6 July 2017 (delayed post due to not having internet)
While here in JBER, Anchorage, we were able to get things caught up and some regular maintenance done. So it was a good stop and we were starting to get “hitch-itch”. You know, the feeling you get when it is time to “hook-up” the house to the BFT and travel somewhere. We left Anchorage after a nice 2 week stay en route to the Russian River next to Cooper Landing on the Kenai Peninsula.
It has been “summer” here for the last three days! Sunny and high 60s almost 70 degrees. It is great to feel the sun again. We jumped onto the Seward Hwy heading south . The drive is now familiar to us, as we took the train this direction, as well as our day trips to Alyeska Tram and Portage Glacier. The difference is the SUN!. We can see across the Turnagain Arm and the mountains behind it. A spectacular view!
After 110 miles, and little over 2 hours of driving the winding two lane road we arrive at Russian River. Nice campground, paved roads, no hook ups, huge (like Paul Bunyan huge) picnic tables, and bear proof lockers to put your food inside to keep it safe ( for tent folks).
The draw at this campground is the salmon fishing. We noticed there are alot of empty campsites around, which is strange, because when I booked our site online last week, this was the one only campsite available.
Timing is Everything.
The “reds” finished up their first run of the season this past weekend. They are gone. Only a few swimming around so we are told. The next salmon run (up to 70,000 reds) will be in 10-14 days from now, as the reds have two lakes and 80 miles of river to swim thru before they arrive here to what will be a very full campground.
Well not totally empty, there are bears of course….
There are wooden steps and walkways leading down to and parallel to the river. Alaska tries real hard to preserve the banks of the river from the thousands of fisherman. So before we get to the steps, we talked to a Ranger who told us there was a sow and two cubs located at point 12, and we were at point 22, so be cautious.
As we descended down the steps towards the river, it seemed as though I was here before. I thought of the bear mauling incident that a friend of ours, Frank, told us about back in 2003 when he was visiting the same campground. Here is a link to the news article http://peninsulaclarion.com/stories/071703/ala_071703ala005001.shtml#.WWZlO4huJPY.
The attack victim, Dan Bigley, survived and wrote a book of his ordeal. A good read of a very determined young man and a terrible accident. A link to his book…http://danbigley.com/beyondthebear/
Ok, so I got past the “book” and we walked the wooden paths next to the river. It was a beautiful day, taking in the sights and sounds of the river and the lush scenery. There were only a few fisherman in the water. We only saw one fish being caught. But, we could only imagine how crowded and cool it would have been to in the middle of a salmon run.
Timing is everything.