Push the Sun back into the Sky – Part 1

One more Summer fishin’ and crabbin’ adventure.

With the Autumnal Equinox passing today giving Alaskans a ‘normal’ day of almost equal amounts of light and darkness it was nice to have another opportunity to head out fishin’ one more time this summer.

In what was a slight turn about of seasons I awoke Friday morning to an unexpected sight . . . the sun . . . with hardly a cloud in the sky?  We have had cloudy and somewhat rainy days the last few weeks so everything appeared to our heading into fall and winter. 

I had packed away rain gear and warm clothes so I could layer up if needed for a trip to Homer Alaska to meet up with a friend of mine, Lance who owns an insulation company that I contract with to work on many projects all over Alaska.  He had recently bought another ‘boat’ and he wanted to hook me up with a few of his contractor associates.  It would be a great break from the office to network more work in a social setting.

I left early Friday morning driving down Turnagain Arm of Cook Inlet with an incoming tide.  The water level was quite high and the sun was shining on the glaciers cascading down from the mountaintops.  There was very little wind so the reflections in the water mirrored the mountains rising from the Inlets edge.  I could see a patch of fog hanging on the turn at Portage by the wildlife preserve which turned out to be quite thick.  I drove several miles making the turn at the end of the Arm doubling back to hit the start of the Kenai Peninsula as it climbs up towards Summit Lake. 

I climbed up the mountain and out of the fog after several hundred feet of elevation change into clear skies and hardly a cloud in the sky.

The drive to Cooper Landing was beautiful with the trees a bright yellow color contrasted against the evergreen trees.  The rows of yellow trees on each side of the road were awesome as it reminded me of the scene in Star Wars flying down into the Death Star’s trench.  They zoomed by almost at a blur.

A few people were putting in drift boats into the Kenai River as I drove by looking to catch and release rainbow trout.  The water was clear in that vibrant turquoise color from the glacial melt.  There were drift boats lazily making their way around the many turns and ‘favorite spots’ where you can stop and fish from the sandbars along the river.

Driving towards Soldotna there is a transition from the mountains to the coastal plains where you come down a long hill that is straight for several miles.  It is a great place to see bears or moose crossing the road as well as passing the many RV’s or cars.  As you drive up and over this hill there is a great view of Redoubt Volcano along this long decent.  There was a plume of steam coming up from the crater on top.  Still active but in a quiet period I guess.

The drive along the coast was spectacular as I headed towards Homer.  I was hoping to arrive in time for us to make it out to fish before high tide.  I came up over the turn in the road where the Homer Overlook is and drove by the Adventure Cabins one of the unique places to stay as it has one of the best views in Alaska of the Kachemak Bay, Homer Spit, and the Glaciers across the bay.  The crowds of summer are gone and mainly the locals remain preparing for the coming winter.  Boats have been removed from the harbor and are now being stored in dry dock all over town.  There is still eagles flying over the Spit and many are sitting on the rocks of the Inlet jetty.  A majestic eagle sits atop the weather pole near Jean “Bird Lady of Homer” as I drove by on my way to the “C” dock just past The Salty Dog Saloon.

I head down to the far end of the ramp to find both boats sitting there waiting to be boarded.  The Discovery is the one I am going out on this weekend.  It’s about to have a name change to “Change Order” with its dingy being called “Original Contract”.  Lance already has his Captain’s Jacket made with the name on the back.

For tomorrow, we head out to fish.

Ice