ef, didn't get to see the cross alaska pipeline. we did the tram thing, a little hiking around and dinner at the top; a rail trip in the backcountry, a cruise to see glaciers in prince william sound, an airplane flight around denali with a landing on a glacier, a fishing trip, and some driving around. some short hikes, and some we were rained out on. we did a great deal in a short period of time. we want to go back some day!
we are back from alaska.....
it rained pretty much the entire trip, maybe 2 days were rain free. that's okay, we still enjoyed and made the best of every day.
fishing:
we were flown in to a creek by helicopter (clear creek) talkeetna, alaska, about a 20 minute helicopter flight upstream and away from any combat fishing, and floated down by raft for a full day. our pilots name was will. we streamer fished for king salmon and alaskan rainbows (flyrods). we were not disappointed even with the rain all day. streamer flys (hand tied) were about 3 to 4" long, and weighted to get down deep. the fly of the day was a squid imitation, and the kings hit this consistently.
the helicopter was a Robinson 44 Raven II Helicopter. neat experience, our pilot's name was will. amazing how these pilots land/takeoff in tight spaces. our river guide's name was 'skip'. turns out he was born and raised in billings, montana, (as i was), 5 years older than myself, but we had a lot to talk about. he was quite the feller, sorta reminded me of two of my brothers......
skip tried to save a squid fly that got hung up on a trolley line across the river, (wasn't me that got it hung up there).......so the two engineers on board the raft decided to use a fly rod; eyelet at the top to unwind it from the trolley line and wound up getting the fly rod tip pulled off the 3 piece fly rod trying to save the squid fly. (last squid fly left). the tip of the rod was hanging off the trolley line next to the fly...........
after a few minutes of conversation between the two engineers, i flat out said,
"skip, you have a rope in here? throw the rope over the tow line for you two to pull it down far enough to get a hold of it to get it unhooked"brilliant idea, and so the engineers did. the rod tip fell from the sky into the drink and went sailing down the river..........
two guys running and swimming downstream in waders and rain jackets to salvage that rod tip was quite funny, i am only sorry i didn't get a video of this. seriously funny stuff!
an executive decision was made by all to leave the fly behind......
the fly? well, skip said he would come prepared the next day to salvage that fly off that trolley line, and i am quite certain he did.
a robin sitting on one of the wings of an aircraft before takeoff.........
our ride:
a view from the air:
landing:
takeoff of the heli:
about a 40 lb king salmon and our guide skip:
me and skip yammering:
a beautiful alaskan rainbow: (about 3 lbs):
