Where's the Easter Bunny?

Last week I was looking out the Chinook cabin and saw a branch on a spruce tree move.  I had to look real hard before I saw what was making it move.  If you look at the base of the spruce tree you'll see a cleverly camouflaged snowshoe hare in the snow bank.   Do you see it?

How about now?

Happy Easter!

Winter Landscapes

Last week I was down on the peninsula to check on the cabins.   Beautiful weather with about half the snow total of last year.   My plan is to get the dock out in a month.  Think it will happen?  I hope so, because the best tides are at the end of April and if there's too much ice the next favorable tide cycle is at the end of May. I have several trips mid to end of May and it would sure be convenient to be able to walk  down the dock to go fishing rather than launching daily at a boat ramp.

A snowy landscape looking over the mouth of the Kenai River towards Mount Redoubt.

It may look like a frozen ice box but we are now receiving over 13 hours of sunlight and gaining nearly 6 minutes of sunshine every day.   Barring any extended April cold snaps, I feel pretty good about spring break up being right on time.

Clouds on the Kenai

When I'm guiding, my focus is on the river and my clients.   All day long I'm constantly watching the water while keeping an eye on the people in my boat.   So why am I posting about clouds?   Well, this past season I was distracted just enough to take pictures of several unique cloud formations.    You'll have to admit, the photo above makes you stop and wonder, "what the heck?"

This is when the clouds first caught my attention.  As I was taking this photo of Bill I saw these two tufts over his right shoulder.   Wish I could tell you what they're called but I haven't got a clue.  Any meteorologist out there reading this blog?   If so, make sure to post a comment and tell me what they are.

On another day I had to take this photo of mares' tails (cirrus clouds).   They are very common in the world, but I took this photo because it reminded me of the first time I fished the Kenai with my dad.  I remember my dad looking to the sky and saying,  "I've never seen such a blue sky, take a picture of it."   I took a picture and the rest of the day I thought my dad was crazy.   Why would you want a picture of a blue sky?  As I've grown older and have traveled a bit I now know why he felt the way he did.  In northern latitudes there's less air pollution which makes the blue of the sky even more blue.

Here's another photo of mares' tales (cirrus clouds) which, more often than not on the Kenai, move in from the southwest.   Always nice to look at but for those who spend a lot of time in the outdoors you know they show themselves in advance of a frontal system.  You quickly learn to enjoy the weather while you can because conditions will soon deteriorate.

Team George/Team Jerry

You probably recall the story that I've told about George and Jerry French.  They're story tellers, and so am I, but the deal in the boat is if you repeat a story and at least three people have raised their hand signalling that they've heard it, you have to stop telling it.  All day long hands are being raised in the boat .  It's kind of funny because I'll see these puzzled expressions on the faces of the fisherman that are around us.   One time, a guide friend of mine who was trolling next to us, asked me what's the deal with the raised hands.  I told him before I start my day I always tell my clients that if they have to go to the bathroom they need to raise their hand to ask me if it's okay to go.   I let him think about what I said for a few days before I told him the real reason.

In 2012, George and Jerry told me they thought about having t-shirts made about "raising your hand",
but instead settled on "Team George" and "Team Jerry" stickers.  Classic.  Nothing better for me than having guys in the boat who have selective memories and like to have a little fun.

Let me end this by saying I still don't remember who started this game.  When I ask George or Jerry about this they start to argue and before you know it my hand is in the air.....



It's Part of the Business

So I get an email asking about cabins and guided fishing for four.  I sent our rates and availability and this is what I received back.


Hello,

I appreciate your reply.  I have accepted the offer and am willing to make an advanced deposit payment immediately with my credit card.

We have made arrangement with an agent who will be in charge of our,

(1) Flights and travel insurance
(2) Domestic and International flight tickets and Airport tax
(3) International Airport transfer
(4) Vaccines
(5) Excess Baggage Charges
(6) Departure taxes and Related Fees
(7) Contingency Transportation logistics during our stay not covered by the tour package.

As a result of my busy schedule, I had the whole funds for the booking and other logistics credited into the credit card account i will email to you once i hear from you.  I am not in my home town at the moment, i am on a business trip.

Due to the agent don't accept credit cards yet, I will appreciate if you charge the total sum of (12,500 Dollars+bank charges) from the card.  You keep the sum of (3,000 Dollars) for deposit to secure our booking with you and transfer the remaining sume of (9,500 Dollars) to the agent.  Could you please Confirm this.  You are also to deduct the fees and taxes involved in processing this amount from the credit card details.

PLEASE CONFIRM IF THIS ARRANGEMENT IS OK AND REPLY PROMPTLY TO ENABLE US PROCEED.

Also get back to me with the below information for record purposes and if you agree to do the above.

Best Regards,
Glenn


That's it, word for word, typos and all.

Who falls for this stuff?

All I can say is P.T.Barnum must have been right that a sucker is born every minute.  Otherwise, lodges/guides wouldn't keep receiving so many of these scam inquiries.

Life From The Other Side Of The Booth (Say What?)

Okay, that's not me standing with Jane at our booth.  This guy was walking around the Duluth sport show and I asked if he would pose with her.   You'll have to admit he's very squatchie.

This year I decided to keep a list of questions we were asked at the shows that were, hmm, let's just say, interesting?    Jane and I tried to answer these questions in the most sincere way.  

Here's a list of the best of them:

• What time does the northern lights show start?
• What part of Canada is Kenai in?
• Do you take American money?
• Do you need a passport to go to Alaska?
• Is that a shark (as they point to the king salmon mount behind us)?
• Will I see penguins?
• Can you see Russia from your cabins (thank you Tina Fey)?
• 20 years ago I stayed with a guy that was building a cabin on the Kenai.  Do you know him?
• Are you near Alaska?
• Do you know the guy that built a log house on the river?  He's a friend of mine.

So, how would you answer them?

Duluth: A Closer Look

 aerial lift bridge...icon of Duluth

I'm often asked why do we do so many sport shows in Minnesota.    From a business standpoint it makes perfect sense;  the highest per capita fishing licenses sold in the United States are in Minnesota.  In other words, "we're fishing where the fish are."   But, there other reasons why we love to come to Minnesota:   1)  the beauty of the state, 2) it is where we grew up, and 3) it is where our families live today.

Of all the shows we do, the Duluth/Lake Superior area definitely needs a little more attention on this blog.  It's also because I took a lot of photos and this is the best place to share them.   Anyway, here's a little historical background on the area. Duluth is the 4th largest city in Minnesota with a population of 86,265.  It's claim to fame is that it is the largest and farthest inland freshwater seaport in North America (2300 miles from the Atlantic Ocean). The main exports transported out of Duluth include coal, iron ore, and grain.  Other little tidbits to know about Duluth is that it's affectionately called "the San Francisco of the Midwest" and "the Air Conditioned City".   

  lighthouse near Canal Park

 

       

Lake Superior is the largest of the Great Lakes, and is considered the largest freshwater lake in the world.  The Ojibwe call it "Gichigami", or, as Gordon Lightfoot called it in his 1976 hit song, The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald,  "Gitche Gumee".    No matter how you spell it still means "big water."                  

An area that I really enjoy is Canal Park.   It's located at the harbor entrance of Duluth/Superior.  One of the many attractions in Canal Park is the Lake Superior Maritime Visitor Center which is operated by the US Army Corp of Engineers.   If you like maritime history, and who doesn't,  this is the place you'll want to visit.

Just outside the entrance to the Lake Superior Maritime Visitor Center there's a self-guided, walking tour of shipwreck recoveries from the lake.   When we came upon this anchor Jane said, "hey, my dad recovered that anchor!"   Pretty neat that my father-in-law, and diver extraordinaire, Bill Matthies, plays a part in the history of Lake Superior.   Since 1959 he's been a diver and has explored and documented many shipwrecks throughout the lake.   Because of his efforts, in 2011, he was given the Diving Community Contribution Award by the Great Lakes Preservation Society.

I'm not sure what this is but I think it's a shackle from an anchor.  I took this photo because it looked like a really large RL Kenai River anchor.   As a perspective, this chunk of iron is about as long as my river boat.

Here's a propellar from who knows how big of ship.

Here's another one.  Since Jane is in this photo you'll get a better idea of it's size.







                                                                    

Right alongside the Duluth Entertainment and Convention Center (DECC) in Canal Park, the SS William A. Irvin is moored.   It is 610 feet long with a beam of 60 feet.   To give you an idea of the size, it would be at least 5 times the length of many of the crab boats featured on the television show, Deadliest Catch.  The SS William A. Irvin is owned by US Steel and was retired from it's lake fleet in 1978.   It is now on the  U.S. National Registry of Historic Places and is currently open daily for tours.   



Thought I'd include this photo.  Everyday during the sport show we had to walk from our hotel room through the skywalks to the DECC.  Adjacent to the DECC is the Duluth Curling Club.   This club was first organized in 1891 and moved into this building in 1976.  It is the largest curling facility in the United States and trust me, they are serious about their sport.   In the last winter Olympics the Duluth Curling Club represented Team USA.

 Lester River

Okay, I lied.  I may have taken a lot of photos during the sport show, but this obviously was not one of them.    The Lester River is a tributary of Lake Superior and it's located just north of town (thank you wikipedia for the use of a summer photo).

Jay Cooke State Park

 

Neither was this photo (thanks again wikipedia).   Jay Cooke State Park is located 10 miles south of Duluth.   It's the starting point for the Willard Munger State Trail.   You can bike, hike, in line skate, ride horse, and snowmobile on this trail.

 

Additional things to explore in Duluth and the surrounding area include:

•  hitch up your dog team and run the John Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon (Iditarod qualifier)
• put on your shoes and run  Grandma's Marathon (Boston Marathon qualifier)
• hike the Superior Hiking Trail (Duluth to Canada)
• drive the North Shore in the fall to view the fall colors (this is huge)
• fish Lake Superior and it's tributaries.....duh!
• groove out to the Bayfront Blues Festival
• visit the Historic Union Depot Railroad Museum

Hope you enjoyed my little tour of Duluth.  It was a great sport show and it was nice to get reacquainted with an area that both Jane and I spent so much time in as kids.    Jane pretty well summed it up.  As we were leaving she said, "I could live here."   You know what, so could I.   

 

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