The Book Stops Here: Salmon In The Trees

The Book Stops Here: Salmon In The Trees: What a summer it has been! Spending four months in Colorado, surrounded by mountains, trees and water could only be topped by a week in sout...

Didn't even know there was an Alaskan earthquake while at sea!

Mother Nature continues to remind us of how fragile our earth is.  Our intrepid band of adventurers had a grand time on the Boat Company cruise of the Mist Cove for the final week of August.  Very little rain, mostly clouds and scattered showers and one glorious day of sun.  I was lucky enough to basked in that sun in a small skiff while fishing (and catching) for Halibut.  Since I'm not particularly fond of Halibut fishing, getting this "done" and "under my belt" on the first day was such a bonus.

The wildlife experiences were unmatched.  From watching cavorting Sea Lions at their Brothers Island haul-out, to soaring eagles and a great "nest watch of two young ones returning our gazes", to an extraordinarily (lucky) close view of three Humpback Whales bubble-net feeding, to stream side observations of Silver (Coho) Salmon males jousting for position to fertilize a female's egg nest, and finally a safe distance to watch two sow Grizzlies with their 5 cubs playing on the flats and learning to catch dinner!

My "first" for this year was catching a large Coho on a borrowed fly rod of friend Ed Innerarity, who expertly coached me through the  art form.  I've never been so thrilled standing on shore among the 10,000 Salmon cohabiting the cove and using my new under-water camera to capture their journeys.

A few pictures to share:

Surreal window

It is a bit surreal to be sitting in Juneau, Alaska watching our hometown assaulted by Hurricane Irene!  Have talked to all our family involved, and are watching the weather channel non-stop for two days through this.  As our guests gather here in Juneau and we prepare to embark on another grand adventure in SouthEast Alaska aboard the Mist Cove of the Boat Company, we muse that this happens often to our travel timing.  Oh well.  A tranquil day in Juneau eating our last fried foods and watching the giant cruise ships disgourge their passengers onto the streets of Juneau prepares us for our soon wilderness experience.  We're ready!