Happy Birthday Ed And Lois

We went to Chatinika Lodge Saturday night to celebrate Lois and Ed's Birthdays.
Birthday number 83 and number ??

Why I didn't need a menu to order dinner.

Its Fall so it must be snow.

Look what we woke up to this morning.

Labor Day Drive Ho hum

Today we took out annual Labor day drive to McKinley. Here is the annual picture. We saw the Mountain several times on the way down.

Here is another picture of the fall colors.

We had lunch at the Grand Denali lodge. Good view from our table by the window.

Below is a shot along the road. Lot of yellow in the Alaska fall.

A step back in time.

When Patsy and I got married in December of 1970 we lived on the back side of Birch Hill in a log wanigan joined to a 20 foot travel trailer. Here is a picture of our house taken from the road in front the first winter we were married. Our land lord Walt Weese is going to sell the land and he invited us out to look at it once again before it is sold and moved off the place or torn down.

As you can see the place has changed a lot over the years. You can't see the wanigan from the road today. Below is the front today.

Below is the back of the house. The travel trailer is still there but it is enclosed with framing. We first thought it was gone but when I looked at the windows, I could see the trailer was still there. They also enclosed the porch for an arctic entry. If you have seen some of the pictures we took from up there you may remember us talking about the tree that is always in the picture. The tree was over the bank and off the end of the porch. I don't think you could pick itout now.

When we lived here the picture below was the bedroom. The bed was a double bed that was along the wall where the heater is now. The head was against th shower wall and the foot was against the curved end wall. We had electric heat but the room was still cold. We used an electric blanket to keep warm but the covers still froze to the wall and the decorative nail heads that held the paneling in place would have frost on them.

Here we are almost forty years later.

A Visit from Catherine & Steve

Catherine and Steve visited us the second and third weeks of August. They spent a week in town and then we took to the road for a trip down the Kenai Peninsula. Here Patsy, Catherine, and Steve pose before an unknown Glacier near the Portage Glacier Visitors Center. We had a great time and look forward to them coming back next year.

Near the end of August The Cranes, Geese, and Ducks congregate before the fall migration. We watched them in Creamers Field in Fairbanks.

Here is a picture from the top of Hatcher Pass close to Palmer Alaska on one end and Willow Alaska on the other end of the road. We went over the pass on our way home to North Pole. We are above tree line and just under the clouds that day. The Second Picture Patsy took of some fireweed near a hiking trail along the road.

Catherine and Steve exchange pleasantries with one of the Forest Service Fire Fighters at Portage Glacier.

We went to Whittier Alaska by way of a two mile long, one lane tunnel. We all agreed we didn't want an earthquake while we were in there. On the Whittier end of the tunnel we saw this gigantic tour boat.

Salmon and Smoke but not Smoked Salmon

I go Salmon Dipping later in the summer to avoid the crowds. We have had a warm summer this year so the glacial melt has kept the water levels at Chitna up. We got a bit of a break last week and the water level went down a little so more people than me decided it was time to go fishing. This picture was taken on Friday afternoon about 3:30. On the way home we say dozens of people on the road with their dip nets on the way here. I'll bet it was really crowed this weekend.

Say it isn't so!
We woke up about 6am and I was using my new Coleman stove to heat water for a breakfast of oatmeal. As I looked out at the camp ground at O'brien Creek I saw a coffee bar van. What happened to roughing it? Next thing you know the cell phones will work there.

It's been a warm dry summer and the bees, are everywhere. (we didn't see any last year) While I was cleaning fish, and they were everywhere. Not great help, but they didn't sting anyone. By the last fish I was beginning to get the hang of filleting.

The Best of times.
Good friends flying in from all over, Good food (Red Salmon) and
perfect weather. Yep these are the best of times, who could ask for more!

Here I hung a carcass for the gang to feast on.

About 8 hours after I hung the fish. A lot of the meat is gone. Today more than 24 hours after I hung it the meat is gone and they are still picking the bones.

Mind if I Smoke?
There is a fire across the Tanana, in the flats near the Wood River. In the afternoon the humidity goes down and the fire flourishes. Here the wind is taking the smoke toward North Pole. It gives the sky a yellow brown look along the front and darker closer to the fire where the smoke is thicker.

See the sun through "smoked" lenses, from our yard.

Here is ash on the window of the car from the fire across the Tanana more than 50 miles away.

Iris Among the Fireweed

We planted some Irises a long time ago and each year we look forward to when they bloom.