4.4 Kenai Peninsula earthquake felt in Anchorage

An earthquake centered on the Kenai Peninsula was felt as far away as Anchorage and Eagle River.

The Alaska Earthquake Information Center says the earthquake had a preliminary magnitude of 4.4 and was centered 15 miles south of Sterling. It occurred at 4:50 a.m. The quake was felt widely on the Kenai Peninsula as well as points north. There were no immediate reports of damage.

We slept through it.....We awoke this morning to news that there was an earthquake only 15 miles south of us.  Several local residents told us they felt the quake and it even shook houses and rattled glass etc.  I'm not sure, but maybe being in the trailer lessened the effects or we are just used to the trailer moving and didn't pay attention.  My thought is that since the trailer is sitting on the ground and not anchored into it it probably just moved with the earth.   Oh well I would have liked to have at least felt it.

Other than that the past two nights we have had frost.  It doesn't seem enough to kill flowers etc, but you can see it on the windshield and rooftops.  The trees are changing color fast now and in another two weeks all the aspens should be a golden brown.  The fireweed is turning red and starting to spew cotton, the wild cranberries are getting redder and the tourist season is rapidly coming to an end, except for us:)   After this coming weekend traffic will be down to a minimum.

I Fed Exed some fish to Steve in Arbor Vitae yesterday and he received them this morning around 9:00 a.m.  This freed up some space in our freezer to make room for other stuff.  The freezer was so full I couldn't even get a pizza in it.  I added another fish tonight, a pink salmon that I caught off the pier by the place we are staying.

Our friends from Wisconsin left this morning for a caribou and moose hunting trip near Cantwell, we are not sure how long they will be gone, but are keeping an eye on their place while they are gone.  This afternoon we painted a deck and picnic table for them.  We are also checking on another neighbors house as they left this morning for Anchorage for a couple of days.   We covered their plants this evening, to ward off the frost.

Other than that we are fishing and enjoying early fall in Alaska.  We haven't taken any pictures lately, but will try to get some soon.

Dem Dare Iss Bar Tracks Ma Son!!!!!!!

Came across these on my way home from fishing this afternoon.  After they crossed the road they climbed this sand bank.  This is about 1/2 mile from our trailer.  Wish I could have seen him, just not while I was taking the pictures.  This is near Sterling Alaska....

Russian River/Fish On/BEAR!



Note Brown Bear in background




Jim, Ken & Donna fishing the Russian River




Ken flipping a Russian Fly




Russian Fly




Bull Red Salmon




Jim & Donna with the Ferry in the background




Ken landing a red



Ken with a Red

Reds swimming upstream



Fisherman and bear

Our friends Jim & Donna Meacham from Wisconsin and Rosalie & I went to the Russian River fishing for red salmon today.  Once you get to the boat landing you pay to take the "hand-pulled" river ferry across to the other side and then we walked a couple hundread yards upstream until we found a fishing spot.  After we got rigged we started "flipping" for the salmon we could see swimming less than 10 yards out from shore from us.  It wasn't long before I got my first red.  We fished for about 2 hours and I caught 2 keeper reds, that are actually silver and not red, the red ones are to mature to eat.  I also caught 10-15 other reds that I released and had that many more hooked, but couldn't land them.  Just before leaving I spotted our FIRST grizzly on this trip, about 300 yards upstream.  Rosalie walked upstream and got a couple of pictures along with a face to face visit with Mr Bear.  Rosalie had climbed the stairs along the river in an attempt to get closer to the bear, but did not know that the fisherman on the shore below were throwing rocks and yelling at the bear to scare it up the bank, before she knew it Mr Bear and her were face to face (30 feet) looking at each other.  Rosalie decided the bear had right of way and slid down the bank onto the rivers edge.  Of course by this time her camera batery had run out, so we don't have close up pictures, but the story is still good.  Jim and Donna also hooked and landed fish so it was a good day for all........

In case I haven't mentioned it we are now parked/staying at Catch-Em Fish Camp at Sterling AK and plan to be here at least until the end of August.   Still no frost here and days continue to be in the 60's with nights in the 50's.  Casper & Spirit are enjoying there time here as well and look forward to their daily outings.



Guess What it is

Look close you may see 2



Baby Moose across road from our campground 75 yds from 5th wheel.



Mom & Baby - Taken at the same time without flash

Dolly Varden Success

Went Dolly fishing again today, after trying 3 different colored Mepps spinners I was about ready to leave when I saw some hot pink salmon eggs that someone had dropped on the bank so I thought I would put one on my hook and try it.  First cast caught an 8" Dolly.  After scrounging more eggs I was able to catch 3 more Dollys in just a few minutes, two of them were keepers about 14" long.  Now I need to go by a jar of those hot pink eggs.  Beautiful day today, sunny and temps in the 60's.

Dolly Varden from Crooked Creek nesr Kasilof

Moose

After a cloudy day yesterday today we have sunshine and at noon it's 60.  Just got back from fishing 3 spots for Dollys.  Yesterday I caught and kept 2 nice Dollys in about 20 minutes.  Today I fished for about 2 hours and didn't catch any, but did get to see a wolf and a cow and calf moose.  Yesterday I took pictures of the small bull moose that was along the road. 

After I finished fishing a spot this morning I walked out onto the road by the truck and about 75-100 yards away there was a a black wolf trotting down the road towards me.  As soon as we saw each other the wolf high-tailed it into the brush.  The entire encounter was 5 seconds or less, I wish I had got a better look.  Then on the way home I spotted the cow and calf in a meadow along the road, by the time I got the camera out they had worked there way into the trees.  Still exciting to see the wildlife.

This afternoon we are thinking of driving Tustamena Road to the end again and I will try fishing and hopefully we can get the dogs some swim exercise.  I am going to try and poach (cook - not taken illegally :))some salmon for supper along with boiled parsley potatoes and maybe peas.



Small bull moose along Crooked Creek Road near Kasilof




Cow and calf moose along Crooked Creek Road near Kasilof



08/10/2012 From Kasilof Alaska

Good Morning from Kasilof AK.  We moved from Ninilchik to Kasilof Monday.  We are now at Kasilof RV Park, a nice small family run park.  There are 8 full hook up sites and about 10 partial hook-up sites. Right now there are 4 rigs here.  We will be here until Monday for sure and maybe longer, we will see.

Tuesday afternoon we took the dogs to Kenai and gave them baths at a dog wash, then Wednesday we gave them both haircuts so they look cute again.  After the haircuts it was back to  the dogwash for the after cuts baths. 

Yesterday I tried my luck at stream fishing targeting Dolly Vardens (Dollys).  My first time out I didn't have any luck and found that my 20# test line was to heavy for my Mepps 0 spinner, which I knew, but wanted to avoid getting different line.  I also found 2 King salmon swimming in a pool, which were cool to see, even if I couldn't catch them (Season is closed).  In the afternoon we took the dogs to the Kasilof beach for some exercise and I threw a few casts for Silver or Pink Salmon without any luck.  Then we stopped at a sport shop and I had new line put on to make fishing easier.  After supper I went back to Crooked Creek to try fishing and caught 4 small 4" Dollys and had a great visit with a local fisherman and his son. Today I will try fishing again.

The last few days have been perfect, with temps in the low 60's and sunny, nights get down to to 40's.  It is overcast right now, but they wern't calling for rain.




Fishing the mouth of the Kasilof with Casper & Spirit




Spirit sporting his new haircut




Casper "Waterdog" seagull hunting




Silly dog, shake after you are out of the water



Good Night Scenic View RV Park

Sunset our last night at Scenic View RV Park, after a mostly cloudy dreary day.

We Are On The Move

Our time at Scenic View RV Park at Ninilchik is coming to an end.  Tomorrow (08/06) the park is closing for the season and we will be on the move.  Our plan is to drive a whopping 20 miles north to Kasilof RV Park another small family run park where we plan to stay for a week or two.  Stay tuned for updates as we get settled in. 

In the meantime here is a picture out of our camper window looking west across cook inlet.  The flowers are Fireweed, sorry about the overcast view.

08/02/2012

It's a cool day at Scenic View RV Park, it is 3:30 p.m. and we have only reached 52 degrees.  We woke up to 48 degrees with a brisk southwest wind, which is off of the Cook Inlet.  We took the dogs for a walk on the Ninilchik beach and were able to find a secluded spot away from the large clamming crowd.  Today is a low tide day, so clammers out in force. 

Ken, Casper & Spirit looking over Cook INlet

Tomorrow Rosalie and 3 other people are going across the inlet to clam.  There is no limit on clams over there and they are bigger.  It should be a good trip and we are hoping the weather cooperates.  I will stay at camp and take care of the dogs and make chili for supper.  I am having red salmon fishing withdrawal as I have not fished the last 2 days.

The Fireweed is in full bloom and can be seen all around the area.  There is a big patch right outside our window that we see when looking over the inlet,  This morning and for much of the day there was a bright sunny spot shining on Mt Redoubt.

Fireweed & looking over Cook Inlet towards Mt Redoubt

Sun shining on Mt Redoubt

I also washed our very dirty truck and the front of our rig, they look much better now.  As a treat we are going out to dinner with our camp hosts and their friends from Florida.