Weeks 8 & 9

I finally caught a fish that I was actually fishing for.  This is a Dolly Varden trout.  This fish was around 12" and was large enough for me to smoke back at our bunkhouse.  I did not have a live well with me, the best I could do was a ziploc bag.

This is the view upstream in Petersburg Creek.  This is where I caught the Dolly Varden.  To get here we had to cross the Wrangell Narrows and paddle upstream.  We timed the whole trip with the tides so the paddling was not so bad.  We had 5 or 6 kayaks and 1 canoe.

This is a little further up the creek.  There are a few small cabins along the banks of the creek.  Supposedly some are still owned privately but they are never visited.

This is looking back downstream.  The guy in the kayak was with us and he caught a few Dolly as well as a Cutthroat trout.

Here is the canoe I took out fishing.

Here is a shot looking south over the Wrangell Narrows.  I was working in a helicopter unit and we had a pretty clear view.  I finally found out about how high up we are working and at this spot I am around 1000'.  The very first unit I worked in was the highest one we have and the top line there is a little over 1500'.

I was pulling flagging from a boundary that needed be adjusted when I came upon a porcupine that was walking on the ground.  At first I thought it was a small bear cub even though it would have been way too small.  Thinking it was a bear cub scared me a little because the mama bear would have been close and I could have gotten in some trouble.  Luckily though it was just a porcupine and all that happened was I scared him down the hill.  I was also walking down the hill and eventually he decided it would be wise to climb up a little tree.  It was not all that wise since he was then stuck around 9' up.  I took advantage of this and climbed up on a stump next to him and got a pretty good look.  I have another photo of him that follows this one and I have a video of him trying to move around on these tiny branches.   

Deer hunting opened up on August 1st and we were told that we should expect a lot of boats at our dock.  So far there have only been a few and this is one of them.  It is a really nice, handmade row boat called a faering.  It is all wood and steel.

This is the float dock where there are two companies with float planes that we contract out for flights. 

This is a Cessna float plane.  I finally got to ride in one of these, it was not this exact one but one that was the same model. 

Here comes the beaver that I rode in to Kake for the Dog Salmon Festival.

Here is the plane I took to Kake.  This is a beaver which is supposedly the workhorse of the float planes.  This one was built in 1956.  The pilot is the one in the picture.  I had my picture taken in front of the plane and while riding in it but I have not yet been emailed those photos. 

This is during takeoff.  These houses are just north of downtown Petersburg.  The plane is really loud and slow but the take off was really smooth.  I guess it is probably because you do not gain altitude very fast and we only got up around 1000' or so.

Here we are starting to head toward Duncan Canal then north toward Kake.  Those islands in the background are the Sukoi's. 

Here is Petersburg Creek at low tide.  This is the creek in the earlier pictures where I was fishing.  You can see why we rode in with the tide and out with it.  Had we stayed too long we would have have to walk our boats out. 

Here you can see the famous Kake dump.  Everyone likes going there because it is unbelievable that it exists.  You just drive up to this dug out area and toss your garbage in.  It does not matter what you are throwing out, it all goes in.  This is a popular place to see bears and bald eagles up close. 

The Kake runway is in the distance there but we landed in the water and went to the harbor. 

Kake is home to the world's tallest totem pole.  There really is not a whole lot going on in town so at least they have something to brag about.