6/2/2015 - The Alaska Adventure Begins

When we crossed into Alaska we were in the Tetlin Wildlife Refuge. We came upon Deadman Lake Campground at milepost 1249, but I didn't want to sleep near a dead man, so we continued on.

The evening turned out even better. At milepost 1256 on the Alaska Hwy we found a campground next to Yarger Lake (part of the Tetlin National Wildlife Refuge) with a dozen beautiful camping sites right on the lake. No utilities, but were able to park parallel to the lake and had dinner while looking at the most amazing views of the lake and the southern end of the Alaska Range.

 Saw beavers, loons, teals and a trumpeter swan. And the camping was free - couldn't get any better than this!

Day 2 - Lunch at Caribou Restaurant in Glennallen, AK. Great views of both Nelchina and Matanuska Glaciers.

Scott saw a female Moose and her calf cross the road in front of us. I was looking at the map and missed the whole thing. Camped at Anchorage Shipcreek RV Park – most expensive camping so far, but hot showers and internet for the night was in order. Had dinner with my niece Margaret at Snow Goose directly on the water. So very good to see family!

Day 3 - Arrived in Seward and stayed at Seward Waterfront Park. Nice campsite with water views. We could see cruise ships and the stone breakwater that Don Pryor built when he worked for Granite Construction. Nice lunch downtown while shopping for foul weather gear. My brother Jim, his wife Claudia and 2 of their 3 children (and some grandchildren) are taking us out fishing on a Halibut boat tomorrow. Been raining off and on since we arrived and more rain is expected tomorrow. Gonna be a raw day of fishing so we needed rain hats, rain pants, gloves and boots. Let's hope we catch something other than a cold! We met up with Jim and Claudia at the Military campground, got setup and went to dinner in Old Seward. The campground had great facilities.

Day 4 - The Fishing Trip on the Tia Rose was rough. Weather was stormy and seas were heavy. It was a two plus hour trip to the Halibut fishing area. We went 30 or 40 miles to the Gulf of Alaska.















Scott got the first Halibut of the day - roughly 25 lbs.
Lots of people were pulling in Dog Fish (from the shark family) and Rockfish. Laurie's first fish was a Quill Finned Rockfish - really ugly!!

Then we hit the big one. Laurie got a roughly 65 lb Halibut - this was a lot of work, so she got a little help from her friends on board.
















We all got together for a wonderful meal at Ray's Oceanside Restaurant in Seward. Many thanks to Shawn & Margaret for the dinner and for planning the event. As we left the restaurant there was a couple walking a Reindeer in the parking lot.

Sunday we all slept in, got showers and laundry done, then returned to the Waterfront Park for another night. The view out of the camper window was stunning, as was the sound of the waves.
















Sunday afternoon, while hiking to Exit Glacier we passed the 1998 glacier marker.  This is where the Glacier was when Jim, Adam and Kevin Crafts hiked it in 1998.  It has receded a great deal since then.

 

The sign to the right shows the glacier at its 2007 position. The 2015 position is off the map. The farthest (oldest) point shown is 1815.







Tomorrow we are off to Homer AK.