Day Off Day Hike (+)

There area a few hikes around Hope, and with a day off the water there are only three things to do on a day off.  It starts with curing a hangover, then going fishing or for a hike, today there was no hangover to cure so a good long hike was in order.

Gull Rock Trail takes you from the end of the Hope road along Turnagain Arm above the coast.  It's about a 5 hour roundtrip, out and back, ending out on what must only be Gull Rock Point.

The trail shares the first 300 yards or so with the Hope Point Trail, which climbs up the ridge above the town of Hope.

A view across Turnagain Arm, looking north

Leaving the Chugach National Forest, entering the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge

We came around the corner at one point with Canyon 50 yards ahead of me.  I heard a russel in the leaves and then the distinct sounds of claws on a tree, what must only be a bear scampering up.  Sure enough Canyon surprised the bear and within 2.5 seconds the bear was 40 feet up the nearest tree, in 3 second I had the bear spray out, in 4 seconds Canyon was back at  my side and then on the leash.

In other news, rivers across the Kenai are experiencing super high flows.  The Kenai is at 10,300 cfs, nearly 4,000 above the average.

This and That

First this,

then some of this,

some more of this,

and then that,

.

That's a beauty fish....Oo oo, la la la la la la la la

A nod to Tenkara.

World class commentary, though not a lesson in how to land a trout.

Updates from camp

There's no time to waste at camp.  We started off with a bit of a fishing bender, putting 4 days on the water away from camp.

We've got a bunch of new gear around camp.  Eleven new Beulah rods including my 13'8" 8wt Spey, 8 new mirage reels, 2 Waterworks reels, a dozen new (rubber soled) boots, and a number of lines.  (More on gear later)

We had a few trips on the Kasilof for Kings, and while the fishing was slow we brought a few to the boat, as well as a couple steelhead and dollies.

Ever spent the night in a yurt?