Category: Alaska Yukon 2017

Our trip out to Exit Glacier in the Kenai Fjords National Park was the plan for the morning. After a stop to get some hints from the ranger, we headed out on the trail. The first part of the trail is wide and fine gravel – easy walking and relatively flat. Although the trail was a loop, the ranger suggested we take the trail counter-clockwise since it had some great views of the glacier along the way. As we hiked, we saw some signs with numbers on them. What we found out, was that the numbers showed where the glacier had actually been in that year. It has been retreating and the last 10 years, the retreat has been accelerating significantly. That is our global warming! After about 1/2 mile, the trail split and we headed up to the upper trail to the base of the glacier. At this point, the trail started to climb and became narrower. Eventually it was quite rocky and after a certain point, Joyce said enough and sent Paul on his way to get to the final stop beside the glacier. Being afraid of heights and therefore making me an unhappy hiker when the trail gets really steep, just meant it was better to sit and enjoy the view and let Paul carry on the last bit. Looking at the trail from that point on while I was sitting on the rock, I was happy to be where I was!

It always amazes us the footwear people think they can hike in. We’ve seen cheap flip flops, heels, and today, slip in Birkenstock sandals. No wonder, the rangers have so many rescues! We both have hikers that we wear, but we’re going to need to look for new ones for Paul – his are disintegrating before our eyes!

After a chicken caesar salad back at the trailer, we headed to the beach for Joyce to try fishing again. It’s her last chance before her license runs out since tomorrow we’ll be out on a boat. There were more people fishing this afternoon.

High tide is about 4:30 pm and we got there about 90 min. before. Snag fishing is hard work – the waves were quite big and her rain boots certainly didn’t keep her feet dry – most people had full chest waders on. However, that didn’t deter her – the weather was fairly warm otherwise and she had one good catch of about 7 pounds as well as 3 smaller ones – all reds (sockeye salmon). Of course, you also end up losing a few along the way – even those skilled at snag fishing will lose some – they get off the hook before you get them up on shore. You really need to make sure you have more than one person fishing – or at least along since it is helpful to have someone with you to when you get the fish on the beach to help catch it because inevitably it ends up getting off the hook and tries to get back to the ocean! Finally, after more than 4 hours, we packed it in and Joyce cleaned them and packaged them for the freezer. We figure we have at least 10 meals of fresh, sockeye salmon!

Tomorrow we head out for 8 1/2 hours on the water – glaciers and sea life….

So first stop in the morning was at Kenai Fjords National Park office. We saw a short film about the fjords and the history and people of the area. We heard about the glaciers and how much they have been retreating over the past 20-30 years. They have pictures from 100 years ago that the National Park took and they have been re-creating them from the same location (or as close as possible). In some cases, the pictures then were taken from on top of the glacier and now the glacier has retreated 10-15 miles so they are trying to take the pictures from the water instead to get similar landmarks.

After that, we decided to head over to the fishing beach so Joyce could try her luck. The salmon run tends to coincide with high tide – an hour or two before and after seems to be the best chance.

Despite putting heavier line on her reel, Joyce had a lot of trouble with the line tangling during casting and winding it in. The line is too heavy for her reel and so we headed back to the hardware store and found a heavier duty pole and reel.

After supper she headed back out to try her luck – the first one she lost before she could land it but she did get a small 2 pound red salmon before we packed it in for the night. The fishing here is much different than anything we do at home. It is done by way of snagging the fish. What you have is a triple hook with a large weight in the middle of it. You cast out your line, and then with jerking movements, you reel your line in. The weight drags the hook lower in the water, close to the bottom of the water. The idea is you snag the fish somewhere as he swims along. It is the legal way to catch them in the sea and you simply stand on the beach where they tend to be swimming. There were probably 50 + people fishing from the beach when we were out.

Tomorrow we plan to head for a hike to a glacier and then Joyce will try her hand at fishing again in the afternoon. High tide is 4 pm so we’ll head there around 2 pm for another try.