Ho-Hum and Heights

June 13-14, 2013

Thursday was a ho-hum type of day doing chores, goofing with fishing poles, frying Arctic Char for lunch and cooking up a three-day dinner.  Mixed a visit with Dieter and Jerry to talk fishing, a twelve mile bike ride, and personally killing over 50 mosquitoes.  Jeremiah (Jon’s son) arrived home with a new Samsung front load washing machine.  I offered assistance but he declined and said a friend would help.

Friday started out bright, sunny and breezy so I went seeking information at a fishing charter business across the highway.  Pinks also will be delayed in VALDEZ so I’ll have to come up with an alternative for the mean time.  I went up to the house to check on the washing machine install and Jeremiah had it finished.  I told him I could smell the clothes washing and said that his first load last night was too large and the machine jumped all over the floor and knocked the liquid detergent to the floor, breaking the bottle and spilling most of the contents.  Jeremiah had also re-used the old hot and cold water hoses and I told him that wasn’t the best practice because of build up and possible cracks.  He was okay with it and was gone in a flash with a friend.  Then I heard the spin cycle on the washing machine and it sounded like he was washing his bowling ball.  I pushed it back into place and left the house.  Returning later, to use the internet, the washing cycle was complete and it looked the machine had tried to escape its new home as it was headed for the doorway.  Later I told Jeremiah that it was a leveling problem and I would set it up correctly for him.  Thirty seconds later, job was complete.

June 15, 2013

Or so I thought…I put a load in the washer and when it went to spin cycle, it pulled the plug from the outlet.  I re-checked level and re-started the spin…same result.  AHHHH, Jeremiah did not remove the shipping bolts…now they’ve been removed and it runs smooth.  I had a good phone call with Steve, only after he finished doing yard work at my house.  Now get ready to FISH.

Heading south on the Richardson (Hwy 4, if you are following along in your playbook), past GLENNALLEN to COPPER CENTER and the Klutina River.  It looked nasty even for a glacial river so I passed it by for a bit of trout on Pippin Lake.  Fish weren’t cooperating so I gave the Klutina a try.  Nothing like fishing BLIND, I was using new techniques on new fish in new water.  All I managed was a few snags, no lost gear and a foul hooked Arctic Grayling (12”) that I had to release.  The drive home was still enjoyable and I got a few more shots of Mt Drum and Sanford from a different perspective.

I am just impressed by Mt Drum (12, 010 feet)…it was probably another 500 -2000 feet taller before the darn thing blew its top.  It is a Stratovolcano…look it up!  It is also an Ultra Prominent Peak, one of approximately 1500 in the world.  I’ll give you this one, an ultra prominent peak has a peak of 1500 meters (4921 feet) or more from neighboring mountains.

June 16, 2013

I awoke to texts of Happy Father’s Day but did not smell coffee brewing or bacon frying.  I’d have to get perpendicular for that to happen.  I had a bit of trouble falling asleep probably because of the later then usual activities and dinner…I saw 2:30a before drifting off and it was still twilight.  I couple of hours passed and daybreak happened (4:00ish).  I know because the buzzing of a renegade mosquito buzzed my head and wakened me.  I killed him and the next one real good then I was back to sleep.  Made the coffee but skipped the bacon for ANOTHER bowl of oatmeal and while it cooked, I called my dad.  I must say it was close to a personal record time for a phone call with dad, 20 minutes and 33 seconds.  If you know him you know what I mean.

Even though it neared 90 degrees today, I did an hour weight workout then biked to visit Dieter and Jerry.  The sun did not stop all day and after the socialization, I finished the workout with a ten mile trek.  Cooled off with a shower, hydrated and had dinner before setting up the fishing gear for tomorrows trip with Jerry to the Klutina…nighty night, 4:00am comes early, even here in Alaska.