FROM THE ROAD: ALASKAN GOLD

The latest from our friend John on his RV odyssey from Minneapolis to Alaska.

Good Evening from Skagway:

You can see DukDuk and me in the attached picture as we entered Alaska and, yes, I am smiling with thumbs up. The drive down was interesting as some of the landscape looked a bit like what the moon looks like in pictures. We arrived in Skagway Sunday afternoon with 3,801.9 miles on the trip odometer and spent the day reloading our liquor cabinet and getting familiar with the town.

I thought there would be RV service centers in town and there is not. So, Monday was clean and service the RV. Following the mantra “take care of your equipment and it will take care of you” we changed the oil & filter (hadn’t done that in awhile), did about 6 minor repairs, washed the whole unit, and reapplied Rainx to the windshield.

Later we made contact with a fishing boat captain and booked a 1/2 day afternoon trip on Tuesday before finishing the night at the Skagway Brew Pub [established 1897 - ed.] with a couple of cold local beers.

Tuesday morning we did our souvenir shopping and had a quick lunch before we hit the docks. We met Captain Mike Hardy of the Choctaw Lady and headed out into the Taiya Inlet which is part of the Inland Passageway. We saw two humped back whales and a pair of eagles but no fish action for about 3 hours (we are 3 weeks early don’t you know). Finally I got a hit and landed a 27″ King Salmon that had to be 28″ to keep so it was released.

That night the Captain invited us as his guests to the local Eagles Club for a couple of beers and to watch game 6 of the Stanley Cup finals. This was the first live TV I had seen in nearly 3 weeks. I met a local artist that turns wood and bone into bowls and pens who gave me a few places to flyfish on the way to Whitehorse. The Captain offered us a good deal for the next afternoon to join 2 pre-booked guests and we accepted the offer.

Wednesday morning we woke to some light rain and headed into the one grocery store in town that gets its inventory delivered on Tuesday. It seemed the whole town was there and we bought what we needed and headed back to the RV. At noon we were back on the docks and joined Captain Mike and two guys from Vancouver. Again we headed into Taiya Inlet but this time went 6 miles out into 700′ of water.

One of the Vancouver guys caught a shaker that had to be released and about 3 hours into the trip Cortney hooked into a fish that took 7 minutes to land and a picture is attached. This monster was 42″ long, weighed 36lbs, tied this season’s record, and is a native not hatchery fish. It is Alaskan Gold! [Holy buckets!  Now that's worth getting the camera out! - Ed.]  After the charter Captain Mike cleaned the fish and cut off 2 salmon steaks that we will be grilling shortly.

We are meeting the Captain for a beer later and to listen to a popular Blues singer from Anchorage. Not sure what our plans are for tomorrow but we will be starting the trip back no later than Friday.

Again, all is well.

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