Juneau Vacation - Part Two

One of our favorite places to fish is at Kowee Creek, actually a small river.

I like to fish here off the bank when I can't be bothered pulling on my waders and boots.

It is so peaceful and quiet, just the sound of eagles calling to each other, and water tumbling over rocks of a small downhill stream about 50 feet towards the mouth of the creek.

The color and milky appearance of the water, is caused by deposits coming from glaciers and is called glacial flour, and make no mistake, that water is Bloody cold.

For all of you asking about the bears, here is a picture of a black bear. I did not take this picture, but I thought you should see what a black bear looked like from about 300 feet up the road from us.

Mr.C and I had just climbed the guard rail back up onto the road after fishing under the bridge and were talking about how a black bear had walked the trail right behind Mr.C as he was fishing on a previous trip. The bear looked down on Mr. C and decided he was not worth the trouble and wandered off.

I had no sooner said I was glad it was not me the bear was considering as lunch, when I looked up the road and saw a black bear walk halfway across the road. I can tell you, I had an adrenalin rush and hoped the bear could not outrun me to our vehicle.

Just as I was about to make haste to our vehicle a car came down the road toward the bear who decided it was time to get off the road and back into the brush. Whew! that is about as close as I want to get to any bear.

Here is one of Mr. C's favorite places to catch fish, and as you see he landed this very nice pink female salmon.

Now why couldn't I catch one like this. I did manage to hook a good size fish but just as I was about to bring him in he broke my line. I did get a look at him before he swam away and he would have been worth landing.

This a male pink, or, they are also called Humpys because during spawning the males develop the hump on their backs. Take notice of that snout and mouthful of very sharp teeth.

The drive back from Kowee Creek passes through some spectacular country. Everywhere you look there are snow covered mountains wonderful wildlife and the roadside is brilliant with wildflowers.

Fireweed grows just about everywhere you look.

Dipac hatchery should be on your list of places to go if you are ever in Juneau. The hatchery was founded by Mr.C's friend Ladd Macaulay, who was killed by a drunk driver April 2000

We were a couple of weeks early for the salmon run. The salmon were just starting to come up the fish ladders into the hatchery. This photo I took with my polarized glasses over the lens of the camera. You can see a few of the many fish which were in a holding tank before being released up into the hatchery for processing.

This fabulous sculpture is out front of the hatchery.

Oops, I was a little close to the plaque, but you get the drift of what it says.

Part three coming up in a few days.