I've been home for a little over a week. As usual there was a lot to take care of when I got back. Grass was taking over my 8.5-acre mini-farm, threatening to strangle us in our sleep. My do-list was longer than ever; unfortunately a Good Samaritan didn't come along and take care of it while I was gone.

But I'm almost caught up now, and have enough time to do a wrap up of our Alaska trip.

The Rest of the Story

Following a wonderful day on the Kijik catching graying, we flew back to Anchorage, then on to Fairbanks the next morning via Frontier Alaska.

We stayed with a friend, Adela Jackson. Adela is a graphic designer and photojournalist who has lived in Fairbanks over 30 years. Her log house sits on five acres on the outskirts of Fairbanks, and occasionally a moose wanders through her yard.

Adela is an energetic, creative woman who looks a tad like Sarah Palin, whose politics she admires. However, Adela's a better shot than the gov', as evidenced by her cabin's decor. It includes a couple of moose racks, a caribou head, some wolf pelts, and a few other former critters, all of whom were taken by Adela.

I'd never been to interior Alaska before, and when I got off the plane I felt an unfamiliar sensation--warmth. Away from the coast, and getting 22 hours of daylight, Fairbanks can get downright hot in the summer. We won't talk about the winter, at least not yet.

The start of the Yukon 800 boat race. But how far would he make it on the Deschutes?

Fairbanks is a jumping, almost manic, place during the summer solstice. We went from the start of the Yukon 800--an 800 mile boat race--to the Farmers Market to a tour of the El Dorado Gold Mine to the start of the Midnight Run, a 10K walk/run. We were going non-stop from the time we got off the plane until we fell into bed. It never gets really dark here in late June.

Participants in the Midnight Run in Fairbanks.

The next morning we were back on the Chena River for the completion of the Yukon 800, then on to downtown for the Midnight Sun Festival. This is a street fair, and it seems like most of metropolitan Fairbanks (about 100,000 people) shows up sooner or later.

That's a cool thing about Fairbanks--there's such a strong community spirit. You can sense it in the people you meet, who seem universally friendly and open.

The day ended with the Midnight Sun baseball game, an event played without lights near midnight on the solstice. It's been held for 104 consectutive years. This year, the Fairbanks Gold Panners pulled out a win.

More Exploding Fish

Monday we were back on the water. We flew via Marina Air (on a Beaver, natch) to a secluded, pretty lake and did some more pike fishing.

Adela came, and the three of us stayed in a small, simple cabin near the lakeshore. A boat and motor were at our disposal, and we plied the edges for pike. There were plenty of them. They grabbed our flies while trolling, as well as while casting streamers and surface flies.

Mrs. Fuzzy and Adela at the cabin by the lake. Mrs. Fuzzy is applying bug juice. Lots of bug juice.

I feel like I'm starting to get a handle on the pike fishing, and I'll put up a "Pike 101" feature article in the next week or so. I'll also put up an informational piece on Fairbanks. It's a neat town, and very different than Anchorage. I'm planning to come back, once as part of a summer trip to Denali, and once in winter--there's a lot going on here when the sun don't shine, too.

The Fuzz with another pike. This one grabbed a surface fly.

Rainbow River Lodge Redux

I really can't say enough good things about Rainbow River Lodge. It was a first class place in every way--the food, the accommodations, the housekeeping, the guiding--it was all top notch.

We talked with a couple from Colorado who have made eight lodge trips to Alaska. This was their first time to Rainbow River Lodge, and they said it was easily the best of all the lodges they've been to.

Owner/Manager Chad Hewitt offers three options for fly anglers: staying at the lodge (expensive), week-long guided float trips (about half a lodge trip), and self-guided float trips (least expensive) where Chad supplies the rafts and camping gear as well as the flights in and out.

For a little more about the lodge, click the start button on the audio clip below. You'll need the Quicktime player to hear it.

It has been great reading all these reports about adventures in different parts of Alaska!
I have to say that the pike fishing seems really interesting to me -- and the big rainbows!