Leaving Denali early, we had 5 to 6 days to explore and get chores done while not getting too far away from S & E. Having missed the Denali Highway on our way up, we explored about 30 miles to a BLM campground, Brushkana. This was enough to know it was worth a return trip should we ever find ourselves back in Alaska. The road is 100+ miles of gravel that follows the foothills and lakes of the Alaska Range.
Wasilla became the business stop with one sleep at Walmarts. On to Little Sustina River Public Access, a Fish and Game property for our first salmon river fishing experience. The catch of the day was chum (dog salmon) and it was rainy so we moved down to Anchorage. With a tip that RV campgrounds weren’t particularly good around the city, we opted for Cabela’s with designated RV areas and services for traveling folks. More fishing at Ship Creek with an abundance of mud and pink salmon this time. Again not very good eating but we tried anyway, agreed and continued to catch only enough for Nina who thought they were great. I also picked up a fishing license at this point because sitting on the bank watching was too hard.
Our final days were south at Bird Creek CG on the Turnagain Arm. This was true combat fishing like you read about with people lining the banks casting lines everywhere and mud feet deep and so sticky that if you stand in one place long enough, you sink in deeper and can’t break the suction to get your feet and boots out. I saw one small child fall across the other side of the river. She lost her boots and got stuck. Dad tried to carry her out over his shoulder but with the combined weight, he couldn’t move. Someone else had to come help. This mud is like quicksand containing a lot of silt from the glaciers. They have bore tides in the Arm which is a wave of tide that comes in an hour or so after an extreme low tide. The tidal range can be as much as 38’ with an extremely high tide of 32.8’. There are many warnings not to go out on the sand flats where you can literally get stuck with an incoming tide with no one able to help you get out.
Fishing again produced just the pinks although some were getting an occasional silver salmon. Good for Nina but we gave up after a massive mud cleanup and awaited S & E’s arrival and move south to Seward.
