Alaska 2019

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In August 2019 we packed our camping gear and headed north to Alaska. We didn't have any luck with gold, but the hiking and fishing were amazing to say the least. It was unseasonably warm all week being in the 80's. We packed for rain and cold so we sweated our bums off all week.
We flew into Anchorage and headed to the Chugach Mountains. There we hiked Crow Pass which follows a portion of the original Iditarod Trail. The hike was a good challenge for our first day despite the heat. During our hike we were able to see waterfalls, wildflowers, Crystal Lake, and have a beer on Raven Glacier.
For the first three nights we camped in a local campground and had some very interesting neighbors. Also, the seagulls would rob you blind if you turned your back. Dirty birds. Aside from that we had a beautiful waterfront campsite and we got to see some seals.
Our second day of hiking we trekked the Harding Icefield Trail. On this hike we gained roughly 1,000 feet of elevation with every mile of the 8 mile roundtrip hike. At the top of the trail there were icefields as far as the eye could see. Sitting at the top taking in the views and vastness of the area was humbling. During our hike down we had our only bear encounter of the week. The boys hollered to us girls "bear" and like totally normal girls we ran towards the bear to get closer. Not recommended. Thankfully the bear was more afraid of us and quickly disappeared into the trees.
We moved camp midweek to the Russian River Campground. This campground was much more secluded and as you could guess on the Russian River. The water of the river is so blue it is unbelievable. There are also pockets of water or little ponds where you can see thousands of fish just hanging out or jumping the falls. Word is if you are lucky you will see a bear catch fish from the falls, but we didn't get that lucky this time around.
We did a few other small hikes here as well, but aside from hiking we spent a few days fishing....er flossing. During the salmon run salmon are not actively pursuing the bait so instead you cast upstream and bounce your bait on the bottom towards downstream and attempt to hook the fish in the mouth aka flossing. It took some time, but we eventually got pretty good at it. There were literally hundreds of fishing swimming up river in front of us and behind if you waded out too far. Some of the fish we would catch looked more like zombies and we would release those. Fun fact almost all salmon die after making the journey to spawn so you will catch some fish that are basically deteriorating.
For our second day of fishing we were able to rent a row boat and spent about 10 hours going down river while stopping on banks to fish. We mocked Debra for her net skills as it looked extremely comical, however we got ours when she sat back laughing at us saying "not as easy as it looks huh!". I should add this is the first day we caught anything, but we had fish for dinner!
The next day was our final day fishing. We spent the day on the bank of the river and we slayed the fish. This was by far (IMO) the funnest day fishing as it seemed like we had fish on nonstop. We all caught our bag limit and with that we were able to have it frozen over night and fly back about 50lbs of fish. Also, this day Aaron caught a 40lb King Salmon. It took some time for him to land it and a lot of running up and down the bank. Regardless, King Salmon season had ended the week prior so he had to release it. It was a monster of a fish!
During our last day we did some wandering around Anchorage and caught a last minute tour trolley which proved to be more interesting than we anticipated.
All in all we had a great week and I can't wait to return someday!

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