Hatcher Pass, Sheep Scouting

 So after touring around with our friends we had to get back to reality.  They also took the sunshine with them (guess this is the true AK reality we live).  Amanda had to work so I drove to the end of Archangel Road (10 miles on dirt, 4x4 required) and then hiked to the top of the head wall of the Archangel Valley (3 miles each way).  Despite being deep into the Talkeetna Mountains I did not see and sign of sheep.  It was a very enjoyable hike.

 These mountains are 50 miles from the Ocean and rise to over 6,500 feet.

Tyler and Em invade Alaska

Our close friends made their first visit to Alaska.  They had less than a week so we knew it would be a whirl wind tour.  They started their trip with the scenic (8 hour) train ride from Anchorage to Denali National Park.  They took a tour of the park, took a jet boat ride, panned for gold and saw a lot of wild animals.  On Tuesday Amanda and I drive 3.5 hours to Denali to pick them up.  

 The weather for the past month has  been cold and rainy.  The forecast was calling for more of the same.  However our guest brought 70 degrees and sunshine with them.

 On our ride to Wasilla we stopped in Talkeetna for some drinks and food in our favorite little mountain town.

 Emily and Amanda

 On Wednesday I had to pick up my sister in-law Tory at the airport.  Tyler took the ride with me, we had some breakfast with Tory before we had to part ways.  Tyler and I went fishing and found it strange we could not get a hold of Emily.  Once we got home we found Em had locked herself out of the house for 2 hours.  She was smiling so we went up Hatcher Pass to Independence Gold Mine and had a blast hiking around.  Then we headed over to Schwabenhof to visit Amanda at work.  We then made a few stops in Wasilla (Last Frontier Brewery and the Mug Shot) before calling it a night.

 Thursday morning we brought Phinn to the kennel, and left the house at 9am.  We drove 3 hours south to Cooper Landing which is right on the Kenai River.

 This is our cabin at Drifters Landing.  Great place with great owners.  We had and afternoon guided fishing trip that had our hopes up.

 Come to find out we were not fishing for salmon, the trip was for trout.  Also, we had to use fly fishing gear which was new to everyone but myself.

 The weather was nice for a 4 hour float.  We had a great guide but we did not even catch a fish.  Guess the weather was too nice.

 We did get real close to a Bald Eagle

This is one of three "bites" we had on the day.  Too bad Amanda did not hook the fish.

 So we got back to the cabin, started a fire, drank some beers, had a sauna, and even jumped into the 38 degree blue water of the Kenai.  Despite getting skunked on the fishing we still had a blast.

 On Friday we headed 40 miles to Seward to visit Exit Glacier.  We did a 1.5 mile hike and had more fun.

 Upper Trail Lake

 Emily proving that our hip boots have holes in them.

Seward 

We left Cooper Landing at 3:30am on Saturday morning so we could get them to the airport in time for their 7am flight.  Sure was a crazy few days but it was so nice to spend quality time with two of our favorite people.  

Musk Ox Farm

 Earlier in the week Amanda and Phinn took their annual hike up Twin Peak overlooking Eklutna lake.  Our friends Tyler and Emily are going to be visiting this week and we are excited.  We just hope we get some nice weather.

 On Sunday we headed over to Palmer to visit the Musk Ox Farm.  They only raise these critters for their coats (kiviut).  very prehistoric looking.

 Amanda with a female musk ox.  yes, we were surprised how tiny they were, come to find out they are  mostly related to goats.

 2 month old babies.  they are born with full sets of teeth so they can start feeding right away.

 Bull.  900 lbs.

 Musk Ox nasal cavities have this spiral design so they can "heat up" the cold air before it enters the lungs.

After a little lunch we headed over to try some fishing.  Amanda landed a baby trout (4 inches) and she hooked up to a salmon.  See the Bald Eagle in the tree across the river.

Wolf

With Amanda working all weekend and the weather and fishing reports not looking so good I drove 130 miles east to the Klutina and Glukana rivers to see if I could find any salmon.  This season is the worst King Salmon return on record here in Alaska.
On my drive I noticed a large dog walking along the trees next to the highway.  I was in miles from a house and the dog had to be a wolf, so I pulled over.  I had Phinn with me and he wanted to fight.  As we were stopped on the side of the road and Phinn barking up a storm the wolf circles our truck and then disappears into the woods again.  Very cool.

 Long lonely road.  With a chip in my windshield

 So on Saturday Amanda was sewing and the cat was near by.  Amanda noticed the cat had swallowed some of the string and the needle was still attached and hanging from the string on the outside of her mouth.  Amanda went to grab the string, Tek ran and 30 seconds later the chase was over.  The needle was missing.  Not sure if the cat swallowed the needle, we brought the cat to the Vet.  The needle had passed thru the entire digestive system and was almost out.  so we waited 15min and out it came.  The Vet said they could not believe there was zero damage.  We all got lucky.