July 23
Our day started with a seven person fish packaging assembly line. It is estimated that ~60 filets were divided, packaged, sealed & frozen. After the salmon packaging & a little taste testing, it was another pick your own adventure day, with the two choices of hiking Johnson Pass (hard to not hike that if your last name is Johnson) and a fishing trip which includes a big hike in bear country. Gail, Tom, Adam, Joe, and Mike went fishing while the rest of the clan chose the hike.
The fishing crew went to the Russian River and were fishing below a waterfall. It was very picturesque. This was a much smaller stream and clear. The bad news is that in clear water, you can see fish if there are any, and unfortunately there weren’t. We saw two fish but were unable to hook them. Adam caught a decent Dolly Varden and Joe got a little Dolly. After giving up fishing in the cold rain, we hiked to the falls overlook. Upon arriving we were amazed to see big king salmon jumping up the falls. When we looked a little further downstream and saw a mother brown bear and two cubs eating salmon, we were in awe. The mother would go right below the falls, snorkel her head, and pop up with a salmon to feed the cubs or herself. It was a National Geographic moment. Due to the lack of fish, we actually got back home at a decent hour instead of the customary 11 pm or later.
Fishing pack, huh? I did that for one whole summer in Naknek, AK across from King Salmon. I remember LOTS of SALMON. Cutting fish, washing fish, racking fish, dreaming fish(wait no too tired to dream), 14 hour days and no time off. Ahh the best....or well maybe the just the experience...Anyway, glad to hear that the DAY went well and all new and old family members are accounted for. Keep posting less I have to actually do my school work or even look for a job in the ever popular and burgeoning K-12 scene. Hey at least the weather is cooler and I can sleep in now.
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