Return to Chris' Strip

A couple days ago I flew over to Chris' Strip as is the fall ritual and had a great trip. The weather was perfect and the Ptarmigan were everywhere. As I flew in I spotted a Brown bear, circled him a bit as he headed east toward the ocean, and landed to the west as the wind usually dictates. The strip is in the foothills of Mt. Spur at about 3000ft. and the landscape relieves to the east down to the inlet. I usually land and hike down slope into the low brush to look for birds. This time a took an hour and hiked up towards the mountain just to see what I could see. The landscape is littered with small ground squirrels that love to stand upright to gain a better view. Enjoy the photo's, this is my favorite time of year in Alaska. Aside from winter,summer and spring, haha! Also, I included a photo of a few onions I pulled over at the cabin!
cheers,
Josh

The Fruits of My Labor

I canned about 48 jars and smoked 3 pounds of silvers this fall. The late summer and early fall is a hectic time for me, probably more so than the summer visitor season. Cleaning, preparing, canning and smoking take a huge amount of time but I have found over the last three winters that it is truly worth it!

Mt. Spur and Moose

Here are a couple shots from my trip looking for moose the other day. I found a cool little strip, and a pair of pretty large moose. I love flying in the Mt. Spur area, it offers great views of Denali and Foraker, and most of the AK range and there are also great places to land and hike around.
hope all is well,
Josh

House guest

While I was out mowing today I left the front door open as I usually do and when I returned a bird had taken up residence. I was able to grab a few photo's before I turned him loose. He/She left behind many calling cards which I am still finding as we speak, speakers, couch, kitchen, etc.... Later in the day I flew over to the Kustatan and caught a few Coho to smoke tomorrow, on the way over I came across this cub who had obviously wrecked on a fairly tight strip below Mike's cabin. This time of year (Moose season) pilots who havn't flown much start to fly into stuff that they havn't done in awhile (Last Moose season) and get themselves into trouble. I.E. this last picture. Danny Brewer was in to help with the helicopter and everyone was O.K.
Cheers,
Josh

August and everything after

I had heard from Jackson Meyer that the silver fishing was still good at the cabin so Heidi and I loaded up and gave it a shot yesterday. We limited out quick and had a great evening on the warm and sunny west side. The leaves will be turning soon!
cheers,
Josh

Glacier Ash

Mike and I flew up the glacier that feeds the McArthur river this week and found a thick layer of ash left over from the Redoubt eruption. This ash will no doubt affect the glacier for years to come by absorbing heat speeding up deterioration of the glacier. Mike made an interesting comment while we were flying up through the pass about how it's easy to forget how many glaciers we really do have up here, and he's right. As we flew farther inland, all that stretched out in front of us was stress cracked ice and glacier cut peaks. Pretty impressive.
Josh

Seldovia Trip

Heidi and I flew down to Seldovia today with amazing weather. We walked from the airport into town and checked out the boats and enjoyed the great weather. Seldovia is busy this time of year with a lot of air and boat traffic picking up and dropping off tourists. While picking favorite boats Heidi picked the ole' Husky, interesting choice......
Later this evening I picked up joel and we cruised over to the Kustatan for an evening silver trip, Joel caught the biggest fish of the year this evening on his last chance, and I broke my pole on a snag. It was an evening of sharp contrasts.... We snuck back into town around midnight under a nearly full moon and a great sunset, I love Alaska!
Josh

Silver fishing

It has been hectic this last week off with the silvers in strong across the inlet. My days have been full of great trips across the inlet with good friends and a lot of great weather. This set includes Pete Iverson, his son, and Mike. We were all able to meet up this weekend for a nice trip. I have some video clips and am working on getting them on, it takes forever so bare with me.
cheers,
josh

BUSY BUSY BUSY

It's been crazy here the last week or so, I promise to post soon and often!

Josh