Camping in Seward

Once we made it down to Seward to visit with Karl's family, we ended up camping for the night before heading back to Wasilla in the morning.  Seward is such a cute little town on Prince William Sound and is one of my favorite places to visit.  Most of the camping is right on the beach, too!  There's nothing better than listening to the waves lull you to sleep!

Last time I went to Seward was in the winter, and I was somewhat disappointed because nearly everything was closed.  This time around, the streets were packed with tourists and a cruise ship was in the harbor.  It's nice knowing that I'm living in a place that people dream of visiting, but I really do not like crowds of people and traffic!

We found this fun sign at the car rental agency which gives some perspective about how far we are from some key places around the world!

The Cabin in the Wilderness

We were finally able to make it out to the cabin this weekend in seemingly the only 24 hour window of no rain.  We launched the river boat at Deshka Landing in Willow (yes, Willow went to Willow) and took the Big Susitna River to the Yentna River.  

Mt. Susitna, commonly known as Sleeping Lady

This was Willow’s first boat ride, and she seemed to have great fun.  

The cabin is truly in the middle of nowhere, and the only things you see (other than wildlife) are a few other recreational cabins.  We did pass a fish wheel along the river, which is used to count the number of salmon heading upstream.  We stopped to chat for a moment, and watched them catch five salmon in the few minutes we were there. 

Fish wheel in action

Once we made it to the cabin, Karl and I took a big risk and decided to let Willow off of her leash.  In the four years we’ve had her, the only time she’s been free to run is when she’s managed to break out the front door.  I was a little worried that she would run off and get eaten by a bear, but she stayed close by.  

Think she was improvising some camouflage?

She slept like a rock that night as she spent the entire afternoon tearing back and forth at about a hundred miles an hour.

 Karl also decided that it was time to teach me to shoot a gun, as being at the cabin is probably the most likely place that I will run into a bear.  After a few tears, I learned that my arms just aren’t long enough to shoot the gun Karl gave me to try.  We tried the next day with a gun with an iron sight instead of a scope, and I did much better. 

Watch out broad side of a barn!

My shooting still sucks, so I would probably be better off throwing the gun at the bear.  Karl has promised to take me somewhere where I can shoot at a target instead of just at a tree on the other side of the river.  We'll see how that goes...

Gone Fishin'

We took a trip down to the Kenai Peninsula (one of my favorite places in Alaska) to go dipnetting in the Kasilof River.

Mount Augustine - across the inlet

Dipnetting is a type of fishing that uses a five foot diameter net to catch the salmon as they swim upstream.  The best place to fish is right at the mouth of the river, as the salmon start to die as soon as they hit fresh water.

Karl and his dad fishing at sunrise

Our first day of fishing was pretty unsuccessful, as the morning and evening tides only netted us 8 fish.  The next morning more than made up for it, and we got 18 more red and pink salmon.  

Isn't Karl fashionable?

We planned to stay another day or two to hit our limit of 60 salmon, but we decided to head home for a couple of days and get this salmon processed.  We're heading back later today to meet Jake and Marcella and fish for another couple of days.

Things I did not know about salmon before this trip:

1. You have to beat the salmon in the head to kill them once they're out of the water.  This offended my sensibilities, but I felt a little better once Karl reminded me that these fish were going to die in a few weeks anyhow.  The state is very aggressive in monitoring the amount of fish that are making it upstream to ensure that the bears get enough to eat and that enough survive to lay their eggs.

2.  Salmon are awfully bloody, and it kind of looked like a mass murder after they were filleted. 

3. You save the eggs from the female salmon, coat them in strawberry jello, and use them as fishing bait to catch more salmon or basically any other fish.

Willows first trip to the beach!

There are hundreds of seagulls everywhere, because many people gut their fish right on the beach.

Sunset