My little cottage in the woods! AH!

A sled for emergency king fishing!

Another cute little hideaway!

Chris and Eric mulling over fishing opportunities, of which there are many, many, many!

 

July 24th

2:45 A.M. on Tuesday, July 17th, I woke in my luxury King Suite at Clam Gulch Lodge. In haste, I threw on my clothes and went downstairs to be greeted by steaming coffee and a very excited fishing companion, Kim Katsion.
Check off... Lunch packed, bait packed, rain clothes on, we piled in the truck for the 30 minute drive to the Kenai.
We met with vacationing Chris Sessions and friends, Joe and Marv.
30 pound line is the minimum for this fishery, and all rods and reels were graciously provided by Chris.
With K16 Kwikfish, wrapped, on a couple rods, and bait rigs with BIG spin 'n glows on the others we put in at the Pillars ramp for the experience of a lifetime.
Chris and Kim knew the crowd well. It was entertaining to hear about this guide and that, while we weaved our craft through the masses.
Oh! The masses! It was Tuesday, the river had been closed to power boats on Monday. As soon as 6 A.M. hit, the river filled with guide boats, anxious to fish those 40 to 80 pounders out of the river for their clients.
The Kenai was not as I had thought. In my mind's eye, I saw a pristine river, with glacial mountains all around.
What I could see of the river, in the semi darkness, and in between the masses of boats was a river high, fast flowing, silty and glacial.
It wasn't long before Kim's rod went down with the power and force of a huge monster salmon!
This fish decided to go hide in a tangle of limbs, shore side, and a quick release was made. It was estimated at around 60 pounds. Kim sat down with a frown.
Next, Joe's rod went down and he pushed me towards it! Now, I am not one to usually accept a hand off, but I did! Thanks Joe! It was awesome! I landed a 25 pounder, bright and beautiful, and kissed it good-bye as we released him to continue his journey.
We decided to pull out of the Pillars and onto the Centennial boat ramp.
A fresh cup of coffee and I was ready to fish again!
Kim hooked into yet another huge king salmon! Approximately 60 pounds again! This one was landed neatly after quite a fight! Joe held Kim in the boat by the back of her rain pants! That fish wanted to pull Kim in, and Kim wanted to pull it in! Kim won!
I got a taste of bad manners displayed on the river by a boat and captain who refused to move for us as we chased the fish. Near collisions are expected on this river!
It was so fun watching Kim catch this fish, even though my sister called at the exact moment that I wanted to be involved. She absolutely NEEDED to talk to me about planning our family Diamond Lake trip! Argh!
My batteries were out on my digital, so I didn't get a picture of Kim's fish. Chris did, and I will post it here as I put my pages together, with pics for the final Alaska tour pages.
We pulled out, with barely enough time for me to run back to Clam Gulch, hop in the shower, and put my things together for one night at Redoubt Mountain Lodge. (note... one night!!!)
Back to Kenai I went, met up with Chris, and off to Soldotna to Alaska West Air, a private air charter service.
We walked into the office and there, low and behold was a familiar face! Gary Hilton? What a small world! After exchanging Tillamook pleasantries, we learned our flight was leaving soon. Seems the entire guide force heads to Alaska for the summer!
I made some final cell phone calls back home and boarded the small float plane with a single back pack for places wild and unknown.
I was apprehensive. I'd heard stories of float planes smashing into mountain faces, losing power, stories of ashen faced pilots where you know not to be comfortable.
This was not the case! I grinned the whole dang trip! The pilot was relaxed and cheerful. It was breathtaking, flying low above Cook Inlet, snapping my camera for pictures that I will treasure forever!
We made our way through the high mountains and up the Crescent River.
As we hovered over camp, tiny cabins dotted the village in between tall spruce trees.
After the 45 minute jaunt, we landed gracefully in a smooth and glassy Crescent Lake in Lake Clark National Park.
OHMYGOSH! Everything I had seen on Disney Movies, on National Geographic pieces, and in my wildest dreams spread out before me! I had to squint to take in all the beauty! The kind of beauty that makes you want to wear a flowing skirt and spin around giggling!
The mountains towered over me, so close I felt I could touch the ice capped peaks.
We were greeted by gracious hosts, Shan and Eric Johnson.
They must have thought I was a Goofy, not Mary Poppins, because I honestly couldn't stop smiling that whole first evening.
The weather was absolutely gorgeous. The sunshine added to this picturesque village in the wilds.
At the family style dinner table we met the guests that were already enjoying their week long stay.
I learned to pick king crab legs (So much different than dungenous!) and had trouble deciding whether I wanted a bite of juicy steak or crab, or a sip of fine red wine! What a feast!
I learned to do the mosquito blow. This is a technique I observed in most every native Alaskan. You speak in broken intervals. Mid sentence, you stop and blow a mosquito out of the way so you don't swallow it. Example....
For dinner tonight, we (blow, phoo!) had King Crab (blow, phoo!) Legs, and Steak. The weather is (blow, phoo!) warm, with a 2000 foot (blow, phoo!) ceiling.
You catch right onto this, like the twang of texans or such.
After dinner, we were instructed on bear cautions and were taken to a beautiful log cabin, with the absolute softest flannel sheets I had ever felt against my skin. (I looked at the tag, they are made by LL Bean, and I'm ordering some!)
Mt Redoubt is known for the best bear viewing in Alaska, and I was on alert. With my eyesight not as keen as others, it took me quite a while to get from cabin to lodge, or lodge to tackle cabin. (Wait till I tell you about the tackle cabin!)
Lights out, and the generator turned off at 10:00. This means no running water or lights till 6 in the morning. Roughing it. Yeah right!
Everything at Redoubt Lodge is created to absolutely pamper the guest!
We made plans to wake at 4 in the morning and start our fishing tour. Eric was to boat us around to show us the hot spots. Where to catch king salmon, where to catch dollies and lake trout.
I was tired and sleep came fast and hard that first night at Redoubt. I totally blacked out in the dusky night, which never turns dark in July in Alaska.
But as my alarm sounded at four, I was ready to go!
"Look CHRIS!" I yelled across the room to him. We are at Mt. REDOUBT!
The permafix grin returned.