Kenai Peninsula, Alaska: Rainbows & Dollys (Trout That Is) Plus Kenai Fjords National Park

What a great time Mary Lynn and I are having with our two boys, Christopher & Scott, and Christopher's wife Rachael. They arrived in Anchorage Saturday night and we've been running ever since. We gave them a quick tour of downtown Anchorage and then drove the two hours back to our RV in Coopers Landing at the Princess Lodge & RV Park.

Their sleeping schedules were way off on Sunday morning so we went to the lodge for breakfast. Terrific breakfast followed by a lazy morning.

Scott & I went fishing Sunday afternoon with a guide from Drifter's Lodge. These folks take fishing pretty seriously. Along with our guide we drifted the Kenai River from just below the Kenai Lake bridge all the way down to the Russian river.

That portion of the river is "Trout Fishing Nirvana". It's a catch and release river famous for its large trout. Trout fishing peaks in late August through late September, maybe a week or two in October. Drifter's Lodge has eight guides running full time during that part of the year.

This was the first time I went Fly Fishing and boy, is it fun. If you don't know, fly fishing uses a involves whipping a fly rod back and forth to place a small fly in the exact location required to get a trout to bite. I managed to swing that fly around all afternoon without 'catching' myself or anyone else with the hook. I considered that a major accomplishment even if the other folks on the boats were just a wee bit nervous.

Seriously, it worked pretty well. Bothe of us caught a trout 18-20 inches long; Scott caught an amazing Rainbow Trout that was nice and thick. I caught a Dolly Varden that was not quite as full however it was a beautiful fish that put up quite a fight. We released them both to fight another day...

In the fall they pull 30+ inch monsters from this river. In fact there's a special club for people that catch a Trout that is 30 inches or more. I think the record is a 37" Rainbow; simply and amazing size for a trout. Down south a 12 inch trout is considered an excellent catch.

On Monday, all of us took a cruise to the Kenai Fjords National Park on a large catamaran. These trips specialize in spectacular scenery including tidal glaciers plus lots of wildlife. We saw Stellar Sea Lions, Harbor Seals, Tufted Puffins, Horned Puffins, Dall Porpoise and all kinds of other sea birds. However, whales eluded us.... until the last 90 minutes of the 6 hour cruise.

Actually our cruise went a little longer which was fine with us because the captain found several Humback Whales and Orcas, also called Killer Whales. OMG -- what a sight. Some of the whales put on quite a display.

Several humpbacks were spotted by their spouts, which is caused by the whale expelling air. A few even showed us their tail as they went for a deep dive. Seeing the whales tail was a real thrill. One of the 'humpies' slapped it's flipper on the water repeatedly very close to the boat. Spectacular.

The Killer Whale pod was a male and four females. They were simply majestic as they worked their way across Resurrection Bay.

All too soon we had to head back into the dock in Seward. The day started off pretty foggy however the sun was blazing in all it's glory by the time we arrived at the dock.

Today we played some games this morning and then went for a hike to the Russian River Falls. It was supposed to be a 2 mile round trip hike however when we arrived we found out it was 2.3 miles 'each way'!

The hike was beautiful even if it was a bit hot and buggy. We spent about an hour at the Russian River Falls overlook hoping to see some bears feeding on the salmon however they didn't put in an appearance while we were there.

I spoke with a wildlife photographer who showed us pictures he took this morning of a male brown bear. He had spent about 8 hours at the falls. He also carries a huge sidearm strapped to his waist...

All too soon we had to make the return hike before we spotted any bears.

Tonight we had a delicious dinner. The kids played card games while Mary Lynn and I went to the hot tub. I had to soak my old bones after that hike!

Tomorrow Christopher, Scott, and I are going deep sea fishing for silver salmon and halibut. The ladies are going to go on a scenic float trip.

Gotta go now; we have to get up at 5 am -- Ouch!

See Ya!