Re: Kenai Peninsula Camping

First camping trip ever. Two nights in Kenai Peninsula right on the Russian River. We could see the Russian River from our tent. This is not really a hiking thread as a, "WOW the bears are awesome" thread. I also was fishing in the river with waders just about exactly where these bears were the day before.

Here is a link to the album:
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.3706509340445.2146536.1206884965&type=1&l=4d737bec1d

Here is a video of the bears:
video: http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=3706604102814

And a couple pictures:









I did get in one nice little canyon hike:

By the way, Chick-On, or anyone else: Do you pay for extra storage space on Picasa? I am already bumping up against my limit and I can't put these bear pictures up until I start paying I think $2.50 a month. Facebook is fine but sometimes bumps up against corporate IT blocks when I send to friends.

I pay 5 bucks a year for 20G.
But that is an old plan so you are SOL there.

If you change to their Google+ or whatever it is... there is unlimited storage from my understanding.
I have been thinking about changing to that... or using a different gmail account to try it out.
I much prefer the non Google+ picture site though.

Thanks for sharing your pix. Pretty awesome.

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chicagocwright

Those cubs don't appear to be too happy standing in the middle of the freezing cold stream while their mama hunts for fish.

Thanks for posting all these wonderful pictures.
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I wish I could have caught a video of when one of the cubs lost his footing and struggled as he was being washed down river. It was amazing. And by the way, I have no idea how I managed to keep my footing when I was out there in waders and fishing. The water was halfway between my knees and waist and flowing hard. A couple of times I almost lost it. Falling in would not have been fun. The water is indeed cold, even though you stay dry in waders, it still gets pretty chilly.

On a sadder note, I never did get a clear picture of a lone cub much smaller than the ones pictured here. He seemed to be wandering aimlessly along the shore and the marsh growth with no mother in sight. Being this close to grizzly bears is simply amazing. I still haven't seen a black bear. And not one of those big white bears either!

And besides the eagle that was eating a salmon on the shore, I haven't seen a salmon yet! Fishing is really poor this year. All the fish are in Washington and Oregon this year with no end of theories why.

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chicagocwright

I haven't seen a salmon yet! Fishing is really poor this year. All the fish are in Washington and Oregon this year with no end of theories why.

Not sure about that. There appears to be plenty of wild salmon from Alaska stocking the meat cases at the local Bay Area Costcos.
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Well when I said "all the fish" are not in Alaska I was mildly overstating. But the runs are poor this year. And my sons reminded I have seen some baby salmon at Potters Marsh Boardwalk just outside of Anchorage. It certainly isn't fair for me to characterize the state of salmon based on one trip to the Russian River that was in between salmon runs. In about two to three weeks, the area shown in my pictures will be jam packed with fishermen in what they call "combat fishing". Guys standing shoulder to shoulder. No exaggeration there.

Even though I didn't get any fish this trip, I did get a couple halibut a few weeks ago. And in a few weeks, friends will be "dipnetting". Basically Alaska residents are allowed for substinence reasons to fish with big 5 foot nets toward the end of the salmon runs. I am not allowed to dipnet this year as residency requires a year stay. Two guys got about 200 salmon in just a couple hours last year. My freezer will be waiting!

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plawrence

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chicagocwright

Those cubs don't appear to be too happy standing in the middle of the freezing cold stream while their mama hunts for fish.

They're just wondering if photographer would be tasty and easier to catch.