August 5, 2007

The wet and cold of Kodiak are behind us, but it was a memorable visit.

Our last day was pretty casual. We had to pack up the campsite in the morning in the rain, so that took some time. Afterwards, we took a hike along a stream in a residential area. It was a little nerve wracking at first. The trail was overgrown and our literature talked about pink salmon running up the stream. Once we hiked a ways, we began to realize that the creek was pretty small and no pink salmon were coming up it. We saw no sign of bears, although one of the people at the Fort Abercrombie visitor center had told us about a bear in the area. The trail ended near a lake that was surrounded by houses. We turned around and followed the stream all the way to its outlet into the bay. We then walked along the beach of the bay, looking at tide pools and rescuing stranded starfish.

We took another hike on Near Island, walking along the bluffs, through the woods, and along the rocky beach. We watched float planes take off and land in a protected area along the island.

We stopped at the Baranov Museum, housed in the oldest standing Russian structure in the United States. I don’t know what kind of claim that is, but the place is over 200 years old. The museum had a nice mix of native, military, and other historical displays. They also had dozens of photo albums on various topics. I perused the ones about the 1912 volcanic eruption that dumped about a foot of ash on Kodiak and the one about the 1964 earthquake. The tsunami wiped out much of Kodiak in that one.

We fished a little more at Buskin. It was slow. I caught one pink. We finished our visit with a dinner at a Mexican restaurant before heading to the ferry dock to check in. The ferry loading was the same process as before and should have gone off without a hitch. Somehow, while lining up for final loading, a young driver in a pickup truck hit the gas instead of the brake and slammed into the line of cars, pushing the Saab in front of him into the next car up. There was significant damage and the police and fire departments responded. We only left a few minutes late. We were nearly last to load.

The ferry left after ten. It was getting dark and a little foggy. We stayed on deck for a few minutes, catching our last glimpses of town , before retiring to our stateroom. Sometime in the middle of the night, things got a little rough. The constant rocking made it difficult for me to sleep. I started to feel a little queasy. I survived and even managed to fall back asleep. We awoke to calm water as we approached Homer. The drive home from Homer was uneventful, but a little rainy.

I finished the long weekend with a couple hours of wading in Campbell Creek. Silver season opened today for our stretch of the creek. I saw a few silvers, but they didn’t have any interest in anything I threw at them. I was surprised at the number of kings still active, splashing, and spawning.