RETIRED ON WHEELS: THE ALASKAN ADVENTURE Day 38, June 23, 2009 The Russian / Kenai River

I woke to the battle cry of the Salmon Fisherman. " Man, its cold out here " and it was kind of chilly. However the hearty ones braved the weather ( it was 44 degrees ) and after gearing up I joined them for a little fishing. When I arrived at the river I noticed an area where nobody was fishing just around a small curve in the river. Upon arriving I saw the reason sitting on the shore. A large grizzly bear, I am assuming male as there were no cubs. At this point my superior intellect and good common sense kicked in. I decided that he could have that fishing spot.

Kathy took the picture of the bear after it had it's fill and was starting to wander away. He was a lot closer to some of the fishermen than it appears. The bear actually stole a fish while it was on the line of one of the fishermen. Wisely the fisherman did not argue as in this case, The Bear Wins.

I moved upstream, picked a spot and started fishing. Again the fish won. I did get one that I fought for about 5 minutes but it eventually got off. I did back hook one that I legally had to let off but that was about it. I will say that standing in a rushing river with a current that strong, had a say in how long I was in the river. It was a workout. After about an hour we pulled stakes and headed down the road.

As soon as we got back on the road we were back into the mountains and the beautiful scenery.

We continued along the Sterling Highway until it T'd into the Seward Highway, at which point we turned south. It was about 30 miles from the junction of the two highways into Seward and it was pretty special. The clouds were low and mountain peaks jutted above and through the clouds creating another Alaskan masterpiece of scenery.

On our way to Seward we passed through Moose Pass. A quaint little village located on the shoreline of Upper Trail Lake at Mile 29 of the Seward Highway. Moose Pass is part of the original Iditarod Trail that was used for transporting gold and supplies and was blazed through this valley in 1910. The abundance of moose in the area prompted the town’s name.

We saw this on the way through town. Its too bad it wasn't running because I did have an axe to grind.

We continued down the Seward highway amidst more beautiful sights until we got to Seward.

We took a drive around town and then stopped at the Kenai Fiords Boat Tours and booked our 6 hour cruise to the fiords. The question is will I see any of it or will I be hung over the side. I know Kathy will enjoy it so at times we must suck it up and take it on the chin. Eh Rick.