On our third day, I went out fishing with Paul and Mike. This was adventurous . . . for me, anyway. It's typical for Paul. But this was not your normal, sissy Alaskan tourist activity. Now, when I see a sign that says "This area is unstable, and any use of this area could cause serious injury or DEATH," I would normally avoid such a place. However, when in Alaska, do as the Alaskans do. So, the three of us got on Paul's ATV and rode 8 miles down river on a trail that was mountain on one side and river on the other.
It was washed out in places, and in others there were landslides. I was sure I would die. Some places I just got off and walked. Paul said there used to be railway that went through there, and we saw evidence of that in an abandoned trestle and tunnel that we rode through.
Check out this video of part of our ATV ride.
Paul found a spot, and we hiked down a cliff to some rocks that sloped down right to the river. A lot of the people we saw along our ATV ride were tied off to trees in case they fell in. It was huge, fast, and if you fell in there ain't no gettin' out. But did we tie off? Phish--no way! (Elisabeth, you did not just read that).
So Paul put his net in. (By the way, we learned that you dipnet at this river because it is so silty the fish can't see lures or bait.) And we waited and waited and waited . . . and waited. Neither one of the two guys on the sides of us were catching anything either. After a while Mike said, "Paul, I hope we catch something. I just said a little prayer that we'd get something." And Paul said, "You mean like this?!" and his net was wiggling all over. He pulled out this HUGE king salmon--no lie. And we were all whooping it up as Paul was dragging this beastly salmon up onto the rocks. Mike clubbed it on the head (eww!) and it finally stopped flopping around. WOW, that is quite a fish story, but 100% true. Even though we didn't catch much, at least we were able to experience the thrill of seeing Paul net a king. You are only allowed to catch and keep one king every year, so that was pretty cool to witness. BTW, if you are wondering why Mike and I weren't fishing, it is because only residents are allowed to dipnet. If all the tourists fished that way it would deplete the salmon population too much. But it was still fun just to be there and experience Alaska how locals do.
Fresh salmon for dinner again. Sweet!