Wednesday, August 12 - Day Twenty-nine. Today was our halibut fishing day. We got up a 5:00 a.m. and we headed down to the dock at 6:10 a.m. At least it was a clear day, although it was still a little cool that early in the morning. The boat we
were going out on was the Foxfire, a 50 footer. There were eleven from our group, two other adults and two young boys. The only crew was the captain and one deckhand. At least the boat looked clean and in good condition. We headed out of Homer harbor and were westbound out into the Cook Inlet. After about two hours the captain stopped the boat, set the anchor and shut down the engines. He said we were in about 130 feet of water and were about 36 miles West of Homer. On the way out the deckhand and captain had been setting up the rods with weights and hooks. The weights were three pound chunks of lead and the hooks were about two inches across. The rods were pretty short, only about four feet long, but very stiff.Once the anchor was set everyone grabbed a pole, put bait fish on, and dropped the line over the side. We were bottom fishing, so you just let your line out of the reel until it stopped, then set the drag and waited. We didn’t have to wait long - within seconds of finding bottom, people started hooking fish. Jackie hooked onto
something that she thought was big and struggled with the rod for about 10 minutes, but she couldn’t make any headway getting the fish up. She gave me the rod and I worked another 10 minutes to get the fish up. It turned out to be a whopper of a halibut. We later learned that it was a 90 pounder and measured 57 inches. It turned out to be the biggest fish of the day. People started pulling fish in left and right. Most were halibut, most in the 25 pound range. A lot of the smaller halibut got thrown back because the Alaska limit for halibut is two fish per person per day, so you only wanted to keep the larger fish. The only other thing that anyone brought in were a bunch of small sharks, called Spiney Dogfish. These were all cut loose.I only had one small halibut that I had to throw back and no sharks. The other two halibut I hooked also turned out to be pretty good sized fish, both in the 60 pound range. Jackie also hooked another big halibut that probably went about 50 pounds. It turned out that we not only had the largest fish of the day, we had the most
poundage of fish kept. After about three hours the weather started turning and the wind came up. We started getting five and six foot swells and the boat really started rocking. We were starting to have trouble just keeping our feet. Fortunately, just after the weather really started getting rough everyone limited out. The captain pulled the anchor and we headed back into Homer. Once the boat was underway it was a little smoother, although still pretty rough. Two of our group, Dave and Lindsey, really got seasick while we were out. Neither Jackie nor I felt sick and we even ate the lunch we had brought with us. The only problem I had was hand cramping. Because I had brought in all four of our large fish, my hands were locking up for about two hours. It really takes a long time to bring a 60 pound fish up over 100 feet.While we were heading in the deckhand, Levi, was filleting the fish on the back deck. It was amazing how fast he could cut the fillets off of those halibut. The fillets were then bagged up and marked with colored ties. Everyone got the meat off of their own fish. Most people got one or two bags, some got three. We ended up
with five large plastic bags of fillets. Once we got back into the dock the bags were taken up to the fish processing plant which was right near the dock. We dropped our fish off to be cut into portions (we asked for 1.5 pound portions), vacuum bagged, and flash frozen. We got in about 1:30 p.m and our fish would be processed and ready for us by 8:00 a.m. the next day. As it turns out, we had 118.9 pounds of halibut to be processed! The next closest amount was 57 pounds for one of the other couples. We were the big winners! Problem was, we had no where to put 120 pounds of frozen fish! This would be a problem for another day. After dropping off our fish we went back to the coach and crashed for the rest of the day.Thursday, August 13 - Day Thirty. This was a travel day, but we were only going 92 miles North to Sterling, Alaska, so we didn’t have an early start. The first order of business for the day was to get out at 8:00 and head to the fish processor to get our halibut. When we dropped the fish off I had asked them to pack the fish into Styrofoam boxes to help keep them frozen while we solved the problem of what to do with it. What I found when I got there was two large boxes, about 18 inches tall and wide, and three feet long! Each one had almost 60 pounds of fillets. With our fish safely in the back seat of the Jeep, we packed up the coach and left Homer about 10:00 a.m. We didn’t make see any wildlife on the way and didn’t see too much scenery either because it was a cloudy, drizzily day. We were simply backtracking on roads we had driven to get to Homer three days earlier, so there was nothing new to see anyway. On the way Jackie and I discussed the fish issue at great length and finally decided that we needed to find and buy one of the five cubic foot freezer models we had seen during our earlier unsuccessful search for a smaller freezer. As it turns out, we were fortunate not to have found a 1.7 cubic foot model, because we would not have been able to get half our fish into it.
On the way to Sterling we stopped at the Fred Meyers store in Soldotna, about 12 miles South of Sterling. On our previous search we had seen 5 cubic foot freezers at Fred. Unfortunately, the Soldotna store was sold out. We continued onto Sterling and got settled into the park. Since it was only a one night stay, we didn’t set anything up so we were able to get out searching for a freezer by 1:00. Sterling was a very small town and didn’t have any stores that might have freezers, but Kenai was only 20 miles away and had a Lowes, a Home Depot and a Sears, all of which we knew carried the 5 cubic foot freezer model we wanted. Kenai was the largest town in the area, and also had an Elks Lodge. Lowes and Home Depot were sold out, however, the local Sears store had several! YEA! We gave the man $178 and drove off with a new chest freezer in the back of the Jeep. Once we had that major project finished, we headed to the Kenai Elks Lodge for a visit. The lodge was in the middle of town and was pretty nice and the folks were friendly. We chatted for a while with a couple who lived in Kenai in the summer and wintered near Laughlin, Nevada, at the Avi Resort. After a couple drinks at the Kenai lodge we headed back towards Sterling and stopped at the Soldotna Elks Lodge. We only had one drink and talked a little bit to the bartender. This lodge was not quite as friendly as the Kenai lodge. We were able to get lodge pins from both lodges.
We got back to the campground at 6:00 p.m., just in time for dinner. The owners of the park were boiling King Crab for our dinner and some of the group (the odd numbers) were bringing side dishes. Since we were odd (so some say) Jackie made here Wasabi cole slaw. They only had 20 pounds of crab for about 30 people (including the owner’s family) so we didn’t get a lot, certainly not an “all you can eat” situation, but I did get two good sized claws. With all the side dishes there was plenty to eat. The dinner was served inside in a little dining room, which was good because it had started raining pretty hard. After dinner Larry set up a game of card bingo for those that wanted to play. Jackie stayed to play while I went back to the coach to unpack our freezer and get it into the coach. We had decided to put it in the back of the coach in the “den” area. Doug, our tailgunner, helped me carry the freezer in. Fortunately, it wasn’t too heavy, although I did have to take the lid off to get it in the front door of the coach. I got it put back together and plugged in. We were going to let it run all night to cool down before we put the fish in. We had moved the fish boxes into the coach and they sure did take up a lot of space in the living room! We then relaxed the rest of the night, comfortable that we had solved the fish problem.
Friday, August 14 - Day Thirty-one. This was another travel day and we departed about 8:30 a.m. for Palmer, Alaska, about 180 miles Northeast. Palmer is actually
only a few miles from Wasilla, which is North of Anchorage. This means that we will have already traveled all but about 30 miles of the road on this day’s trip. Prior to leaving Sterling we unloaded all of the halibut from the boxes into our new freezer. It filled it about three-quarters of the way, but we do still have some room for other stuff. Sure glad we got the bigger freezer.Our travels today took us back North to Anchorage, through Anchorage and then East on the Glenn Highway, Alaska Route 1. As I mentioned, there was little new to see on this trip since we had driven most of it going the other way. We arrived in Palmer, Alaska about 2:30 p.m. This evening was the chilli cook-off for our group and I was cooking, so I had to get my chilli started. Once it was on and simmering we headed out for a visit to the Palmer Elks Lodge. We were only in Palmer for one night and we didn’t want to miss the Palmer lodge. We had heard a lot of stories about the lodge from other folks we know who have been to Alaska. The Palmer lodge was located about halfway between Wasilla and Palmer, and actually had a Wasilla mailing address. We found a very pretty lodge building located right on the shores of a large lake. The back of the building was all windows that looked out over the lake. There was also a very nice, large wooden deck on the back of the building. Unfortunately, although the physical lodge was very nice, the people that were in the bar, including the bartender, were not particularly friendly. We had one drink, got our lodge pin, and headed back to the campground for the chilli.
At 6:30 we gathered the group in the ramada and had chili. Four people, including me, had cooked chili. Three of our group had been selected as judges and they were
kept sequestered as the food was set up so they wouldn’t know who brought what. The judges sampled each of the chili’s, and the unanimous judges choice for first place was.....ME! My prize was a gizmo that holds sunglasses on the visor of the car. All four chili’s were different. Betty’s was similar to mine, except she didn’t use tomatoes. Her’s was also fire house hot. Larry’s was also similar to mine without tomatoes, but he added corn. Linda’s was made with shredded beef and also included corn. I had made a double batch of my chili and when the party was over, all of my chili, and most of everyone else’s was gone. After the party we went back to the coach and relaxed the rest of the night.Saturday, August 15 - Day Thirty-two. This was an early start day because we were driving 258 miles from Palmer to Valdez, Alaska. This was also the first time in almost a week that we would be driving on roads we had not already traveled. We got up and out about 8:00 a.m. on a very grey day. There wasn’t any real rain, but there was a mist that kept everything damp. We also drove through patches of rain, although nothing too heavy. The first 160 miles or so of the trip were nothing spectacular as far as scenery goes - pretty much more trees, rivers and mountains.
Very beautiful to be sure, but nothing we hadn’t seen before. The last 100 miles were spectacular. The closer we got to Valdez, the deeper the canyon we were driving in got. The canyon we were in was not a wide glacial valley with sloping sides like most of the others we have been in the last few weeks. This was a narrow river canyon with rock sides that went straight up just yards from the road edge. All along the tops of the mountains on either side of us were small glaciers and the melt water, along with the water from the rain, was coming off the mountains in dozens of waterfalls. The clouds were also hanging very low on a lot of the mountains. It was a very beautiful drive.About 25 miles from Valdez we came around a bend and were looking at the Worthington Glacier. This is a very large glacier that is relatively flat and low in the mountains. It also comes to within a couple miles of the road, so you can get a
really good look at it. By the time we got to within 20 miles of Valdez the weather had moved in and the rain started. The final mountain pass into Valdez was almost fogged in and the sky over Valdez was very low. Fortunately, the parking spaces in Valdez, at the Eagles Rest RV Park, were easy access pull-though’s, so it didn’t take too long to park and get set up. We were going to be here for three days, so we put everything out. After getting set up we went to the Valdez Elks Lodge. The lodge was only a few blocks from the campground. Although we were in Valdez for three days, we knew we were going to be busy most of the time and we didn’t want to miss getting to the lodge. The lodge was very nice and the people there were very friendly. We had a nice chat with several folks, including a couple of commercial fishermen. We were able to get a lodge pin for our banner. After visiting the lodge we went back to the coach and had dinner on our own for the first time in many days. Jackie spent some time getting ready for her fishing trip the next day.Sunday, August 16 - Day Thirty-three. We got up at 5:00 a.m. so Jackie could head out to go salmon fishing at 6:00. Several weeks ago we had told Larry we didn’t think we wanted to fish in Valdez since we were going in Homer. After we had gotten the freezer Jackie had mentioned that she would like to go since she wanted some
salmon. The boats in Valdez were much smaller than the one in Homer so each boat could only take six people. Both boats were full and Linda wanted to go fishing, and I was ambivalent about fishing again, so I gave my spot to her. Jackie was looking forward to the trip because she had not been able to really fish in Homer because the fish were so big and so hard to get in the boat. Larry had told her that the salmon would be easier and more fun to reel in. We got Jackie out the door at 6:00 a.m. and I went back to bed for a couple hours. It had rained all night and was still raining quite hard. I took care of a bunch of chores around the coach and at 1:30 p.m. I drove down to the docks to meet the boats as they came back in.Larry’s wife Evelyn told me when I got there that the first boat had already come back and that they had not caught their limit. She wasn’t sure how many fish the first group actually got, but they were a little disappointed because their captain didn’t want to take the boat very far out into the Prince William Sound. She also
told me that the boat that Larry and Jackie and four others were on was finally on its way back and that their boat had caught their limit. Their captain had taken them about 30 miles out and fished until they limited out. When the boat finally came in the fishermen (and women) looked very happy - very wet, but very happy. It was still raining and had rained all day long. We took some pictures of them with their 18 very nice Silver Salmon. The salmon would be cleaned, cut packaged and frozen for us, just like the halibut was, and ready the next day. Jackie was very happy with her catch - she got to bring these fish in - and glad that she went on the trip. She was also happy to get back to the coach and into a nice warm shower. Within an hour she was crashed out on the couch and slept the rest of the night. I did attend the travel meeting for our travels to Tok on Tuesday. They had the meeting this night because we are scheduled to go on an all day boat tour of Prince William Sound tomorrow and they didn’t want to wait until late in the evening to have the meeting.Monday, August 17 - Day Thirty-four. This was the day for our boat tour of Prince William Sound. We were up and out to catch the bus to the boat at 8:45 a.m., which is not too bad for this caravan. Almost like sleeping in. We boarded the Valdez Spirit at 9:00 and settled in for pretty much an all day trip. The boat was very nice, 76 feet long and fairly new, built in 2005. The weather at departure was drizzly and foggy. As we motored out of Valdez harbor the captain gave us a running commentary on Valdez. Valdez is the Southern terminus of the Alaska pipeline and was chosen because it is the largest all weather, ice-free harbor in Southern Alaska. The captain pointed out the oil terminal, which is located across the harbor from the town, and noted that before 9/11 you could do a tour, but now the terminal is locked down and they have a one mile security zone around it. He said if he strayed into the zone he could be subject to a $35,000 fine!
After cruising for about 2 hours we came to the Columbia Bay and started seeing a lot of floating ice. About 10 miles up Columbia Bay is the Columbia Glacier and all of the ice we were seeing was calved off of that glacier. We were only able to get within about 5 miles of the glacier before the ice pack got so tight that the boat could go no further. The color of many of the icebergs was the coolest blue
possible. The whole ice pack was just spectacular. The captain explained that the reason the ice got stuck in the bay was that when the glacier retreated 50 years ago it left a shallow shelf at the mouth of the bay called the terminal moraine. Although most of the bay was four or five hundred feet deep, the moraine was as shallow as 60 feet. The larger ice bergs got stuck on the moraine and then blocked the rest of the ice trying to get out. You could just barely see the actual glacier in the distance, but the real sight was the pack of icebergs calved off of the glacier. One of the crew members fished a piece of ice out of the bay and passed it around the so the passengers could hold it and get their picture taken with it. It is amazing to consider that the ice you were holding could be 10,000 years old! Makes one feel sort of insignificant in the scheme of things.After about a half hour in the ice pack we headed back out into Prince William Sound, working our way to the Meares Glacier. By this time the fog had started to burn off and we were able to take in the spectacular scenery around us. The whole sound is dotted with islands of all sizes, and many of them are really mountains that stick up out of the water. While we were cruising to the next glacier the crew served lunch. Lunch was very similar to the meals that airlines used to serve back in the 70's and 80's. It was a piece of chicken with an Alfredo sauce over rice with vegetables. Although served on a paper plate and clearly a “fast food” type of meal, it was pretty tasty. About the time we were done with lunch we arrived at the Meares Glacier. Unlike the previous glacier, the ice calving off of this one was
able to get out into the Sound without getting hung up on the bottom of the bay because this glacier had not extended out into the bay so their was no shallow moraine for the ice to get stuck on. He pulled the boat up to within a quarter mile of the face of the glacier, shut off the engines and just let us float. We were able to watch the glacier calve a couple of times. Like the glaciers we saw two years ago on our cruise, the sound made when the glacier cracks and drops a piece in the water is like thunder. We really enjoyed our time watching the Meares Glacier. We were also able to see a bunch of harbor seals sitting on the various pieces of ice floating around in the bay.After watching the glacier for about an hour we headed back out into the sound. The captain took the boat to the East shore and gave us a tour of the shoreline. We went by an area where the Stellar Sea Lions pull themselves out of the water onto the rocks. The sea lions were much bigger than the harbor seals we had seen earlier. They were very unconcerned about the boat and let us get in very close for
some nice pictures. After watching the sea lions the captain took the boat a little further out into the Sound where a pod of Orcas (killer whales) had been spotted. We got to the spot and were able to watch a fairly good sized female and her calf playing around in the water. The captain then said that he had spotted a larger male a mile or so away and we headed out there. The male was swimming around, and like the sea lions, was pretty much uncaring about the boat being so close. We got some really good looks, and pictures, of the big Orca as he broke the surface. He was playing around in a pod of Dall’s Porpoise, which look a lot like Orcas - black and white - just a lot smaller.After spending close to an hour with the Orcas we headed to the shoreline and the captain gave a nice tour of the shoreline. We saw several bald eagles and some spectacular scenery. On the way in we passed Bligh Reef which is the reef where the
Exxon Valdez went aground back in 1989 and spilled 53 million gallons of oil into the Sound. He gave a great history of the accident and the resulting efforts to clean it up. We found the crew very nice. The captain looked to be in his 20's and was very funny to talk to. The passengers were allowed to go up into the wheelhouse with him anytime and we spent a lot of time up there. He also had a couple of crew that were pretty funny to talk to. Several of the ladies of our group - including Jackie - had fun engaging in verbal sparring matches with the crew. Ours is pretty much a wild and crazy bunch.On the way back into Valdez harbor the crew came around and served a snack of clam
chowder that was very good. All in all the tour lasted 10 hours and I would have to say was the best all around tour that the caravan has provided for us thus far on the trip. We had a great time. After the boat trip we got back on the bus and headed back to the campground. Jackie and I just crashed for the rest of the night.Tuesday, August 18 - Day Thirty-five. We were packed up and ready to go at 8:00 a.m., ready to leave Valdez and head North to Tok, Alaska. The weather was very grey and foggy, but we headed out anyway. After a quick fuel stop we headed for Tok. Most of this part of the trip was the reverse of the route we took to get to Valdez. Fortunately, once we got through Thompson Pass about 40 miles North of Valdez, the weather cleared up. We had 270 miles to travel and the roads were pretty bad. A lot of frost heaves and damage, although not much gravel which is the worst. We arrived in Tok by mid afternoon. This was the first repeat stop for us, we had stayed in the same RV park on the way into Alaska, after our Top of the World trip. After getting settled in, we had a travel meeting for our next day’s journey back into the Yukon Territory of Canada. Tok was a one night stand for us. After the meeting nine of us went to a local restaurant, Fast Eddies, for dinner. We had a really good time, joking and telling stories. After dinner we went back to the coach and vegged for the rest of the night. This was a one night rest stop. Tomorrow we head back into Canada.
Well folks, that concludes this week’s adventures. Until next week we wish you great lives and much happiness. See you in a week!
