Chilly Nights 2

We finally made it out of the snowy, cold Alaska interior, but we saw some great sights along the way.

Morning after a fresh snowfall left us chilly and thinking of home.

Our trusty steeds (bikes) were unridable and colder than us! It took a couple days for that think ice to melt away

We had some great fishing on Kathleen River just south of Destruction Bay. We each caught a few rainbow trout as well as some Arctic Grayling. It almost made me realize why people fish so much!... almost...

Very proud of my HUGE catch (warning, objects in the picture are WAY bigger than they appear... wait except for me... I'm slim as ever)

Mosquito Lake. an amazing spot we found north of Haines. The eagles were flying and the swans stopped for a bit on their way south

Our little campground amidst the beautiful fall colors

In Haines during the summer there is an eagle population of about 300. In the winter this soars to 3000. I have never seen so many eagles. Everywhere you looked, it was incredible.

We had already falling very much in like with Haines. And that was BEFORE we fished with the grizzlies. Andrew picked up some more tips on grabbing the salmon with his bear (teehee) hands. Apparently this was a safe distance. At about 30 meters people finally started to move back up towards the road. The salmon were running and the bears were feeding. There were two sets that we saw. One momma and two cubs and one momma with three cubs. They didnt seem too concerned with all the fisherman, apparently they realized there was enough fish to go round. Definitely one of the highlights of our trip so far.

Cleaning a huge salmon with the bears in the background. No big deal. I'm jut happy he wasnt menstruating.

This baby here was a collective effort. Andrew cast, and I reeled her in. It was long awaited, even if she was a bit small. We ended up releasing her and wishing her a safe journey past the bears.

Momma bear playing in the water. I just wanted to give her a big hug!

The sign as we were waiting for the ferry... should we be worried?? I didn't think we were in Mexico yet.

As for now, we are enjoying a bluebird day in Ketchikan. The 4th largest city in Alaska and Salmon capital of the world! I can't even imagine what the salmon fishing is like here after we have seen Haines and Valdez... We have a few more hours before we have to jump back on the ferry to head to Prince Rupert. It seems strange to have been travelling so long, and put so many miles on the van, to just be arriving back in Canada. Ah well, its not the destination, its the journey right?