Alaska, Vermont and life in between ..........: It’s about the sea ….

Our first trip to Alaska was in 2008. After 10 days of travel from Vermont, we arrived road weary and somewhat dazed and confused. We pulled into the Anchorage Walmart with the intention of spending the night and had settled in when there was a knock on our door. A blue vested employee stood on the other side. He explained that no overnight stays were allowed and that his manager could ask us to leave in the middle of the night. He suggested we move across the street and park near Taco Bell. Taco Bell, was located at the edge of an huge parking lot surrounded by other businesses. The difference being that Taco Bell provided 24 hour service. What started out as normal parking lot traffic turned into something quite different as the stores around Taco Bell closed and the parking lot cleared of vehicles. It was then that the vacant blacktop turned into a drag strip for local racing enthusiasts. The night air was soon filled with the sound of squealing tires and the smell of burning rubber. We huddled in bed hoping an out of control vehicle wouldn’t be joining us there! By morning, we knew we had to leave the city, but, where?

So, on our daughter’s advise, we reached out to a friend of hers who immediately set our course.

He said, “to truly understand Alaska, you need to visit the ocean.”

So, that’s where we headed.

Until recently, I didn’t know that Alaska’s Aleut name is Alyeska, meaning, “that which the sea breaks against “. Nor did I know that Alaska has about 34,000 miles of shoreline including that of its islands, more than all the lower 48 states combined.

Our cabin in Talkeetna is inland, about 115 miles north of Anchorage. Talkeetna is surrounded by high mountains, like Denali, fast rushing glacial rivers, lakes and ponds, but no saltwater. Remembering the words of our old friend and seeing an extended forecast of sunny days, we packed the motorhome for the drive south to the Kenai Peninsula. I hoped the predicted clear weather would let us see the volcanoes that lie across Cook Inlet and my mouth also watered for a halibut steak!

We drove the Seward Highway from Anchorage to Seward.

I scanned the muddy water of the Turnagain Arm in search of Beluga Whales while alternately craning my neck in hope of seeing mountain goats on the rocky cliffs lining the Seward highway. On this day, neither white mammal appeared.

Our overnight in the small community of Hope was reminiscent of our first visit 17 years ago. Back then, we were awakened when our motorhome started shaking. Our first thought was earthquake which happens frequently, but a look out the window showed a large black bear busily pulling our cooler from the rear of the motorhome. To his surprise, after successfully removing it and prying it open, the only food inside was a head of iceberg lettuce. We watched as the bear left our campsite and climbed into the bed of our neighbor’s pickup and began rummaging through a pile of empty beer cans. The bear seemed to enjoy the noise created when digging through the cans, but moved on when no food was found. We were surprised no one woke to the noise, but then, we weren’t going outside either!

We’re still using our bear tooth engraved cooler.

Site of the cooler attack.

Resurrection Creek spilling into the Turnagain Arm in Hope, AK

The Seaview Cafe is a hopping place when a band is playing.

We were lucky to reserve a camp site directly on Resurrection Bay in Seward. From here we could watch the many boats using Seward harbor. A paved walkway was in front of our campsite, extending from the harbor to Seward downtown. It had a constant flow of traffic.

Totem, a very large brown Newfoundland dog, walked by with his owner. His owner was pushing a stroller containing her infant daughter who I would soon learn was named Elin. Totem came right over to us looking to be petted. I was happy to oblige. However, he quickly took advantage of my attention and when Elin needed her mother’s attention, he wandered off the walkway. Totem’s knowledge of finding people to pet him was definitely greater than his knowledge of recall. After repeated calls to him with no response, I offered to watch Elin so his owner could retrieve him. Looking into the stroller, I was met with chubby cheeks and pale blue eyes. She gave me a sweet smile before her mother returned.

The paved walkway was not only perfect for Elin’s stroller but also for the electric scooters and bikes ridden by kids camping nearby. Through youthful agility and excellent coordination they somehow managed to avoid colliding with less agile pedestrians. They chased each other down the walkway disappearing from sight only to return and speed by again. While this activity was happening close to our motorhome, at the water’s edge, young and old searched for treasures among the rocks and kelp.

The Silver Nova, a luxury ship and a new member of the Silversea fleet, silently exited Seward harbor. I was impressed with how little noise and how few waves this massive ship created. It backed out of the harbor and using bow thrusters, rotated around until headed out to sea. As I watched this skillful maneuver, I was struck by the contrast (seen in the video above) of a young boy’s simple pleasure in skipping rocks and the huge ship’s hull cutting through the water. Fishing boats, tour boats, jet skis and an occasional sailboat shared the harbor with the Silver Nova.

Torrential rain and streams of traffic accompanied us on the Sterling Highway from Seward to the city of Kenai. Vehicles in both lanes were loaded with coolers, dip nets and atvs, indicating the Sockeye were in!! Alaskans watch the fish reports closely and when the sockeye leave the ocean to make their spawning run up the rivers, they want to be there with their nets! Sockeye spend 2-4 years at sea where they eat hardy before heading to freshwater. The traffic indicated lots of Alaskans had “gone fishing “.

Our first campsite was at the Kenai Walmart annd unlike Anchorage, this Walmart had designated parking for RVs We felt lucky in finding a vacant spot as many fishermen had already set up their Walmart fish camps.

Note the dip nets in the truck bed.

Fish camp!

Waders are a necessity.

Dip nets can be used from boats and by standing in the water. The number of salmon allowed to be taken can change depending on the escapement. Escapement refers to the number of salmon that have survived to return to their spawning grounds. Salmon numbers are carefully monitored by multiple means, humans counting fish by the use of weirs and counting fish using aircraft are just two of these.

I heard that this late sockeye run was being described by some as “massive”. Strict fishing rules need to be followed and can change at any time if salmon numbers increase or decrease. The head of household can keep the largest number of fish and additional fish for each dependent. Fishermen can also keep fish by proxy, for individuals too elderly or unable to fish for themselves. It’s definitely a family activity and the RVs parked near us at Walmart were filled with adults, children, infants and dogs.

Some fishermen prefer to sleep on the beach, close to the action.

I walked along the beach toward the mouth of the Kenai River where it empties into Cook Inlet. The largest number of fishermen were crowded at this point where the fish get funneled in their swim upstream. Although a passerby told me of the free hotdogs being offered at a large white tent at the mouth, I decided to stay where there were fewer people. Although this could indicate the fish would be farther from shore, people seemed to be having luck. However, as the tide went out, fishermen were forced to walk over sand and sticky mud a long way to reach the water.

Fishermen are specks across the mud with Mt Spurr above.

There were some large groups of people on the beach with music playing, tables covered in cooking supplies and food and tents erected for rest. It exuded a party atmosphere. Other fishermen seemed more solitary, focused on simply fishing.