Rafting and Berry Picking

 

One day last week we took a river rafting trip with Denali Raft Adventures.  It was beautiful, challenging, and more than a bit splashy.  Here’s where we almost lost Russ to a big wave:

Fortunately he managed to hang on and didn’t have to swim in the chilly glacial run-off waters of the Nenana River.

A day later we headed back to Anchorage to visit my friend Patty from college.  We had some great meals, walked around the zoo, and saw a show about the aurora borealis at the planetarium.

On the way home Saturday we picked blueberries under the watchful eye of Denali.

The colors on the tundra are turning gold and red.  It’s so different than any fall scenery I’m used to and so beautiful 

This is from the drive into Denali National Patk we did last night after a great dinner at Black Diamond Resort courtesy of our appreciative campground owners.  

Russ’s dinner the Seafood Boil.  Yum!!

Today I made blueberry preserves from our pickings and also there is new snow on the mountains.

Looks like we will be heading home to Illinois soon!

More Fish Stories

 

I finally got to wear my Frogg’s Toggs to fish in Clearwater Creek near Delta Junction.  I like the waders, fishing pole, and bear spray ensemble.   We didn’t catch a thing that day, though we both had a couple that “got away.”

So peaceful!

In my last two posts I mentioned that we were near the north and south ends of the Trans Alaska Pipeline   This week we camped near it again at Quartz Lake Campground   Here it is going underground:

And here it has its own suspension bridge over the Tanana River

 

Our campsite at Quartz Lake had a lot of good features.

 Close to the bathrooms, nice fire ring, not too many bugs and a nice flat spot for the tent

We rented a little boat to fish from at the lake, and I caught my first rainbow trout!  We turned that into dinner over the campfire.   Yummmm

I Love Valdez Alaska So Much

 I don’t know why but Valdez is my favorite place in Alaska for the last 2 years when I have visited it

1.  The views from Blueberry Lake State Recreation Atea campground:  

2.  This restaurant:

Fantastic salmon dip appetizer, cod and rockfish sandwiches, and amazing smoked salmon pizza. (That was for 3 meals not just one because I do not want to become a fat mermaid!)

3.  Fishing off Allison Point makes Russ happy.  And I saw seals!

4.  Did I mention seals?  Did you know they are closely related to dogs?

This is Bella the office dog and she probably already knew that:

66 degrees 33 minutes

 66 degrees and 33 minutes is the latitude of the Arctic circle.  We crossed it last week when we drove the amazing Dalton Highway   

  The Dalton is a rough road—mud, gravel, some asphalt and lots of potholes. It was formerly known as the North Slope Haul Road and until 1994 was only open to trucks supplying the oil fields at Prudhoe Bay

We started our trip with a 9 hour drive to Coldfoot Camp where we spent the night.  Dinner there featured a wonderful salad bar.  In the middle of nowhere.  In a state where it’s almost impossible to grow a vegetable.  But there it was.  I was sooooo happy!

Next we drove on through the Brooks Range (beeeyoootiful!) on to Deadhorse.  

That’s right!  The road follows the pipeline. There would be no road access if not for the oil fields and pipelines. I’m still trying to wrap my mind around it

We saw arctic foxes, caribou, musk oxen , a lynx (running away), and snowy owls.  We got in the Arctic Ocean (to varying degrees. 

Yes I am the wimpy one here!  

Salmon

Salmon fishing is big in Alaska during July and August .  Folks dip net, fly fish, or use a spinning rod to catch them. Russ caught one this week in Resurrection Creek using a spinning rod.   He released it with the help of this local resident

Her mom told me she catches them with her bare hands sometimes because she’s too small to handle a dip net!   I do believe her spirit animal is a bear.

Locals have so much salmon they just want to give it away.   It’s like growing zucchini back in Illinois!

Hope (where we stayed while Russ fished) is a beautiful little town on the Turnagain Arm of the Cook Inlet   From our campsite we watched the tide roll out revealing extensive mud flats, and listened to the waves lapping as it rolled back in.

We had a sweet little site for our tent at Porcupine Creek Forest Service Campground where we had our own bear proof box for food, and a nice fire pit with a view.

On our way home we got a nice surprise visit from our favorite mountain!