Hello everyone,

When the cruise and land tour was completed (Richie and LuAnn were east coast bound) we headed south!

We left Fairbanks and headed south via Alaska Airlines to see our great friends, LeeAnn and Jeff, who moved from Fort Collins to Ketchikan in September of 2014.  Our experience on Alaska Airlines was phenomenal.  All staff, on and off the plane, are friendly, courteous, and wanted their customers to be satisfied.  And we were!  We learned firsthand why Alaska Airlines is number one in the USA for customer satisfaction and being on time.  The flight left Fairbanks early in the morning and arrived in Ketchikan about 6 pm--it was a long day.  The flight required that we fly the following route (also known as the "milk" run--this flight drops off food, milk, etc. at remote towns):

- Fairbanks to Anchorage--59 minutes (switch planes)

- Anchorage to Juneau--1 hour and 40 minutes

- Juneau to Petersburg--46 minutes

- Petersburg to Wrangell--24 minutes (If that. The pilot was doing so well that we arrived in Wrangell at the exact minute we were supposed to leave Petersburg!)

- Wrangell to Ketchikan--32 minutes

The pilot from Anchorage to Ketchikan treated passengers along the way to a gorgeous view of the Alaskan wilderness.  He announced that he would be flying as low as possible to give us the best possible view of Alaska from the air--and that he did!

Enjoy the photos from our seats on the various flights.

In the photo below, the little green area is an island so you can see the perspective and the beauty of the sand and silt patterns.

We spent almost two weeks with LeeAnn and Jeff and had a marvelous time catching up and catching more salmon than we imagined.  They were an absolute blast to be with and we loved every moment.  Jeff's boat is ocean worthy and we spent many hours aboard with the two of them and their dog "Tootsie."  We can't thank them enough for all they did for us while we were there and for the "fishing of a lifetime"!

Below is a photo from inside their home (walk out to the ocean), looking out onto the water and Gravina Island.  You can see Gary on the deck looking for eagles.  They have the best view ever and an incredible deck!

They had slugs galore around their house and on their driveway.  Curious creatures.

Here are some photos from Ketchikan:

​Below:  One day we went out to Prince of Wales Island and visited a fishing camp where a friend of Jeff's has a cabin.  Check out this link.  Interesting history and beauty beyond description.  (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_of_Wales_Island_(Alaska)

A halibut that they had caught in fish camp...

Below is Wrangell shrimp that Jeff caught.  

The sweetest shrimp I've ever had!

I'm a fishing nut and LeeAnn got me a new fishing book for my birthday!

​If you're going fishing you have to get weights.  Since we would be using down riggers to catch salmon we needed "big" weights or in this case cannon balls.

Jeff's boat is 26 feet long with a small cabin and required some big engines.

We needed a pistol on board for when we stopped at islands.

Some boat pics...it rained often, but nothing stops determined fisher people!

Life is ruled by the tides if you live on the ocean and there are tide books everywhere (cars, boats, home, etc.)

A pole in a down rigger...

Here is Tootsie all bundled up.

Check out the fish on the fish finder

And on the deck!

Salmon eggs.

Yes, Gary caught the most and biggest fish!

And I struggled to lift this big one for the photo

LeeAnn pulled in some great fish!

We passed Seal Island on the way to Traveler's Cove.

One day when we were out fishing we stopped at Margaret Bay (26 miles from Ketchikan) to see if we could see any bears.  Check out this site http://www.alaska.org/detail/margaret-creek-traitors-cove.  We had a great hike but did not see any bears.  We did smell one though.  It had just been on the trail we were on and it was rank!

Enjoy the photos from our hike.

The viewing area which overlooks the creek where salmon run.  This is where hungry bears meets spawning salmon.

Things we saw along the way, compliments of Gary.

Jeff and LeeAnn heading back to the boat.

We spent time cleaning, smoking, and preparing salmon to take home.  Below on the left is a filet of a rare White King Salmon.  High coveted.  And on the right is Chum Salmon on the left and Silver Salmon on the right.  The towel that the salmon is laying on in the lefthand photo is a beach towel.  That gives you some perspective about the size of the filet--minus the tail and the head.

Gary smoked two smokers full of salmon!  Yummy!  And LeeAnn made a delicious halibut dish one night.  Lots of garlic and fabulous flavor!

Here is a page from the fishing regulation booklet that helped us identify our Salmon types.  There are 5 types of salmon:

King--Chinook

Pink--Humphy

Silver--Coho

Chum--Dog

Sockeye--Red

We caught everything except the Sockeye Salmon (they weren't running when we were there).

We had the best time with Jeff and LeeAnn!  We can't thank them enough!  Fishing in Alaska and living in Alaska is an adventure and we were able to have a taste of both!

We love you guys,

Ellie and Gary

Check out:

BLOG 22--ALASKA:  SALMON FACTOIDS next!