Album & Story: Alaskan Adventure 08

Around this time last year Keith and I had just graduated; myself from Miami and Keith from WRA. Our prize for graduating from Uncle Pat and Aunt Lori were plane tickets. They, of course, were hoping that these tickets would bring us to Alaska but they were mileage tickets that we could redeem at any time. Well, time went on and Keith was off to school busy with lacrosse and I was wandering the country trying to find my place in life and the tickets just sat there. Towards the end of June I found myself needing to get away from my daily routine and coordinated with Keith a good time for us both to cash in those tickets and head north to Alaska. We came to our Uncle and Aunt with the idea and within hours we had round trip adventures to Anchorage.

The next month seemed to fly by and before I knew it I was at the baggage claim of Ted Stevens Int’l Airport waiting for my bag at 1:00 in the morning. It was then that Keith tapped me on the shoulder and woke me up from my daze just in time to see my bag scoot by on the conveyer belt. We headed out into the warm Alaskan night and our adventure began.

Peter was waiting in the car for us outside baggage claim ready to take us back to Uncle Pat and Aunt Lori’s (UP & AL). I was basically sleep talking as Peter cruised down the highway but it felt great to be in Alaska hanging out with my cousins. We snuck in to the house around 2 AM and found our beds for a good night sleep.

When I woke up I was in a very comfortable bed rubbing my eyes reminding myself that I was on vacation. I woke up and met up with Keith and AL in the sunroom for coffee. After a nice morning visit Keith and I decided to go for a little run. A little run turned into a 7 mile journey to Uncle Dan and Aunt Cindy’s (UD & AC). AL joined us at UD’s and we enjoyed the afternoon in his lavish backyard relaxing around the fire. At 4:30 UD, Keith and myself met up with UP at the golf course for our 4:30 tee time. After driving a few balls on the range UP, his ugly friend Glen (see pictures for details), UD and myself proceeded to get our butts kicked by Keith through 18 holes on the prettiest golf course I have ever seen; even though it was only the second golf course I have ever seen. After golf we met up with the Aunts and the Cousins at UD’s for dinner and cornhole.

Thursday morning, Keith and I woke up bright and early to have a few cups of coffee with AL before catching a flight with UP’s friend Dave in his old Cessna. The little plane could only fit one of us at a time but both Keith and I were able to go up for about 2 hours each flying over rivers, lakes, mountains, glaciers and bears. We landed numerous times on various sand bars and one of us did a little skinny dipping (see pictures). After a long day flying around we headed over to a little cantina (Aunt Cindy’s kitchen) for fajitas and margaritas and, of course, many more rousing games of cornhole. The Ohio cousins both came to play, unseating the reigning champs (UP and UD) in a best of seven grudge match.

Friday morning snuck up on us and Keith and I both woke up to a beautiful morning on the couches in the gazebo. It was our job to get the packing done while UP was at work so we could leave for the Kenai ASAP. We met up with Pat after work and the three of us headed out early to make camp, catch a few fish and look for Jen Frank (Keith’s mystery girl). After a quick dip in Kenai Lake we set up camp in time to hit the river with Glen for some good fishing. The river was beautiful and very accommodating for its patrons. A comfortable walking path followed the water with multiple places to climb down into the river. It was at one of these locations that UP mistook a shadow for a rock and when he stepped down into the deeper than expected water took a spectacular fall backward into the icy water quickly filling up his waders and annihilating a perfectly good camera and cell phone.  Pat headed back to camp to dry off and Keith and I were left to watch Glen make fishing look easy. After watching a big brown bear meander down the river in our direction we grabbed our fish (the one Glen caught), and headed back to camp to meet up with UD, David and Peter to get a good night sleep.

When I climbed out of the tent Saturday morning David was waking up in his spot next to the fire, Peter was curled up in his car, UP was just starting to move around in the back of the truck and UD was collecting firewood. Once everyone was up we headed to Gwen’s diner/bar/general store for breakfast. We were still unable to locate the allusive Jen Frank but we made plans to gather our gear and do a float trip down the Kenai in the three water crafts that we brought with us. After dropping off a transport vehicle 14 miles down river we boarded our vessels and headed out. UD led the way in a very comfortable kayak followed by UP, Keith and Peter in Pat’s new drift boat leaving David and myself to bob down the river in the Kenai Coffin (AKA the canoe). I dropped my line in the water and jigged it across the bottom of the river as we traveled. About 10 minutes into the trip I had a fish on. After wrestling with it for a bit the monster came to the surface. I had what appeared to be a good sized rainbow and I was thinking about eating him for dinner. Keith was ready with the net and about to snatch that sucker out of the water when we were informed by our Uncles that that was not allowed and the lucky son of a gun got away. Around the next bend was our first bit of white water later to be determined a class 2 or 3 rapid. The kayak went through without a problem and David and I traveled close behind. The top heavy canoe did not stand a chance. The front end of the boat crashed down into the first wave and water came spilling into the boat. The boat shifted back and forth through the turbulent water and capsized sending its occupants into the frigid river. My waders filled with water in no time and made it hard to move through the water with any speed. Numb with cold we fought for the river bank as a crowed of people watched and cheered. It just so happened that we dumped on the only part of the river with an audience. It is almost as if they saw it coming and were just waiting for us to go in. Anyway, we made it to shore and climbed in UP’s boat heading down river to pick up the pieces. After emptying out the canoe and putting on dry clothes it was back to floating. Although that would not be the last rapid we would encounter a lesson was learned and canoe occupants sat on the floor of the vessel for stability. The rest of the float lacked any more fish but everyone stayed dry. We ended up leaving the Kenai that night after a good dinner and one last attempt to locate Jen Frank.

Waking up on Sunday morning in a nice warm bed with the smell of coffee and bacon in the air could not have been more heavenly. My eyes were still a little blurry when I moseyed into the sourdough Sunday extravaganza. UD and David were on their way over for the feast and we all had a very nice, much needed, relaxing morning. A plan was hatched to go for a hike in Girdwood later on that day. It turned out to be a beautiful trail on Mt. Alyeska that was known for having a hand tram (see pictures). A hand tram for those of you that don’t know is a little cage like box suspended from a cable that dangles over a deep gorge with a river and rocks and tons of other things you would not want to fall on. You pull yourself across this gorge with a rope connected to pulleys. The whole thing was a lot of fun. After the hike it was back over to UD’s for a big spaghetti dinner and a relaxing camp fire.

The next morning Keith and I decided to give our Uncle’s and Aunt’s a break and headed to Bird Creek to do a little fishing of our own. We must have been doing something right because within no time the fish were biting and we were able to get a few out of the water. They were some of the ugliest pink salmon you will ever see but we weren’t complaining. Feeling victorious we headed home for dinner. A rib cooking competition had been established between me and UD so we gathered our materials and started cooking. The competition was fierce and the judges where brutal but in the end I think I won (it may have been a tie). This was Keith’s last night before he would board another airplane and begin his long journey home so we decided to wake up early and give fishing on Bird Creek another shot.

Tuesday morning UD and brother-in-law Brian joined us for what turned out to be a skunk fest. The tide was coming in quick and we were eventually forced to retreat empty handed. After a few last minute Ulu modifications Keith boarded his plane and headed to Seattle to visit Robyn Westlake. I headed back to UD’s to finish my own Ulu where UD learned that he had just received a new job and a celebration was in order. That night we met at UP’s for the feast of a lifetime that included huge steaks and grilled salmon. I was able to visit with all my Alaska relatives one last time before I had to leave in the morning.

My flight was to leave at 8:30 Wednesday morning which left UP and I enough time to wake up at 5:30 and go for a good run down the coast before UD gave me a lift to the airport. After having such a great trip it was hard to leave but I was thankful for the opportunity. We did so many amazing things while we were there and I would like to thank my Uncles, Aunts, and Cousins that made it all possible.

Thank You

~Adam Henry

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Dan floating the Kenai

August 6, 2008 Linda