We have left the Kenai Peninsula and after a day’s stop here will continue north tomorrow to Denali National Park. On our last day on the Kenai we joined salmon fishermen on the Russian River ferry across the glacial milky Kenai River. Fishermen and women lined the south shore casting into the more transparent water from the Russian River tributary. Their objective was to draw the fly across the mouth of a sockeye salmon and hook it across the mouth. You see snagging is illegal and it is tough to get a sex starved fish to bite!

Our objective was not to see the fishermen, but we did enjoy seeing the salmon coursing over the cobbles. Farther upstream at the mouth of the Russian River the water was clear and full of the large salmon. Fishing is prohibited upstream of the ferry cable. We had come to see the bears that were making the fishing a bit dicey. It did not take long to find a big one. The shaggy red brown bruin appeared at the shore of a wooded island. We watched from the top of the bluff as the beast waded out and then swam back to shore a few times. It wandered the length of the island and then crossed to another smaller one. Our friends got great photos as it grabbed what were probably fish scraps from the fishermen.

The river, the bank, and a snow fence at the top of the bluff seemed to provide a bit of a barrier between us and the beast, but this evaporated when the bear, about sixty yards upstream, swam across and bounded up the bank and across the fence. It shook itself as it crossed the path and entered a spruce grove. Several moments later it walked out, now only about forty yards away. Ed and Chuck found this exciting and looked back to see how Anne and Nancy were taking this turn of events. They found them another fifty yards back on the trail looking very concerned. Chuck spoke loudly suggesting that the bear change its tack. The bear did in fact turn back away from the trail for reasons known only to it.

Later we spotted this same bear or another poking its head out among the hundred or so fishermen below the ferry crossing. There was considerable consternation but no other impact. The sow and cubs that were reported did not appear on this busy Saturday morning, but we were elated at our getting great views of an Alaska monster. The cost was eight bucks a person for the ferry ride. Compared to $500 to fly to Katmai, we had got our bear for peanuts. We were just happy it decided not to munch on us like peanuts!

Saturday was to be our celebration day for Ed and Nancy’s birthdays. They are a day apart and occurred on Friday and Saturday. First was the bear. Then we birded. The final “b” was to be a bore tide on Turnagain Arm. One was scheduled for 4:30 in the afternoon. We scouted a lookout early in the afternoon and then drove up the Bear Creek Road into the alpine. Upon returning to our chosen point on the bay, we looked down some twenty feet onto acres of mud flats and deep streams still carrying water out to sea. One hundred meters out the bay water streamed toward the mouth of the bay.

The wave arrived on schedule. Anne spotted it first through binoculars. First it seemed a white line and more like a band of snow than a wave. It crossed the mouth of the bay and swept down the channel. It reached the far shore first and we watched the wave reform and rush down the channel past us. Waves crawled over the flats turning the mud into a crawling black mush. A wave swept up a channel that turned toward the mouth of the bay as another wave overran the bar from the ocean side. The two waves collided to form large inky whirlpools that swirled for more than a minute.

We departed when the waves stopped coming and left as the flats disappeared. We took a final look at the beach in the cove alongside the rocky point that we had used as a perch. The big show was over and we left for a fine dinner in a little restaurant in the gold rush town of Hope. After a lovely and quiet dinner we returned to our lookout to see how the bay looked then. We were shocked to find the bay up to where we had stood. The beach and cove had vanished.

We drove back to the motor home at Cooper Landing. Ten thirty p.m. and the sun was shining. We inserted the foil between the windows and shades to create darkness and slept. Yesterday was a travel day, but one that took us past the Kachemak Mountains, glaciers, and also gave us final views of the dramatic Turnagain arm. We swept through Anchorage and started north into the “Interior.” Today we birded in the morning and shopped in preparation for our four days and nights within Denali Park.

A rule for the Teklanika campground is that the camper may be driven to the campground but must then be parked until departure. Buses take you from place to place. Another rule for the “Tek” is that all campers must be hard sided. The wolves are tooclose. We anticipate a grand stay.