At the Cabin: AK2011 Day 4

After dinner and beer at Buckets, we made our way back to the cabin, which we hadn't stayed in for three years. The canal looked about the same as it did in 2008, possibly with a few more moose-munched cottonwood trees growing here and there along the bank.

We walked around and looked at the sights:

Boats.

Reflections from boats and cabins.

Float planes and more reflections.

Old, licheny docks and fish-cleaning tables.

More float planes, this one roaring by to land upriver.

After the seaplane landed, it taxied up the canal to pull in and tie up. While we were there, several float planes came to stay near the canal by the cabin; I counted as many as four at once, maybe five. These are quite popular for hieing down to the river when the reds come running in large numbers, as they had a couple days prior to our arrival on the Kenai. The sockeye surge was just beginning to come into the upper river, and fish-cleaning operations were going on all around us. People typically have tables right along the river or canalside; some fishermen and fisherwomen bring portable cleaning tables over to the river from their off-river cabins.
We decided to go for a walk, to check out a fishing spot I knew we could use (if we could just figure out how to put wet flies on rods for the reds or could find any non-leaky hip waders).

Sights seen along the way:

Leaves, twigs, and dried spruce needles.

Cotton from cottonwood trees, on what looks like gravel from graywacke.

Miscellaneous cabinish junk and Alaskana, including this scenic (IMO) old pickup.

Fishing related decorations: old floats.

Fishing-related decorations on cabins, garages, and carports.

We did make it down to the fishing hole, decided to wait for further instructions from the fisher-people arriving the next day, a day that would be dedicated to fishing, getting new hip waders, and eating dinner at the St. Elias Brewery.

Two Years Ago Today: Frozen Waterfall

Two years ago today, I was in a car with my parents and MOH, and we were driving down the Seward Highway toward the Kenai Peninsula. We drove by this frozen waterfall, which is located right on the highway, in Turnagain Arm, not very far west of Beluga Point, somewhere between Mile 117 and Mile 110 on Alaska 1. It's always frozen, this time of year.

We were heading down to the cabin, a place I like to go in winter, partly to see the frozen river, partly because it can be much colder on the peninsula than in Anchorage, and partly because it's just so different than it is during the summer.
The cabin area in too much snow to drive to the front door.
Relatively decent temperatures for the middle of winter.
A low but not very frozen river. Note the bald eagle in the highest tree straight across the river (click to enlarge); it's just a little dot near the top of the tree.

The pump was frozen so we didn't stay. This year we probably won't even go. The view is always stunning; and U-shaped, glacially carved valleys abound.

Putting in at Deep Creek: AK2008 Day 3

The day started out as a typical Kenai Peninsula day at the cabin, with clouds hanging over the access canal to the river, and the sun tyring to push through. The sun didn't make it, though: it sprinkled off and on, and temperatures stayed between 50 and 60 degrees F through the day.
We made our way down the Sterling Highway, past Ninilchik, to Deep Creek, having some time to stop and look at typical Alaskan scenery.

We arrived at Deep Creek, the upper part where the offices are, went inside and paid for our soon-to-be halibut charter.
Above: a view from inside looking out toward the Sterling highway, with various blurry halibut boats across the parking lot.
Ah, and there's our halibut boat: Tilt II !
Above: a dark and cloudy view, looking north across Deep Creek to the sea-cliff and Cook Inlet beyond. The weather is such that you can hardly tell sky from water; in fact, I think that it's easier to see the horizon in the photo than it was in real life. The lighthouse on the cliff may be a residence rather than a lighthouse: I couldn't find any info about it in lighthouse listings.
Our halibut boat again, now down on the beach. And no, that truck or SUV isn't going to pull the boat into the water!
Instead, a John Deere tractor will, first pulling us towards shore, then turning around on the beach...
...in order to back us into the brackish waters of Cook Inlet.
And hey, that's how we probably looked from the shore: a smallish halibut boat heading southwest toward deep water.

Summit Lake and Beyond: AK2008 Day 2

We arrived at Summit Lake Lodge, which is for sale in case you are interested, in time for a slightly late lunch.
A friendly bear greeted us...
...so we went on in, found a place, and sat down. Summit Lake Lodge has good food, good beer, a good atmosphere, and a good view.
Sometimes it's worth stopping at the gift shop at the south end of the parking lot - to get milkshakes, espresso, T-shirts, or other gift-type items.


After lunch, we headed south on Alaska Route 1 to Tern Lake, where the Seward Highway continues south to Seward as Route 9, and the Sterling Highway continues west towards Sterling, Soldotna, Kenai, and Homer as Route 1. Tern Lake is a great place to stop to see wildlife, to stretch your legs, and to get a good view of more mountains and another great U-shaped glacial valley, seen above looking southeast towards Moose Pass.
As you drive away from Tern Lake, to the west and back toward the Sterling Highway, you'll have ample opportunities to stop and examine several metagrawacke roadcuts like the one above, which is cut by a network of quartz veins. In fact, you can't miss seeing the slaty graywacke, even if you don't stop at Tern Lake - there are several good collecting places here and there near the triangular junction of the Sterling and Seward highways.
Suddenly, the parental driver (my dad) took a sharp left turn, and we headed into the woods toward the Tern Lake campground. A short walk from a little pullout on the dirt road before the camp will take you to Dave's Creek, a good place to view spawned out red salmon.
The red salmon, or sockeyes, are still hanging around, some going barely going upstream, most barely holding their own against the current.
Above, the photo looks back toward Tern Lake at the head of Dave's Creek. Downstream and to the west, Dave's Creek joins Quartz Creek and empties into Kenai Lake near Cooper Landing. It's amazing: all these lakes have creeks and rivers going into them and out of them, and all of them eventually empty into the ocean! (Well, maybe I've been in the Great Basin too long - actually thinking that lakes and oceanward drainage are amazing.)

The road goes on, pointing more-or-less toward Redoubt Volcano, which can't be seen through the clouds on this particular day.
Finally, then, we found the right turn-off from the Sterling Highway, and we made our way on pavement and the dirt to the cabin - seen above in an earlier rendition before it was lifted off the ground after the September 1995 flood, which occurred not long after the painting of this strange picture.

News from the North

Well, the connection at the cabin is indeed dial-up, so I'm sending this little post via email and phone.

It's cool, green, and a tad mosquito-ey here on the banks of the Kenai River. Sounds are of boats, waves from boat wakes, seagulls screeching as they fight over dead salmon, small planes flying by, the river running, the fish jumping.

Our first fishing expedition was successful, with eight halibut 'chickens' - small, good-eating ones of 20-30 pounds - caught.

Now we're on to bank-fishing for silver salmon, in one of the every-other years that the pink salmon - or humpies - are also running. Humpies are easy to catch, then release, because by the time they get upriver, they are too far gone to eat.

Tomorrow: our second expedition, to catch silvers by guided tour on the lower Kenai. Hope they know some good fishing holes!

Will get back to people later for questions and other info. Stay tuned!