Combat Fishing on the Confluence of the Kenai and Russian Rivers

We left the Kenai Moose Lodge this morning and stopped for fuel at the Fred Meyer in Soldotna.  It was $4.629 per gallon for diesel (prices are coming down…YES!!!).  We then continued east on the Sterling Highway to our destination of Quartz Creek USFS Campground about 8 miles east of where our nephew Ian and his family are camped in the Russian River Campground.  We got set up in our site, had our lunch, then drove back to see Ian.  His co-worker Ashley and wife and daughter are camping there also.  After visiting for a while, it was decided that we would all go fishing at about 3pm.

The mile hike to the fishing area did not seem too appealing to us, so we opted to drive to the Russian River Ferry where we took the ferry across to where we would be fishing and waited for the others to join us.

This is what combat fishing on the confluence of the Russian and Kenai Rivers is like…wall to wall people.  As we were waiting for Ian, Ken was walking around taking photos and I was people watching and at one point happened to look back at the trail behind us.  Something caught my eye, and I found a salmon lying on the trail.  I had Ken come over to take a look and nobody seemed to be watching our way, so the fish quickly disappeared into one of the bags we brought with us for our catch.  This kind of fishing is great!

Ian on the left and his friend Ashley join the crowd.

Back at the entrance to our campground, this little guy looks somewhat familiar.  Where have we seen him before?  Could he be a relation to someone we know?

Back at the RV, we had a meal of leftovers and I vacuum sealed our catch of the day.  Our parking pass for the ferry area is good until 3pm tomorrow, so we’ll be going back there for some more fishing.

Father’s Day Barbecue at Kimber’s House

We got started a little earlier than usual this morning and moved to the Kenai Moose Lodge.  They were having a Father’s Day brunch and all fathers were free.  So for $8.00, we had a very good breakfast of scrambled eggs, potatoes, link sausage, bacon, fresh fruit, and toast.  We left there feeling very stuffed.

Kimber, Gale, and Grant went to Seward last night and spent the night on their boat and got back to Kenai early this evening.  We had offered to bring something to barbecue for a get together and brought hamburgers, hotdogs and other stuff and Kimber and other family members added to the meal.  It was a good meal and we enjoyed being with family, but left before the dessert came out…probably a good decision on our part.  Here are a few photos from our visit.

Grant as usual was willing to pose for a photo.  This time he was in cowboy hat and boots and wearing a heavy looking backpack.

Somehow I missed getting a photo of Gale and Kimber’s son Troy, but Troy’s wife Kimi is on the left in this next photo.

Kimber’s daughter Madeleine is on the left and Kimber is busy cooking.

Gale and Kimber’s daughter Tara is visiting for the summer and working in the office where Gale is employed.

Tyler is sitting with his girlfriend Alisha.

Tomorrow we will be moving to a campsite in Quartz Creek USFS Campground and will be meeting up with our nephew, Kimber’s brother Ian, for a few days of salmon fishing.

Fish on!!!!

Kenai Caribou and Grant’s Toolbox

Our niece, Kimber, had to work this morning so we headed over to her house to spend a few hours with them close to noon.  On our way to her house, we were approaching the Kenai River bridge when Ken spotted a caribou in the field.  We pulled off to the side of the road to watch for a while. 

After watching for a short time, we saw three more caribou in the brush.

At one time it appeared that he was determined to cross the road, but after a couple more vehicles stopped to watch, he may have changed his mind.

His harem stepped out of the brush and continued grazing and we went on our way to Kimber’s house.

I can always count on Grant as he just loves to be in a photo.  This morning he went to Home Depot and took part in a children’s workshop and he built his very own toolbox.  Grant, you did good work!  Our niece Kimber is on the left.

Ken’s back has been bothering him for the last few days so we drove over to Soldotna to a shoe store where Gale and Kimber’s daughter-in-law works to get some sole inserts for his shoes to see if that will help resolve the back pain issue.  Tomorrow we will be moving to the Kenai Moose lodge for one night prior to our trip to the Russian River for salmon fishing with our nephew and his family.

Household Chores—I’d Rather Play Tourist!

This morning the laundry and cleaning continued.  This place is looking a little bit cleaner, but there’s still a lot to accomplish, so that task will continue tomorrow.

Not being ones to sit around all day, we did make the predicted getaway into town for a little bit of shopping and since the weather was so clear, I got some photos of 3 of the volcanic mountains in the Ring of Fire.

Mount Iliamna

Mount Redoubt

Mount Spurr

Ken’s back was bothering him this afternoon and Kim and family took their boat fishing in the Kenai River this evening, so we are just spending a quiet evening at home.

Back in Kenai Again

We didn’t have very far to travel today on our return to Kenai, so we didn’t get too early a start.  We’re staying for a couple of nights at a Passport America park in Kenai so that we can have full hookups as we have been dry camping for over 2 weeks.  This will give us some time to get caught up on the laundry again without having to go to a laundromat, and the inside of the RV is due for a good vacuuming and cleaning while here.  Here we are parked in a basically no frill sites which is pretty much a packed sand lot…but at least we have hookups for a couple of days.

We got the the washing machine started, had lunch, and took care of a few errands.  Later in the day, we headed to our niece’s house where we were entertained by her son Grant who in this photo is taking a short popsicle break.  We had a nice visit with Kim’s husband Gale and a short visit with Kim when she got home.

Then it was back to the motorhome for an evening of relaxing.  We had our mail delivered to Kim’s house, so it looks like tomorrow will include catching up on the paperwork in addition to the other chores.  Knowing us, we’ll find some diversion from the work tomorrow, so stay tuned in.

A Day Tour North of Deep Creek and More of the Last Frontier Gang Arrives

We headed out late in the morning to check an area about 20 miles north of Deep Creek.  As we were pulling out of the campground, we could see that the clam diggers were taking advantage of the minus tides in the area that started today.

We drove down to the beach at Clam Gulch north of us and they were digging clams there too.

After driving through the Clam Gulch State Recreation Area, we continued north and drove around the Cohoe Loop Road starting at the north junction with the Sterling Highway and returning to the highway at the south junction.  From there, we returned to Clam Gulch to Bakers Clam Shell Lodge which in the Milepost claims to be famous for their clam chowder.  We both ordered a bowl of clam chowder and it was very good.  I needed to get a new temporary change of address card from the post office which was next door to the restaurant and Ken took a photo of the building with the crossed clam shovels.

Getting back to Ninilchik, it was still raining so we decided to drive up Oil Well Road as far as possible.  It is paved for a little over 5 miles and then is gravel the rest of the way for a total of about 18 miles.  There are several trails crossing this road and at a parking area for vehicles hauling snowmobile trailers, I took a picture of these two signs.

Back at our campground, we found that more of the Last Frontier Gang had caught up with us and planned for a dinner out at the American Legion which was having a Chinese dinner.  From left to right Ken, Pat, Don and Sharon are busy eating.

When we arrived back at camp, some neighboring campers had brought in their halibut to the cleaning station down by the creek.  The big one in front was caught by…

…this first time halibut fishergirl on the right.  She seemed very modest about her catch although it was about 50 pounds compared to the others which were around 15-20 pounds average.

The girl in the next photo was an employee of the fish and game department who checks people at random to measure their fish carcass, determine the sex of the fish, and then extracts a bone from the brain of the fish that determines it’s age.

That little speck of white on her glove is the bone from a cod’s brain which is actually like a piece of ivory.

After watching all the hard work, it was time to relax by the fire.  Here are Carol, Marilyn, Larry, and Dennis all bundled up in front of the fire.

Don, Sharon, and Ken are all smiling and trying to look like it’s warm outside.

Tomorrow the Last Frontier Gang will be headed south to Homer and we will be going north to Kenai, but there’s a possibility that we may catch up with them again before the 4th of July.  After that, they will be moving along at a faster pace then us.

 

Deep Creek and Checking Out the Anchor Point Area

The Deep Creek area has numerous bald eagles in the area and when I get up in the morning, the beach is covered with them.  For those of you following Dennis's blog, you already know that he is thoroughly enjoying the eagles in this area and has warned his followers to expect hundreds of photos of the eagles.  We caught Dennis down on the beach this morning and what can I say…he seems to have confused these seagulls for eagles.  Dennis…eagles are a little bit bigger than this.

Deep Creek has a very unique way of launching fishing boats. When the boat is launched earlier in the day, it has been given a number which is also attached to it’s trailer.  When the boat is coming in after a day of fishing, they call into the launch service to let them know their number, and as shown in this series of photos, a rubber tired skidder with the boat’s trailer backs into the water, loads the boat, and takes it out of the water.

After watching the boat launching, we drove south about 20 miles to the Anchor Point area.  Our destination was the Anchor River (Beach) Road which is just a little over 1.5 miles long.  Obviously it is another major fishing area as it has five state campgrounds along the road in addition to a commercial campground near the end of the road.  At mile .3 we crossed the Anchor River Bridge aka “the erector set bridge”.

At the end of the Anchor River Road is another boat launching service using rubber tired skidders like at Deep Creek.  Looking down at the beach we saw this eagle having a conversation with some seagulls.

From the boat launch, we drove to viewing area.  We had a much clearer day today and got this photo of Mount Saint Augustine which is one of the volcanoes forming the Ring of Fire in the Aleutian Islands.

This was the site of the first mining for gold in south central Alaska.

Anchor Point Road is the most westerly on the North American continent accessible by a continuous road system.

After driving Anchor Point Road, we headed north for a short distance to North Fork Road where we drove east about 9 miles to the Nikolaevsk, a settlement of “Russian Old Believers”.  On our way there, we saw a cow moose and her calf.

The community of Nikolaevsk includes three distinct settlements:  Russian Orthodox, Russian Old Believers, and some non-Russians.  From the Milepost:  “The Old Believers in this area lead a family-oriented, self-sufficient life-style.  They use modern utilities, and food sources are from gardening, small livestock, fishing and hunting.  Families are typically very large (8 to 12 children).  Traditional clothing is worn, Russian is the first language, and the church dictates that males do not shave.”  While in the community, I saw just a couple of people who could have been the Old Believers.  Here are a couple of photos of the Church of Saint Nicholas, the Russian Orthodox church in the settlement.

When we got back to the motorhome, we had a late lunch.  Larry, our friend who lives here in Ninilchik, came by to visit for a while and we had an enjoyable visit with him.  He and Peggy have had a very interesting life and are some of the very early members of Escapees RV Club having joined 25 (more or less) years ago.  He told us of their traveling in Mexico in addition to their time here in Ninilchik.  A parachute surfer put on a show for us out in the Cook Inlet this evening.

We haven’t planned anything yet, but tomorrow should be another great day in Alaska.