I moved to Alaska this summer, driving there from MN with two cats and a dear friend, Katie. It was an 11-day adventure, and the scenery was breathtaking. Now I am exploring life in Alaska, and find that posting pictures for family and friends is so much easier than trying to describe it!
I haven't posted in a long time- it's been pretty quiet and work has been really busy. In October, my weekends were filled with Orchestra rehearsals for the Halloween concert. That's done and things are calming down. We're rehearsing for our Christmas concert. We finally got snow!
This morning as I was driving to meet friends for breakfast, I drove by nine moose, all pretty close together along the side of the road. It's the most moose I've ever seen in one place at one time. I have a friend who has a theory that every time she sees a moose it will be a good day, so this should be a great one! (one of the 9)
There have been a few bear incidents lately- a few weeks ago, three schools in Soldotna had to go into lock-down because a brown bear was spending the day on the wooded path that connects the schools. So no outdoor recess, even the high schoolers were kept inside for the day, and parents of students who walk home were called to come pick up their kids. Big excitement!
This morning, I went out to the shed to get shovels, and I saw tracks leading into the shed from the side of the yard. The tracks were big, so I was a little concerned that some person had come around snooping in the shed. Then I looked in the doorway, and realized it wasn't a creepy neighbor:
Yeah, it was a bear. It made shoveling that much more exciting because it was a really fresh print- it was still snowing out.
Dad thought he was flying out on Sunday, so I had rearranged plans to squeeze Seward in before he left, and then when he looked closer at his tickets he realized he was actually flying out Monday night, so we had more time. On our bonus day, we drove to the Mystery Hills in Cooper Landing and hiked to the Russian River Falls. The weather wasn't bad, considering the rain we had yesterday. It was pretty overcast, but it didn't start drizzling until the end. There weren't many fish jumping any more, but it was still a beautiful hike.
Russian River Falls:
The next day we drove back up to Anchorage. It was a beautiful day- disappointing that on dad's last day we finally had nice weather again, but at least he could get good views of the mountains and Turnagain Arm, since on the way down it had been so overcast.
The mountains were beautiful, and we even saw beluga whales swimming into Turnagain Arm- I've never seen belugas there before.
On the way, we had some time to kill, and got in free because of the Seward tour, so we stopped at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation Center.
The elk were split up because it was rut- the alpha elk was with the females and babies:
The other male elk were corralled in another area. One was pretty upset about the separation- he found a high point and called across to the females- it was really cool to hear him, he was really vocal, we could hear the calls all over the park.
The alpha elk came closer to the fence when we were coming back around. He was pretty vigilant about the girls with him, and made some fake-lunges at the people standing near the fence. We backed away and gave him his space.
Musk Ox:
Brown bears- one sleeping:
One swimming:
.... and using a stick as a back-scratcher:
Caribou-
Baby orphaned musk ox- it's mother was killed by a brown bear- it was really really cute
On Saturday, we got up early and drove to Seward. It was a rainy day, which wasn't such a great day for a scenery cruise, but the way the weather's been, if we waited for another day, chances are it wouldn't be much better.
The harbor was cold and drizzly. We got seats outside on the boat at first, because the inside window seats were taken.
On the way through Resurrection Bay, we saw a mountain goat:
Stellar Sea Lions:
The further we got into the bay, the worse the weather got- it was raining and there were big waves. Huge waves. Way bigger than yesterday. The boat was really rocking and the waves were so big, they hit the second-story windows on the boat. The captain said they were predicting gale-force winds that night, because a storm was coming in from the Gulf of Alaska, and we were getting just the first part of the storm. We sat inside the boat, and went outside any time there was something to see. I was sorry the mountains were all covered up, I know dad would have liked seeing them.
We came upon a pod of orca whales. That was exciting to see- it was my first time. We got to see them for a while- there were about seven. At one point, one of the whales swam right up to the side of the boat and then went under it- that was exciting.
A bunch of Dahl Porpoises came up to the boat and played in the wake too- I couldn't get any good pictures though.
Sea otters:
We got to Ailik glacier- it was really blue in the clouds and fog- the pictures didn't come out very clear, but it was beautiful to see. There were small pieces of ice calving off, and making the thunder sound when they fell.
Sea otter and ice berg:
On the way back, they came by a large black bear on the shore line.... but I was in the bathroom and didn't get out in time to take a picture. I wish the weather had been better for the cruise, but we still saw some great things.
On Thursday we drove down to Homer. The sun was out and we had blue skies for the first time. The mountains and volcanoes across the inlet were visible and it was a beautiful drive down.
Ninilchik Russian Orthodox church:
Old Town Ninilchik with Mt. Iliamna in the background:
I was disappointed when we got to Homer- the mountains and glaciers across the bay were covered in clouds and couldn't be seen at all. We went out East End Road and had lunch at Fritz Creek General Store- a restaurant, grocery store, and post office in one, complete with a cat sleeping on the post office counter. When we drove back into town, the clouds had started to lift. We walked Bishops Beach, and dad got his first feel and smell of the ocean:
Then we walked on the spit, along the harbor, and all the way around.
Fisherman memorial:
After walking the spit and looking at the stores that were open (a lot of stores were closing down for the season- most will be closed after memorial day), we checked into our hotel room. We stayed at Land's End, which is at the far end of the spit. It was a beautiful hotel room, with a deck and benches with views of the spit. We opened the windows, and dad sat and got caught up on his work and reading, while I sat on the deck reading and watching the boats and sea otters go by. It was beautiful and relaxing, and the sound of the water was wonderful.
Views from the hotel room:
Sea otter swimming by:
Working hard:
We ate a fabulous dinner and then walked the beach after dinner and went to bed. We slept with the window open and fell asleep to the sound of the water.
Homer spit at sunset:
Sunrise Friday morning- views from the hotel window:
Homer small boat harbor at sunrise:
Dad and I went halibut/salmon fishing on Friday morning. We went with David, a charter guide and a friend of a friend. David's dog Penny came along as well- he said she helped him find the good fishing holes. As we were going out into the bay, David was checking the weather- he had talked to someone just coming in from Kodiak who said there were some big swells coming in. We had 4-foot seas the whole way- it was bigger than it sounds. Heading out, we had to ride into the waves, and the boat would go up a swell and sometimes slam down onto the lower water behind the wave- it was slow going, and really rolling- like a roller coaster the whole way. Some people chose not to go out that day because of the size of the waves, and David was concerned that the waves might make the fishing tougher, but he braved through the swells.
We drove by some big rafts of otters- there were tons of them floating together. I got a few shots:
The further out we got into the water, the worse I started feeling. I was doing ok until the boat stopped. The boat was really rolling in the waves, and I got seasick- my first time ever. I ran outside and threw up.... a lot.... got dribbles of it in my hair and clothes. It was extremely unpleasant. I sat on a cooler outside- the fresh air made me feel a lot better, but I was feeling queasy most of the time we were halibut fishing. It took a lot to try and hold it together. Dad did great- proving he has more Norwegian in him than I do. Dad caught the first fish, and then he caught the second, but it was small, so he threw it back to try again (the limit is 2). I caught 2 chickens pretty quickly, which is what I wanted. It was really nice having David bait and set up the rods, I probably wouldn't have been able to fish without his help. I was relieved to hit my limit, because I was worried I didn't have it in me to fish with the way I was feeling. David caught his 2, and dad, after throwing back a few more small ones, pulled up his final fish. The views were beautiful while we fished, we could see Mt. Iliamna and Mt. Augustine.
Halibut fishing:
After we caught our limit of halibut, we rode back into the bay, where it was more protected. Going back in went a lot faster, and the waves were much better, because we were riding the waves into the bay. We set up to troll for salmon. I was worried we wouldn't catch anything- I'd heard that there weren't many salmon out there right now- that they were pretty spotty. David had just set the first rod, and was setting up the second one, when we got a bite- dad pulled in a beautiful silver salmon:
Pretty soon after setting both rods, the second one had a bite- I started reeling- it was a king- it leaped out of the water, then leaped out again- in all it jumped out three times while I reeled it in- it put on a great show- we were worried all that leaping would make it break free, but we pulled it in. As we were pulling in the king, dad got a bite on his rod, and pulled in another silver. It was pretty exciting. We must have set right on a school of salmon going through, because we trolled for a few hours and didn't get another bite. But three salmon was a bonus, since we weren't really expecting any.
Trolling for salmon:
The views while we were trolling for the salmon were great, and the waves were calm- I felt so much better when we were trolling for salmon- no sea sickness then.
The haul: 6 halibut, 2 silver salmon & 1 king salmon
