Previous travel logs are at  Travel 2012 Week 2 ,  Travel 2012 Week 1 , Travel 2012 Itinerary , Travel 2010 ,  Travel 2009  and  Travel 2008

Alaskan Trip 2012

July 14

Started week 3 off with traveling from Fairbanks to Talkeetna which was about 270 miles.  We were in town for about an hour before our Jet boat tour.  It was a 3 hour tour on three rivers with stops along the way.  After the tour we went to a local tavern for dinner.  We talked with a couple on a trip from Belgium.

Jet Boat with driver and naturalist                                                    Camping is a little close in Talkeetna

Nancy and Noel from Belgium

July 15

Laundry day in Anchorage. Sorry no pictures of dirty clothes.

July 16

Drove from Anchorage to Soldotna.  Checked into our park on the Kenai river.  Went to dinner with my ex brother in-law Mike with his wife Jan.  They live in town and we have not seen them in a number of years.

pictures taken along the road from Anchorage.

July 17

Spent the morning fishing and talking with people in the park. Did a little grocery shopping in the afternoon along with a trip to the town of Kenai.

Fish On                                                                                             First fish that I was able to land and keep

The park we are in is on the river and everyone we talked with is here for the fishing.  Most people have freezers.

The residents of Alaska get to do subsistence fishing with dip nets.  The nets are 6 feet in diameter and have a long handle usually less than 10 feet. They can fish the mouth of the Kenai river.  Head of house get 25 fish and everyone else in the household get 10.  They take these usually in the month of July.  Picture taken on a Tuesday and the run was coming in slowly.  It gets twice as busy on the weekends.  Besides fishing from shore they also use boats a little further up river.

July 18

Steve went to Homer to fish for Halibut.  On the way there saw 4 moose and one calf.  The fish were small but the boat limited with 2 fish each.  The water was calm and the sun was out.  Saw 5 Humpback whales including a couple that put on quite a show jumping out of the water. Nancy drove to Homer before noon with Jan who is married to my ex brother in-law who I was fishing with. Nancy saw two eagles and was close enough to see the talons on one of them.  She was driving so no picture.

Volcanic Mount Redoubt taken from boat while on Halibut trip.

July 19

Slow day for fishing. Commercial rigs are at the mouth of the river.  Had our oil changed in the truck.  Took a walk along the river on the the boardwalk.

Steve on boardwalk

July 20

Tried fishing in the morning but it was very slow.  Drove to Seward.  Stopped at Exit Glacier outside of Seward.  Took a 3 hour tour boat out of Seward. We saw 7 Humpback whales and a large number Stellar Sea Lions, which are different than the California Sea Lions.  The Stellar sea Lions roar and the California ones bark.  We saw numerous birds including Puffins, Kittiwakes, and 3 Bald Eagles. We had dinner with Jim and Juni who are from Georgia and we keep seeing them on our trip.

Nancy at Exit Glacier                                                                         Map showing how Exit Glacier has receded over the years

Humpback Whale                                                                            Steve out fishing at 11:00PM.    

Here we are with Jim and Junnie

Steve'n Nancy (stevennancy.net)