Do Moose Drink Where they Pee?

Mile 5735. Deep Creek View Campground, Ninilchik on the Kenai Peninsula. Raining.

After spending the day by myself I realize that time alone every three weeks is not enough for someone like me who values alone time, needs it to recharge, and is used to having it. Here I’ve been wondering what it’ll be like when we get home and Mark is home all the time when I should’ve been thinking about the here and now, not just being together but joined at the hip as you often are when you’re on an adventure and in unfamiliar territory and with only one car. A walk alone now and again is nice, but is usually not enough time and often we’re in areas where that’s not possible. Opportunities like today are a rare treat. No doubt for Mark too. While he may not need the space, he is doing something that he came to Alaska for and that brings him great joy – fishing. So while Mark is out on the Cook Inlet on a Halibut fishing charter boat I enjoyed a few hours on the beach walking, photographing, and watching bald eagles and other birds. A break in the storm that set in yesterday made the time all that much more enjoyable.

The clouds returned and the rain has started; I’m back at the trailer now working on this blog and waiting for Mark to return with what will hopefully be a good haul. I love halibut.

Our last day in Denali was lovely. We spent the day catching up on chores, writing the blog, and checking out a local brewery. One of our chores was a trip to Three Bears grocery store in Healy, a small town about 25 miles from the Park entrance. Because we forgot to buy butter and had our heart set on Quesadillas for dinner, we also stopped at Denali’s local “grocery” store where they sold butter in tiny single serving packages like you get when you order To Go food. According to the owner most of their customers stay in hotels so it’s not practical to sell it in sticks. Being chatty I shared with the owner that we had forgotten butter at our recent visit to Three Bears and with the mention of that store his eyes lit up. Turns out the store has been in Healy less than a year and prior to that he had to drive all the way to Fairbanks for groceries. Another local came in and the two of them laughed and told us how they didn’t care how much a tomato cost because they were just so excited they could buy a tomato and that they could buy one without driving 100 miles. They then went on to regale us with stories prior to the Ace Hardware moving in next door to Three Bears. You’d be out on a construction job and be short one screw and have to call all your buddies to see if they had the screw you needed so that you didn’t have to drive into Fairbanks. That of course launched them into stories about life before cell phones, when your mom would have to call the one guy in town with a landline who lived 20 miles from you and how that guy had to drive 20 miles to see you and deliver the message, which inevitably was just that your mom wanted to say hi. The two were having a good time with their stories and we enjoyed hearing them, but they made us stop and think. Living in populated cities all our lives we don’t know what it’s like not to have these conveniences. I whine when the store I’m at doesn’t have the brand and flavor of yogurt I like. Mark and I were in a “grocery” store in Ninilchik yesterday that had very little in it that was fresh. I guess we did what these guys did before Three Bears opened, we decided to go without.

Speaking of funny stories, twice now we’ve seen people in Alaska drive away from a gas pump with the nozzle inserted in the vehicle. The first time it happened the car sped away, yanking the hose from the pump; she was dragging not only the nozzle, but the hose. We honked and honked, but she didn’t stop. Ten miles later we saw the hose and nozzle lying on the side of the road. Several days later it happened again. This time the nozzle separated from the hose. The driver realized what happened immediately. Mark was filling up the truck in both cases and in the second, after removing the nozzle and setting it down next to the pump, the driver just shrugged his shoulders and told Mark he had too much on his mind.

Anyway, we had this fabulous moose sighting on the side of the road as we were driving back to our campground. She walked around the pond both drinking and peeing gallons and gallons of water oblivious to all the people stopped on the side of the road taking her picture, though as we drove away I looked in the rear view mirror and noticed her ears were up – a sign of annoyance. Moose can, in many cases, be more dangerous than grizzly bears so I’m hoping she didn’t act on her annoyance.

Later that evening Mark and I went back into the park for a final stroll. We sat on a bench along the Savage River with not another soul around listening to nothing but the sound of the water and our breathing. Rain brings with it new beginnings.

Denali was followed by a long day of driving, 458 miles to be exact, to get us onto the Kenai Peninsula. We mostly stop at campgrounds with electrical/water hook-up, sewer hook-up and laundry if possible, but we’re told you can overnight camp anywhere on the road as long as it’s not the shoulder and the turnout/rest area has no overnight camping posted. So we decided to give it a try our first night on the peninsula, stopping at a scenic rest area on Turnagain Pass, surrounded by green meadows and low mountains with patches of unmelted snow. We were a little uncertain about spending the night in this spot; I fell asleep half expecting a state trooper to pound on our door in the middle of the night telling us to move. But when we awoke we were surrounded by other overnighters and a tent camper who’d set up in the fields below.

I can’t help but chuckle thinking about the fuss we Californians made of our Poppies this year. The entire state of Alaska is a Fireweed super bloom and none more so than here in this section of the Kenai Peninsula. The flower signals the end of summer when the top of the stalk blossoms. Also in our little bedroom community birds that we’ve seen off and on since the beginning – Magpies.

Rain and low clouds accompanied our drive to Ninilchik, a fishing destination along the Cook Inlet (Pacific Ocean), as did smoke. One of the Alaskan fires is along the Sterling highway and we drove right through what is left of it, the smell and visually charred trees a reminder of how recently it burned. Just like Denali, where we could not see the Alaskan Range through the smoke and later the clouds, we cannot see the other side of the Cook Inlet. This lack of visibility is even harder to bear than the rain, but we try to keep our grumbling to a minimum knowing how badly the rain is needed. We drowned our sorrows with food, excellent pizza at a local pizza joint, and then move forward, donning our rain gear and heading out to a local river so Mark could fish and I could photograph.

The Kenai Peninsula is known for its bald Eagle population and I’m excited to be here to observe them. There are several adults and infants that hang around this area which is what took me to the beach this morning. In case you’re wondering, an infant bald eagle does not obtain its distinctive brown and white color pattern until it is 4-5 years old.

And here’s what I’ve been waiting for — the outcome of today’s fishing trip. Successful as you can see. And we took a pound of it over to the local Thai restaurant where they prepared Tom Kha soup and Penang Curry using the halbut. Delicious. What a way to end the day.