of the bat. Bears don't eat every fish they catch. The sound a bear makes when it eats a fish is impressive as you hear those jaws grinding through bones. Simply amazing.
Close to four o'clock we started out. The tide had come in so our walk out was much shorter. Robin brought the boat in close to the bank so we jumped in and headed back to the big boat.
Dick had a big fish on but couldnt' land it earlier that day.
We got to the cabin about 6:30. Dinner was at 8. It was baked halibut. Quite delicious. Desert was something like a cross between brownies and pecan pie. Tomorrow more bears and some halibut fishing. Generator kicks off in 10 minutes so I'm going to bed.
Day 3
Blueberry pancakes for breakfast with Sausage and oatmeal. The food here is amazing.
After breakfast we made our way to the boat and we headed south for bear viewing but stayed on the east side of the river today and watched 2 HUGE tidal flats. As the tide recedes salmon get caught in these flats and the bears and gulls have a feast. It was great viewing but probably not great photographing. The light was coming in from a bad direction and most of the bears stayed a ways off shore. We watched for a few hours, at lunch (chicken and rice soup, halibut salad sandwiches) and then headed to the north and up a small creek. We were on a very steep hillside and the salmon carcasses scattered around indicated that there was lots of bear activity. After we set there for a good while I slipped down the hill to sit by Pam. As I did a bear made its way down stream. I think he saw me move and shied away. After about 20 minutes he came back down the stream chasing salmon. He caught 1 in front of us and ate it and then he kept heading down stream. He caught and ate another salmon and then a slightly larger bear came out and he ran off a short distance. A few minutes later a mature male came down and chased everything away. We watched him feed for about 20 minutes and then he bolted. I hope the pictures turned out well.
When we got back to the boat we met Mike's brother Bob and his wife. They had their boat out with some friends and were fishing. After they left we purchased a 3 day fishing license and started fishing for halibut. Albrecht caught a sea anemone. Pam caught a sea anemone and 2 small flounders. I caught a cod and a 25 lb halibut! It was like pulling up a sheet of plywood! I can't wait to go fishing again.
I think Bob's crew is coming in for dinner with us.
Tomorrow weather permitting we'll head north to the mouth of the bay and look for whales and fish for silver salmon. Tomorrow is Albrecht's last full day with us. He's a good guy. I'm glad we got a chance to meet him.
Time to get ready for dinner...
Bob kept his company on the boat until after we finished dinner. Mike and Albrecht talked it over and Albrecht decided to stay for another day. The weather the next day would be bad for whale watching so we planned on heading south up the river to see bears again.
I was asleep well before lights out at 10:00.
Day 4
After another great breakfast we boarded the boat and headed south once more. On the trip down we saw a horned puffin feeding with some tufted puffins close to camp. Later that morning I saw a bear, a fox, and several herds of deer along the bank. The trip up river seemed allot quicker today. On the way around the first tidal flat Mike showed us an ancient camp that the native people used for fishing when the salmon were in. He said that when a native died the others made little of the circumstance. They dug a hole next to the corpse and buried them in a shallow grave. Mike showed us a place where the weather and tides had unearthed part of a skull from one of these graves. There was a skull upside down with the lower jaw gone. Very interesting to see...
We made the same trip in that we did on day 2. The sun was out and it was quite warm. We walked up on a bear on the trail on the way out of the alders. The bear saw us and eased off into the brush. Mike carries a .375 rifle. He's had to use it 1 time in 20 years. Basically if a bear sees you coming they will move of and leave the area.
We made it back to the beach with the log by the river. There were 2 bears in the area but nothing fed by us. We ate lunch and moved further up river. We had a few bears work by but nothing stayed in close. We were able to see a school of salmon in the river maybe 30 yards long. There had to have been close to 10,000 fish in that one bunch! This wasn't a great day photographically but still an awesome day in the alaskan outback. We left early so we could get in an hour or so of halibut fishing. Albrecht caught a nice 20-30 lb fish. We had it for dinner the next evening. Beer battered yet very light. it was delicious!
Day 5
This is the last full day at the lodge. We ate breakfast and headed to the mouth of the bay for whale watching and silver salmon fishing. It was VERY foggy this morning but we broke through the fog at the head of the pass. Fishing for silvers and halibut is the exact same technique. You jig a long shiny bait with a large trebble hook at the end. The lure is bigger for halibut and you jig right on the bottom. For silvers the lure is about half the weight and you jig it just out of site below the boat. You bait the treble hook with a piece of herring.
We set up to fish on the east edge of the bay. Dick caught a fish pretty quickly. The bay was dead calm and you could hear fin whales blowing in the distance. After a while of no action we moved up the bay to check out a haul out rock next to the bank. A haul out rock is where stellar sea lions sun themselves. The sea lions where in the water when we arrived. Just as we pulled up a fin whale appeared in front of the boat. Fin's aren't terribly impressive but they are quite large. We cruised around the straight for a while looking at sea otters and fin whales. You could see about a dozens fins spouting off all across the bay. It was a cool site to see.
We returned to our fishing spot and began fishing again. It was slow but still a beautiful day. I caught several small halibut. Robin caught a silver, then albrecht caught one then Pam caught one and then finally I caught 1. Pam's was the largest of the day at 14 lbs. Mine was 11. I caught several more halibut but released all but one of them. This may have been the most relaxing day of the trip. I look forward to more silver salmon fishing in the future.
As we cruised back to camp the realization that this was our last day was really working on me. The Munsey's have this thing down. After a day in camp you know the schedule so you don't think about it. You awake each morning with tremendous anticipation for what the day may hold in store and you go to bed each night reveling in the amazing day that you had. You don't think about work, the economy, the mortgage or any of the everyday stresses that we tend to burden ourselves with in day to day life. Some how you manage to check that in with the luggage on the flight down to Kodiak and it arrives back home about three days after you do. We met folks on this trip that I'll remember until the day I die from the float plane pilot (Willy with the big mustache) to the other camp guest that have made Munsey's a regular part of their life (Dick, retired, from Maryland). I'll go back to this place (hopefully numerous times) not so much for the experiences themselves but more for the feeling I got just being there.
That night we had fresh halibut (the one Albrecht caught) for dinner with Creme Broulee for desert. We had to pack for the flight out and then I was asleep by 9.
Day 6
Woke up at 7 and finished packing. We ate quickly so we could fish before the plane arrived after lunch. We fished hard at an old gold mine but nobody caught anything to keep. The water was slick as glass. It was a beautiful last morning in camp. We returned to camp, finished packing and ate lunch. We moved our gear down to the dock as the first float plane arrived. 2 planes were coming with a total of 6 campers. These guys were regulars for silver salmon fishing. Nice guys. Pam and I took the first flight back to kodiak and Dick and Albrecht were on the second. We flew back mostly up the coast due to the 1000 foot ceiling. We saw several deer, a bear and a whale on the way back to town. Willy set up down in a small lake that they use for refueling and a van took us back to Andrews. We said farewell to Albrecht, picked up Dick and headed to the airport. We had a box with about 30 lbs of halibut and silver fillets so I re-packed the box at the airport and we checked our gear.
Around 4:50 we loaded into a plane and headed back to Anchorage on alaskan air. We retreived our luggage and stored our fish in cold storage until about 9:00 pm. We ate dinner at Chlis in the restaurant at the airport. We met a nice couple from Connecticut that had taken a cruise up from Vancouver. I hope they had a great trip. I know we did. We left anchorage at 11:00pm alaska time. I slept the whole way home thanks to exhaustion and science...
The fish made it home still nice and cold. I expect we'll try some next weekend. Rebekah picked us up a the airport and dropped us at the house. What a trip.
A few notes about the trip...
It was the most amazing trip I've ever had (and I've had some great trips). We'll do it again. There's allot to see and do in this world but I know that I liked (read, "LOVED") what we did on this trip. I've never been able to unplug so completely. I'm not sure why we have a tv in the house after that trip.
Things to remember.
The Anchorage airport has cold storage available for a fee. See baggage storage.
When you land at Kodiak your air charter leaves from a different location but they will pick you up.
Don't pack many pairs of pants. 1 pair for dinner and breakfast at camp and 1 for the boat. You'll wear an outer layer of rain gear on the boat anyways.
If you have comfortable rubber boots you don't need hiking boots.
They will supply the hip boots.
Fish! You'll like it more than you think. Its very easy to get lost in the concentration of jigging the lure waiting on the strike.
I'm sure there's more but I'm late and its tired...
kodiak-days 1 and 2
Friday morning we woke up at 3:30 to catch a 4:20 ride to the airport. We got checked in and boarded the plane by 5:45. At 6:10 we were headed for Kodiak. The trip to Kodiak is very short. You fly over some spectacular country along the way. We took the first flight to give ourselves time for any weather delays that may have come up. We were on the ground in Kodiak by 7:15. The Kodiak airport is out of "town" about 10 minutes and resembles a bus depot. There's one baggage area so you can't really miss it. Security only clears passengers immediately prior to their boarding their flight. Its small.
We caught a cab (suburban) into town. The driver took us to our float plane station to dump our luggage and then dropped us back in town by a diner to get some breakfast. He was a really nice guy. Both of the cab drivers on this trip were normal white American men. They spoke perfect English... Amazing. It was just like when you watched an old movie or something...
Anyways, we kicked around town for a few hours killing time. We ended up at a new wildlife conservatory to learn more about Kodiak's history, the people and the bears. A driver from Andrews air service picked us up at 11:00. At Andrews we met a man from Germany named Albrecht. He was joining us at Munsey's. Albrecht is a teacher from Germany. He had flown into Fairbanks and rented a truck with a camper shell and was seeing Alaska by car. He had driven through Denali and the Kenai Peninisula where he caught a ferry to Kodiak. Very nice guy.
We hung out and Andrews until about 12:45 when we finally boarded our float plane and left for Munseys. The pilot's name was Willie. Willie was great. He gave us a tour of the island. Its about 60 miles to Munseys so saw a good portion of the island (kodiak is 40 x100 miles). We saw several herds of mountain goats along the way. Very cool flight. There are 2 small glaciers left on the island.
Once we arrived at Munsey's we met Dick. Dick is a retired gentleman from Maryland. He worked for black and decker. He has been here for a few weeks and will leave with us when we leave camp. Dick has been coming here since 1987 and he likes to fish. We helped unload some supplies that were on our plane, stowed our gear in our assigned cabins and had a bite of lunch. Mike and Robin took us for a 3 hour cruise to the south end of the bay for a look around. We saw tons of birds and a few seals. Bears are to the south end. Whales are to the north. Mike has a degree in zoology and Robin has a degree in wildlife and fisheries. They really know alot about alot.
That night we had an excellent dinner with strawberry shortcake for desert.
The generator runs her from 7 to 10 pm at night and then again in the morning until we leave on the boat. Water comes straight out of the creek. Its rustic but very relaxing. The hosts are very cordial and they know how to treat people. There's lots of snacks and the meals are excellent (made by Marsha from Sedona, AZ)
.
Day 2
I slept all night and woke up just before 7am. Breakfast was at 8 and consisted of eggs (sort of poached) and bacon and toast and oatmeal. We then packed our gear and headed for the boat. Today would be about bear photography! It takes about 1.5 hours to get to the south end of the bay. On the boat ride south Mike swung by Seal Island. Seal Island is covered by water at high tide. During the low tide 30-40 seals beach themselves on this stretch of rock to enjoy whatever sun happens to shine. Seals are quite shy but they stayed on the rocks as we cruised by.
We made our way to the lower end of the bay then we took a ride up the river in their boston whaler until we could go no further. We had to put on hip waders to get to the beach. Pam fell once along the way. When we hit the beach we ditched the waders and put on knee boots for the walk in. The walk in is about 2 miles. We walked around 2 large tidal flats. We saw lots of bears on the way in and 3 or 4 eagles. We saw a large male bear on the way in but he winded us and headed for higher ground. The mature males really work hard to avoid humans.
As we continued up river we climbed a bit of the hillside and worked through an alder patch. A lone bear was feeding in the tidal flat below us. As we continued up river a bear stood up on the path in front of us. I wasn't sure that Mike could see the bear so I said, "Mike, there's a bear ahead." When I said that the bear ahead and below us on the flat both heard me and headed for higher new country. I was concerned that I had now scared every bear from the river valley.
We continued on and crossed a creek that fed into a tidal creek. There were several salmon trapped in the tidal creek. They would stay there until the tide moved back in or a bear found them. Salmon have allot of choices to make as they move upstream but the outcome is certain. They can only affect their lifespan by a few days either way...
Just past the trapped salmon we found a brown bear digging into a beaver den. He allowed us to approach to within 30 yards or so. We snapped a few pictures and continued up the creek to our destination. We made our way to a river and setup behind a log. The log was right on the river (5 feet or so). Mike dug into his pack and produced a thermos full of hot bean soup and ham and cheese sandwiches for everyone. He's sort of like superman. As we were finishing lunch a bear made its way down the stream. For 3 hours this bear chased salmon back and forth giving us tons of photo opportunities from 100 yards to 20 feet in front of us. It was amazing. This was what we had made the trip for and it happened right of the bat. Bears don't eat every fish they catch. The sound a bear makes when it eats a fish is impressive as you hear those jaws grinding through bones. Simply amazing.
Close to four o'clock we started out. The tide had come in so our walk out was much shorter. Robin brought the boat in close to the bank so we jumped in and headed back to the big boat.
Dick had a big fish on but couldnt' land it earlier that day.
We got to the cabin about 6:30. Dinner was at 8. It was baked halibut. Quite delicious. Desert was something like a cross between brownies and pecan pie. Tomorrow more bears and some halibut fishing. Generator kicks off in 10 minutes so I'm going to bed.
Day 3
Blueberry pancakes for breakfast with Sausage and oatmeal. The food here is amazing.
After breakfast we made our way to the boat and we headed south for bear viewing but stayed on the east side of the river today and watched 2 HUGE tidal flats. As the tide recedes salmon get caught in these flats and the bears and gulls have a feast. It was great viewing but probably not great photographing. The light was coming in from a bad direction and most of the bears stayed a ways off shore. We watched for a few hours, at lunch (chicken and rice soup, halibut salad sandwiches) and then headed to the north and up a small creek. We were on a very steep hillside and the salmon carcasses scattered around indicated that there was lots of bear activity. After we set there for a good while I slipped down the hill to sit by Pam. As I did a bear made its way down stream. I think he saw me move and shied away. After about 20 minutes he came back down the stream chasing salmon. He caught 1 in front of us and ate it and then he kept heading down stream. He caught and ate another salmon and then a slightly larger bear came out and he ran off a short distance. A few minutes later a mature male came down and chased everything away. We watched him feed for about 20 minutes and then he bolted. I hope the pictures turned out well.
When we got back to the boat we met Mike's brother Bob and his wife. They had their boat out with some friends and were fishing. After they left we purchased a 3 day fishing license and started fishing for halibut. Albrecht caught a sea anemone. Pam caught a sea anemone and 2 small flounders. I caught a cod and a 25 lb halibut! It was like pulling up a sheet of plywood! I can't wait to go fishing again.
I think Bob's crew is coming in for dinner with us.
Tomorrow weather permitting we'll head north to the mouth of the bay and look for whales and fish for silver salmon. Tomorrow is Albrecht's last full day with us. He's a good guy. I'm glad we got a chance to meet him.
Time to get ready for dinner...
Bob kept his company on the boat until after we finished dinner. Mike and Albrecht talked it over and Albrecht decided to stay for another day. The weather the next day would be bad for whale watching so we planned on heading south up the river to see bears again.
I was asleep well before lights out at 10:00.
Day 4
After another great breakfast we boarded the boat and headed south once more. On the trip down we saw a horned puffin feeding with some tufted puffins close to camp. Later that morning I saw a bear, a fox, and several herds of deer along the bank. The trip up river seemed allot quicker today. On the way around the first tidal flat Mike showed us an ancient camp that the native people used for fishing when the salmon were in. He said that when a native died the others made little of the circumstance. They dug a hole next to the corpse and buried them in a shallow grave. Mike showed us a place where the weather and tides had unearthed part of a skull from one of these graves. There was a skull upside down with the lower jaw gone. Very interesting to see...
We made the same trip in that we did on day 2. The sun was out and it was quite warm. We walked up on a bear on the trail on the way out of the alders. The bear saw us and eased off into the brush. Mike carries a .375 rifle. He's had to use it 1 time in 20 years. Basically if a bear sees you coming they will move of and leave the area.
We made it back to the beach with the log by the river. There were 2 bears in the area but nothing fed by us. We ate lunch and moved further up river. We had a few bears work by but nothing stayed in close. We were able to see a school of salmon in the river maybe 30 yards long. There had to have been close to 10,000 fish in that one bunch! This wasn't a great day photographically but still an awesome day in the alaskan outback. We left early so we could get in an hour or so of halibut fishing. Albrecht caught a nice 20-30 lb fish. We had it for dinner the next evening. Beer battered yet very light. it was delicious!
Day 5
This is the last full day at the lodge. We ate breakfast and headed to the mouth of the bay for whale watching and silver salmon fishing. It was VERY foggy this morning but we broke through the fog at the head of the pass. Fishing for silvers and halibut is the exact same technique. You jig a long shiny bait with a large trebble hook at the end. The lure is bigger for halibut and you jig right on the bottom. For silvers the lure is about half the weight and you jig it just out of site below the boat. You bait the treble hook with a piece of herring.
We set up to fish on the east edge of the bay. Dick caught a fish pretty quickly. The bay was dead calm and you could hear fin whales blowing in the distance. After a while of no action we moved up the bay to check out a haul out rock next to the bank. A haul out rock is where stellar sea lions sun themselves. The sea lions where in the water when we arrived. Just as we pulled up a fin whale appeared in front of the boat. Fin's aren't terribly impressive but they are quite large. We cruised around the straight for a while looking at sea otters and fin whales. You could see about a dozens fins spouting off all across the bay. It was a cool site to see.
We returned to our fishing spot and began fishing again. It was slow but still a beautiful day. I caught several small halibut. Robin caught a silver, then albrecht caught one then Pam caught one and then finally I caught 1. Pam's was the largest of the day at 14 lbs. Mine was 11. I caught several more halibut but released all but one of them. This may have been the most relaxing day of the trip. I look forward to more silver salmon fishing in the future.
As we cruised back to camp the realization that this was our last day was really working on me. The Munsey's have this thing down. After a day in camp you know the schedule so you don't think about it. You awake each morning with tremendous anticipation for what the day may hold in store and you go to bed each night reveling in the amazing day that you had. You don't think about work, the economy, the mortgage or any of the everyday stresses that we tend to burden ourselves with in day to day life. Some how you manage to check that in with the luggage on the flight down to Kodiak and it arrives back home about three days after you do. We met folks on this trip that I'll remember until the day I die from the float plane pilot (Willy with the big mustache) to the other camp guest that have made Munsey's a regular part of their life (Dick, retired, from Maryland). I'll go back to this place (hopefully numerous times) not so much for the experiences themselves but more for the feeling I got just being there.
That night we had fresh halibut (the one Albrecht caught) for dinner with Creme Broulee for desert. We had to pack for the flight out and then I was asleep by 9.
Day 6
Woke up at 7 and finished packing. We ate quickly so we could fish before the plane arrived after lunch. We fished hard at an old gold mine but nobody caught anything to keep. The water was slick as glass. It was a beautiful last morning in camp. We returned to camp, finished packing and ate lunch. We moved our gear down to the dock as the first float plane arrived. 2 planes were coming with a total of 6 campers. These guys were regulars for silver salmon fishing. Nice guys. Pam and I took the first flight back to kodiak and Dick and Albrecht were on the second. We flew back mostly up the coast due to the 1000 foot ceiling. We saw several deer, a bear and a whale on the way back to town. Willy set up down in a small lake that they use for refueling and a van took us back to Andrews. We said farewell to Albrecht, picked up Dick and headed to the airport. We had a box with about 30 lbs of halibut and silver fillets so I re-packed the box at the airport and we checked our gear.
Around 4:50 we loaded into a plane and headed back to Anchorage on alaskan air. We retreived our luggage and stored our fish in cold storage until about 9:00 pm. We ate dinner at Chlis in the restaurant at the airport. We met a nice couple from Connecticut that had taken a cruise up from Vancouver. I hope they had a great trip. I know we did. We left anchorage at 11:00pm alaska time. I slept the whole way home thanks to exhaustion and science...
The fish made it home still nice and cold. I expect we'll try some next weekend. Rebekah picked us up a the airport and dropped us at the house. What a trip.
A few notes about the trip...
It was the most amazing trip I've ever had (and I've had some great trips). We'll do it again. There's allot to see and do in this world but I know that I liked (read, "LOVED") what we did on this trip. I've never been able to unplug so completely. I'm not sure why we have a tv in the house after that trip.
Things to remember.
The Anchorage airport has cold storage available for a fee. See baggage storage.
When you land at Kodiak your air charter leaves from a different location but they will pick you up.
Don't pack many pairs of pants. 1 pair for dinner and breakfast at camp and 1 for the boat. You'll wear an outer layer of rain gear on the boat anyways.
If you have comfortable rubber boots you don't need hiking boots.
They will supply the hip boots.
Fish! You'll like it more than you think. Its very easy to get lost in the concentration of jigging the lure waiting on the strike.
I'm sure there's more but I'm late and its tired...
Friday, August 21, 2009
Prince William Sound...
This will be quick. We're at the airport waiting to board an Air Alaska flight to Kodiak! Wednesday morning we met our guide Gerry Sanger in Whittier for our overnight trip on Prince William Sound. The weather was cool and rainy with lots of fog. It looked bad. Jerry showed up right on time and we loaded the boat ("The Sound Access"). The Access is a 29 foot Aluminum boat with a nice sized enclosure and covered back deck. We stowed our gear and headed across the harbor to photograph some sort of birds on a cliff by a water fall. Very scenic! Then we headed south. When you go on a trip like out of Whittier there are a few islands close (45 minutes) that have stellar sea lions, puffins, and the occassional whale/purpoise, etc. We headed WAY south. On overnight trips you get to trav el to the south end of the sound. Technically we touched the north end of the gulf of alaska. We were half a day into the trip when the ceiling lifted and we could see any distance at all. We had lunch and enjoyed the scenery (pics to come). The Sound looks like they flooded the rocky mountains. Mountains shoot straight up out of the water with beautiful timberline country up top. Amazing country.
After lunch we saw our first humpback spout. We followed it for a while then we found 3 more. For whale watching you watch allot and see them for about 10 seconds over 7 blows and then they're down for about 10 minutes. Its still extremely exciting. Before the afternoon ended we saw about 7 or 8 (its hard to count). We headed to an anchorage for the evening and found a rock with puffins, sea lions and seals. Very cool. We found a secluded inlet to anchor in for the night. There were 6 black bears in the salmon stream feeding on fish. Amazing evening. Gerry made pasta, salad and brough wine. Great guide/host!
Day two we were up early, ate breakfast (granola mix) and headed out. We found a mom and calf humpback right of the bat. Then we drove north towards Whittier and Gerry used his radio to find some researchers that knew where the Orcas hung out. They nailed it! In half an our we had orcas at the boat (dozens of them). Pam got some amazing breach shots with 1 really cool back flip.
We headed north for lunch, then to shoot some puffins and then back to whittier. The boat ride back was VERY rough (3 foot seas) but Gerry and the boat did great. We made it back to Whittier about 6:30. Made it to Anchorage by 9pm. In bed by 11:00. Up at 3:30... Man, I'm tired!
Sound Eco Adventures was an AMAZING trip. Gerry is a great guide and a real decent human. SO glad we did that!
I could type 10 pages on this but need to shut down and get ready for the next one. I suspect it will be next weekend before I have access to a pc again but I if I get it I will update.
Today we start the halibut fishing/bear viewing part...
Adios (or as the Alaskan's say, "bye!")!
After lunch we saw our first humpback spout. We followed it for a while then we found 3 more. For whale watching you watch allot and see them for about 10 seconds over 7 blows and then they're down for about 10 minutes. Its still extremely exciting. Before the afternoon ended we saw about 7 or 8 (its hard to count). We headed to an anchorage for the evening and found a rock with puffins, sea lions and seals. Very cool. We found a secluded inlet to anchor in for the night. There were 6 black bears in the salmon stream feeding on fish. Amazing evening. Gerry made pasta, salad and brough wine. Great guide/host!
Day two we were up early, ate breakfast (granola mix) and headed out. We found a mom and calf humpback right of the bat. Then we drove north towards Whittier and Gerry used his radio to find some researchers that knew where the Orcas hung out. They nailed it! In half an our we had orcas at the boat (dozens of them). Pam got some amazing breach shots with 1 really cool back flip.
We headed north for lunch, then to shoot some puffins and then back to whittier. The boat ride back was VERY rough (3 foot seas) but Gerry and the boat did great. We made it back to Whittier about 6:30. Made it to Anchorage by 9pm. In bed by 11:00. Up at 3:30... Man, I'm tired!
Sound Eco Adventures was an AMAZING trip. Gerry is a great guide and a real decent human. SO glad we did that!
I could type 10 pages on this but need to shut down and get ready for the next one. I suspect it will be next weekend before I have access to a pc again but I if I get it I will update.
Today we start the halibut fishing/bear viewing part...
Adios (or as the Alaskan's say, "bye!")!
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Reflections on day 1
We drove in to Girdwood (south east of anchorage) on Monday night very late. Waking up here and looking around would be allot like driving to Colorado from Texas and waking up on independence pass. There are very tall mountains with tons of timberline country in every direction. There are rivers and streams everywhere. I can only guess that wildflower season is at its peak here right now.
We had breakfast at a dinner/backery in downtown Girdwood ( I think there were 4 businesses in the "strip mall"). It was good. We drove south to Seward. The drive down is spectacular. You really feel like you're in the wild. We drove through the Chugach National Forest and saw eagles and mountain goats. I REALLY wanted to see a moose but no dice...
Roads here are in incredible shape given the extreme winters. Moose Pass is just north of Seward. Unless you need something (food/gas/a can of compressed air to clean a camera) turn around at Moose Pass. Seward is a very sleepy little town that maybe no one should wake up...?
On the way back we stopped at a wildlife park just south of Girdwood. "Wildlife" in name only...
They had moose, musk ox, elk, grizzly and brown bears (same bears from different locations). The brown bears pushed the grizzly around. There were tons of buffalo and a few caribou. A musk ox charged the fence where we were standing. It was impressive how fast he could cover the ground between us. He smelled bad too (go figure)...
The elk were very impressive with regards to horn size. I guess its good that they were able to rescue these critters from whatever they needed rescuing from but there were varying levels of sadness. It seems odd to see a bear in a pen. The bears absolutely seemed fine with the deal. This was probably as easy of a deal as they could ever get. The elk, bison and musk ox seemed fairly indifferent. The moose and the caribou looked like they were just waiting for it to all be over.
We came home, bought a bottle of wine and ordered a pizza from room service. It was great but we couldn't finish it (ok, technically I "could" have but I've learned better).
Jerry Sanger from Sound Eco Adventures called and we made plans for the Prince William Sound part of the trip. We've packed all of our overnight gear into a weather proof duffel and charged anything with a battery. This will be a crap shoot. Weather can derail this trip and animals can be uncooperative, light can be bad, I can drop my camera in Prince William Sound... but we're tourist first and the whole thing should be a great experience.
I feel like we've really seen a good sample of this part of the state. Its beautiful, wild and rugged. I recommend it if you get the chance.
We had breakfast at a dinner/backery in downtown Girdwood ( I think there were 4 businesses in the "strip mall"). It was good. We drove south to Seward. The drive down is spectacular. You really feel like you're in the wild. We drove through the Chugach National Forest and saw eagles and mountain goats. I REALLY wanted to see a moose but no dice...
Roads here are in incredible shape given the extreme winters. Moose Pass is just north of Seward. Unless you need something (food/gas/a can of compressed air to clean a camera) turn around at Moose Pass. Seward is a very sleepy little town that maybe no one should wake up...?
On the way back we stopped at a wildlife park just south of Girdwood. "Wildlife" in name only...
They had moose, musk ox, elk, grizzly and brown bears (same bears from different locations). The brown bears pushed the grizzly around. There were tons of buffalo and a few caribou. A musk ox charged the fence where we were standing. It was impressive how fast he could cover the ground between us. He smelled bad too (go figure)...
The elk were very impressive with regards to horn size. I guess its good that they were able to rescue these critters from whatever they needed rescuing from but there were varying levels of sadness. It seems odd to see a bear in a pen. The bears absolutely seemed fine with the deal. This was probably as easy of a deal as they could ever get. The elk, bison and musk ox seemed fairly indifferent. The moose and the caribou looked like they were just waiting for it to all be over.
We came home, bought a bottle of wine and ordered a pizza from room service. It was great but we couldn't finish it (ok, technically I "could" have but I've learned better).
Jerry Sanger from Sound Eco Adventures called and we made plans for the Prince William Sound part of the trip. We've packed all of our overnight gear into a weather proof duffel and charged anything with a battery. This will be a crap shoot. Weather can derail this trip and animals can be uncooperative, light can be bad, I can drop my camera in Prince William Sound... but we're tourist first and the whole thing should be a great experience.
I feel like we've really seen a good sample of this part of the state. Its beautiful, wild and rugged. I recommend it if you get the chance.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Getting there...
A thousand miles journey begins with a single step... -Lao Tseu...
Denver to Anchorage shows to be about 3200 miles on mapquest so our first step was towards the airport lounge for a drink and some appetizers. We chose to fly up on Frontier Airlines because they have a direct flight from Denver to Anchorage (and the cheapest). The crew has a heck of a sense of humor so except for being a 6.5 hour flight it was reasonably enjoyable.
It was cool to look over the crowd on the plane. There were tons of folks on there headed up here to do nothing more than enjoy the outdoors (but honestly, what else is there to do???)! Tons of fishing rods and backpacks filled the overhead storage bins. I hope those folks have a great time.
The anchorage airport is reasonably small and easy to navigate. We ended up with one rolling duffel and a medium water proof duffel. Bungee-ing the later to the former made for an easy trip down to the car rental place. Car rental at the AK airport is the easiest thing I've ever seen. We were in and out in minutes. Pam's maps got us to Girdwood with no misturns in about an hour. The roads up here are great.
I'm glad we gave ourselves a day to recoup. We arrived at the hotel around midnight and slept till 7ish. Today we're going to drive down to Seward to look around, have lunch and drive back to Girdwood. Nice digs by the way, http://www.alyeskaresort.com
The weather is cloudy and it looks like it'll rain... who knew?!
Denver to Anchorage shows to be about 3200 miles on mapquest so our first step was towards the airport lounge for a drink and some appetizers. We chose to fly up on Frontier Airlines because they have a direct flight from Denver to Anchorage (and the cheapest). The crew has a heck of a sense of humor so except for being a 6.5 hour flight it was reasonably enjoyable.
It was cool to look over the crowd on the plane. There were tons of folks on there headed up here to do nothing more than enjoy the outdoors (but honestly, what else is there to do???)! Tons of fishing rods and backpacks filled the overhead storage bins. I hope those folks have a great time.
The anchorage airport is reasonably small and easy to navigate. We ended up with one rolling duffel and a medium water proof duffel. Bungee-ing the later to the former made for an easy trip down to the car rental place. Car rental at the AK airport is the easiest thing I've ever seen. We were in and out in minutes. Pam's maps got us to Girdwood with no misturns in about an hour. The roads up here are great.
I'm glad we gave ourselves a day to recoup. We arrived at the hotel around midnight and slept till 7ish. Today we're going to drive down to Seward to look around, have lunch and drive back to Girdwood. Nice digs by the way, http://www.alyeskaresort.com
The weather is cloudy and it looks like it'll rain... who knew?!
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