Behind the scenes

Behind the Scenes Tour

There is no question that the Conservation Center has been one of our favorite places in Alaska. I love the idea behind them and I adore seeing all of the animals that are native to the area. Our neighbor who watches our dogs for us on occasion works here and is in charge of the animals diets and the interns. She offered to let us come on a Behind the Scenes Tour where we could meet the animals up close and feed the baby Musk Ox and Moose. We jumped at the chance.

Snickers the Porcupine. We got to feed him some peanuts and hear about his history. He was quite the gentleman and took each one very carefully and sweetly. If he didn't stink so much we might hang out more.

We learned more about Adonis who was shot by a hunter and can no longer fly.

Bear Claws

The brown bears have been a favorite of ours to watch for a while. This is JB waiting for a fishy snack.

Kona eating some fish. When she was first brought to the CC they would let people pet her as a cub. She isn't quite as friendly now.

They had two new arrivals of orphaned baby moose found out in Wasilla. They named them Tech and Tonic for all the earthquakes that happen around here. We got to bottle feed them for the audience and hang out with them for a bit. They were so cute! 

They had two additions to the Musk Ox family as well. They have a herd that had three males, but when two got in a fight and rammed each other-they hit so hard that it killed both of them. It cracked both of their skulls, so they were left with only one male. He got two of the females pregnant and they have to take the babies away immediately because Musk Ox are mean and won't let the workers near the babies to give them the vitamins that are lacking in the soil. Without it they would die. They get a supplement of milk that has everything they need and will be reunited with their families when they are a little older. Meet Suni and Nami named after Tsunami's. 

The other baby they had was a brand new Sitka deer. She looked just like Bambi. We couldn't get too close or she would bolt, but the dad (Solo-they were all Star Wars names) was extremely friendly. He would rub up against you begging for some attention. He was my favorite.

Content as can be

On top of Max's

Hiking up Max's

In Girdwood we have a tram that goes up the North Face of the mountain. Max's mountain is right next to our mountain and you can climb up to Max's and walk the ridgeline, and then drop down to our mountain and hike to the tram. We are at sea level in town so we go from 150 ft of elevation to 3302 ft of elevation. It was quite the hike with lovely views of the Chugach Mountain range, the ocean, and of Girdwood. We expected the hike to take about six hours and I thought that might be too much for Sadie, so just Kodi got to go.

The first half of the hike was in the trees. We saw a moose part of the way up.

Me and Aimee after just clearing the treeline

There were so many wildflowers along the trail, and once you cleared the treeline it looked like we were hiking to heaven. The trail was straight up but the bees were buzzing, it was beautiful, and we could hear a band playing in Girdwood that took our minds off the climb.

Taking a little break

Checking out the view

When we reached the top of Max's, Aimee and Ciri took a wine break and me and Kodi checked out the snow. Kodi went wild running back and forth and acting like the puppy she is. There was sharp shale hidden in the snow and she sliced open her wrist. She limped to me and I flipped out. Ciri is going through nursing school and had some toilet paper in her bag and Aimee had duct tape wrapped around her Nalgene. So we made her a makeshift bandage and she was a trooper. I thought we might have to call someone to get us and get her stitches but she was able to make it another three hours to the tramway. I put a scouting first aid kit in my backpack as soon as I got home.

Looking at the ridge we had to cross to drop down to the tram. It was straight down on both sides!

Me, Aimee, and Ciri on top of our mountain

Looking at the view of Girdwood and the Arm in the snow

We made it home safe and we cleaned out Kodi's cut. It took weeks for it to heal and Kodi was impatient to get back to playing in the water. I was so glad I didn't have to carry her down and my hiking partners were prepared.

Fishing

Fishing

July is the season for Salmon fishing! We got spoiled this year because we knew about which spots to fish at during the right time. It still doesn't make it easy. These fish fight hard. We spent eight hours at the Russian River and pulled in two Red Salmon. They were about 12-15 pounds each. You lose track of time as you hook them, fight them, and generally lose them. The guys fishing next to me were really helping me out because they were almost at their limit and I couldn't pull one in the whole way. Once I tripped while pulling one in and not only ended up losing my fish, but I filled those waders full of freezing cold river water too. My whoop could have been heard in Utah when I finally pulled one in all the way. Aaron mostly stayed out of the way until I caught my first fish and then he took over the golden spot and caught his much faster. 

Portage fishing spot for Silver Salmon, we spotted about twenty Beluga Whales catching them in the ocean so we knew they were close to running up the rivers.

Trout fishing at the side of the road

Aaron's Rainbow Trout

Aaron's first Red Salmon

My first Red Salmon

Merganser birds headed up the river

Aaron's fish

Both of my fishies

Aaron filleting our fish. I did it once and it was too gross for me.

We spotted a whole bunch of King Salmon swimming when we were out checking for Pink's. Aaron hooked this guy and it took us fifteen minutes of both of us reeling him in and having him take line before I pulled him in all the way. It took both of us switching spots and handing the pole over to pull him in somewhere safe enough that he wouldn't get away. It was about 30 pounds and spawning so it would have died within the next couple of weeks.

Aaron holding it. As soon as we let it go Kodi chased it through the river for a few minutes.

Pinks are in

Good haul of Pinks

Aaron loved dipnetting the year before so we borrowed some poles (they are super heavy five foot hoop nets with metal handles) and went to Kenai to dipnet. The idea is to walk out, situate your heavy net, and then as soon as the current flushes a fish into your net-you drop your handle so the net is flush with the ground and drag it to the shore. Getting soaking wet the whole time. Plus it was pouring rain the day we went so it was freezing cold. Not exactly my idea of a great time. It was really fun to see how big the fish we caught were. Aaron pulled in two fish at once one time, and we snagged seven fish in only two hours. A hot shower was much needed after this fishing trip.

Checking out our fish

We got about 15 pounds of fillets from dipnetting and you could potentially get 35 fish per head of household plus an additional 10 per member of household so you can really get your freezer stalked full of fish. Great season of fishing for us!