Trip report AK - long....

[Tod Osier]

HI all,

We only were able to do one trip in the Sunline this year. It was a pretty good trip, so I thought I’d post up some pics. This is general trip report I’ve done for other places, but I added some Sunline photos for you all. If you don’t like dead fish, dead animals, scenery or dirty Sunlines; please read no further.

I left CT in July with the dogs, Pete (Black) and Mesquite (Yellow). Jen and Gus flew into Fairbanks. The drive up was 4,300 miles and I did it in 8 days (7 days on the way back). Total trip was about 13,000 miles. I got back Sept 7.

Once Jen and Gus got in to Fairbanks we loaded up with supplies and headed South. We stopped by the Klutina River for a couple days to fish for Red Salmon. We caught the tail end of a big push of Reds and although the fishing wasn’t the best, it did get us a chance to hone our technique for later in the trip, not to mention stocking up on some great eats. The Klutina River reds are one of the runs that make up the Copper River Sockeye run. The fish were just a touch blushed (not perfectly bright from the ocean), but their quality as far as table fare was beyond excellent. I will say that these fish are also the wormiest fish I’ve ever seen (gut cavity worms, not meat), so next time you have a nice piece of Copper River Sockeye, remember that J.

My first Klutina Red (Jen’s was actually first, but we don’t have a picture, hers was also bigger).




First bag of fillets – I never got over the color of the flesh when filleting.




Sunline on the edge of the Klutina River, the river was scary fast and cloudy with glacial flour.




From there we visited McCarthy and went to Kennicott Mine in the Wrangell St. Elias National Park which has some good rockhounding for pretty copper minerals that interested us (I have no pics, but I do have the minerals). On the way we got to watch the personal use and subsistence fishery associated with the Copper River Sockeye run and that was pretty cool.

Personal use and subsistence fisheries (and hunts) were a new thing to me and it was cool to learn about them and see some of it in person. In this case the personal use fishery is open to any AK resident, they can use a net of specified size and there is a seasonal limit as well as extra fish that can be taken based on the number of family members – for this fishery I think it was 25 fish for head of household, plus 5 for each additional family member (don’t quote me, but that is close).

Here is a shot of some personal use dipnetters fishing the Copper River, there were natives dipnetting nearby as well as a large number of native fish wheels further up the river.




Native fish wheel along the Copper River. The current makes the wheel spin and scoop the fish and then upon rotation out of the water the fish is dropped and slides into a basket.






Scenery shot of the Copper River.




We planned to visit hit the tailing piles at the Kennecott Mine at the Wrangell - St Elias National Park & Preserve. Nice National Park, lots of cool mountains to look at and rock collecting is allowed. To get to the park you have to drive the McCarthy Road, which is a dirt road on an old railroad bed. Road is pretty nice these days and we saw a load of nice wildlife along the road.

Black bear sow with a pair of tiny cubs crossed the road right in front of us. One of the cubs had a hard time making it up the bank and ended climbing 3’ up the tree. Momma was watching from the thicker cover.




Nice Bull Moose feeding in a pond – you can just see the antlers in the pic. Lots of waterfowl breeding in the ponds here tooo…




Copper ore processing facilities in the Park.



From there we headed for a few weeks to the Kenai Peninsula. We camped in Seward, the Russian River, Anchor River and then Homer. We did a fair bit of fishing there and it was great to see Salmon in all their forms.

We hiked out to Tonsina Point South of Seward, not a bad view of Resurrection Bay.




Spawning Chum Salmon along Tonsina Creek.




I went out on a combo Halibut and Silver salmon charter, which means fishing for chicken Halibut and mooching for Silvers. I should have figured out a way to get out without a charter; it is just me, but I never really enjoy charters even if the catching is good.

Couple chicken Halibut.




Nice Silver.




We hiked up Exit Glacier and that was a pretty neat experience. We were able to borrow crampons for Jen and I, but couldn’t get kid-sized, so I made hardware store crampons for him – he didn’t slide off the glacier or into a crevasse, so I guess they worked.




Gus demonstrating his gold panning technique on Resurrection Creek near Hope, AK. He actually just sloshes the water around in the pan, but he does look good doing it J.




We fished the Kenai River and Russian River Runs for a few days and hit the timing just right for us. We were at the early part of the run and there were plenty of bright fish and the number of fishermen was not too bad. By the time we left the number of people fishing had doubled and over the course of the next week there were a lot more people coming in to fish.

My first limit of Reds. Photo was taken at 11pm, or so – the light all night thing is pretty great.




Small brown bear that was hanging around the lower Russian River. We had seen him eating salmon carcasses earlier in the day, but when I was on my way home at midnight he stood up on his hind legs from out of the weeds riverside. He wasn’t close enough to hit with the tip of my fishing rod, but was close, say 15 yards.




Nice pile of fish from the confluence of the Russian River and the Kenai.




Gus had hooked a couple fish the first day (with some help), but wasn’t able to land anything, so the goal the next day was to get him his limit of Reds. Given the current, the depth of the water, the weight of the gear and the strength of the fish, he needed some help, but he did great.




Gus with his biggest Red Salmon, he was pretty excited….




We hiked up to the Russian River Falls and Lower Russian Lake to see the accumulation of Red Salmon trying to make it up to the lake for spawning.

Salmon stacked up below the falls.




Salmon at the lower portion of the lake after having made it above the falls…




This is a moose that we saw swimming across the Kenai River. We stopped checked it out swimming in the river and then got back in the truck and headed out. He ended up crossing the road right in front of the truck a mile or so down the road.




From the Russian River we headed to the Anchor River area and spent a few days fishing and exploring the area.

This area has a very cool system for boat launching that I’ve heard about for years and was excited to see. They use tractors (look like log skidders to me) to launch the boats. There is a large tidal fluctuation and there are no harbors in the area to build significant boat launches for big boats, so they use the tractor launch. Here is the fee is $50 for a launch, parking and pick up. The tractors can get way out there to launch and retrieve.




Bayliner in AK? At least it is a good look at the tractor.




There were some fish in the lower Anchor River, some nice bright Pink Salmon, which ate well fresh. Neatest was the bycatch, these Starry Founder would hit you up in the fresh water inside the river. Always neat to catch something different.




As always, playing in the sand was an important part of the trip.




The dogs always have a good time at the beach.




Here they are playing tug-o’-war with a kelp stipe.




In Homer we were between salmon runs, but the Pollock fishing was outstanding. To do it again, I would have kept a bunch for chowder, but I was plenty saturated with fish cleaning at that point.






Gus was more interested in starfish than Pollock fishing….




From there we worked on getting gear ready for our float trip and headed North to the North Slope of the Brooks Range. Both Jen and I had always wanted to visit the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, so we planned a float trip down one of the rivers that flows North out of the Brooks Range into the Arctic Ocean. One neat thing about the North Slope is the drive there, the road is not all that bad and it travels over 400 miles through the Boreal Forest, the Brooks Range and then the Arctic Tundra all the way to the Beaufort Sea of the Arctic Ocean. The road has a bad reputation for being tough on vehicles, but we had a good setup, 2 spares for truck and camper and good heavy duty tires all around. We saw only one truck with a flat and a truck with a truck camper that sheared his lugs off and needed a 200 mile tow to Fairbanks (apparently if you drive several hundred miles on rough road with loose lug nuts that is what happens).

The first couple hundred miles are actually some of the worst, there are some areas with steep grades of 10-12% on dirt.




Camp on the bluffs over the Yukon River.



Even though it was mid-August, you could really feel Fall in the air as we moved North. The Fireweed was done, which is a sure sign Fall is coming.



This is heading up into the Brooks Range.




We stopped and ate Halibut ceviche for lunch at Atigun Pass at 4,800 feet, which is WAY above tree line this far North.




Looking North at the last fingers of the Brooks Range after coming over the pass. We would fly in somewhere there…




Last of the Bluffs before they give way to the coastal plain.




We made it to the Arctic Ocean.




We were able to get all of our gear out in 2 650# flights. This included Jen, Gus, I, Pete and Skeet as well as raft and gear.

The dogs did really well, it was funny to see their faces on the take-off. Once we leveled off they just calmly watched out the window like in the truck.




This is the River we floated, this is pretty much the most braided part, some of it was a single channel, but most was somewhat braided.



Coming into the mountains.




When that plane leaves you are really alone. I landed at about 10:00 pm and Gus and Jen came in at 11:45 pm. I had the tent set up on a gravel bar and we were able to get Gus to bed before too long.




The next day we moved our camp to where we have good visibility of the area and some willows and topography to block the wind.




The mountains were about a mile from camp and we did some exploring in the foothills. Gus, Jen and Skeet, with camp in the distance.




Spot where a Grizzly was digging for ground squirrels.




I did find a Caribou. Given the reports we had heard before we went out and that we were seeing only a few each day, I knew I needed to kill any acceptable bull that I could.




I shot the caribou in the process of pulling camp and loading the raft in order to move downstream a few miles to a new area. After getting the bull broken down and the raft loaded, we opted to head further downstream than we had planned since the fishing was better the further down you go in this river.




Lots of grayling very willing to hit a #4 spinner. Jen was designated caster since I was on the oars and she caught a boat load of very nice Arctic Grayling (in the Arctic, so that was cool).




I was allowed to catch a few too.




What we were really looking for was Sea Run Dolly Varden that summer in the Arctic Ocean and spawn and overwinter in the river. Gus was able to hook a nice male that put up a great fight.





Typical gravel bar camp on the way out.




This is just a shot of the raft, since we really didn’t have any good ones. Jen and Gus had swivel seats in the front with an action packer as a table between. The dogs had a plywood platform to the side and behind the oarsman that had storage underneath and then a whole pile of dry bags to the rear. The setup worked very well and everyone was comfortable. It was 60 river miles to get to the takeout, so having a good seat was appreciated.




Around that point we had been in for plenty of time and on checking the weather forecast on the sat phone a strong front with weather in the 20s, wind and snow on its way, we decided to head for the take out. We busted our ass against a serious headwind to get out, but were really glad we did. We pulled out at midnight and the weather the next day was awful with strong wind, cold and snow, weather that would have sucked for anything but sitting around, especially since Gus was on his last pair of mittens (out of 5 pairs).

The next day we headed South and slowly made our way down the Dalton Highway.




The pass over the mountains was plowed down to gravel and we followed a grader up and over. I really did not want to have to chain up the truck since it was cold, windy and the chains were buried under a 1000 pounds of wet gear in the truck bed.




In the 2 weeks we were on the North Slope the tundra really took on a nice blush of Fall. This is just South of the mountains.




We had some time and stopped a bunch along the way South. We had a lot of gear to get dried out and the weather turned absolutely beautiful once we got South of the mountains.




Getting the quarters a little air. Everything else fit in the freezer in the camper, which was nice.




Crossing the Arctic Circle on the way South.




Gus with an Arctic Arctic Grayling. The fish in the River were really dark, much darker than the slightly stained water would suggest.




We found a few spots with great concentrations of Grayling. Where a kid could just nail one after another, it was great.




Dinner…




We had some great berry picking. Blueberries, cranberries and crowberries, just kissed by the first frosts.




And after all, isn’t it all about the rainbows, or is it sunsets????

[Tweety]

What an adventure! Thanks for posting

[henryj]

Wow, you really made the most of that trip! I want to go again. Just curious, what route did you take through BC? Any ferries?

Henry

[Poppy & Nana]

What a great trip and wonderful photos....hope the family had a great time!

[wilson3]

Awesome, memories made for a lifetime! Thanks for sharing.

[JohnB]

Tod,

Outstanding!!! Very nice and thank you for sharing your trip and family with us.

If Sunline was still in business, that pic of the camper and truck at the Artic Circle would of for sure made it into a sales brochure somehow.

Seeing that wilderness in it's many splendor and you tent camping in it brings back memories of my trips to Quetico Provincial Park and the White Otter Wilderness area. (the Canadian boundary waters area north of Minnesota) after the first portage, there is no one.. other than maybe an occasional fellow canoe'er. Just you were out a lot further into the wilderness.... We where only 40 miles out. You just cannot beat fresh fish out of those pristine waters. And you for sure where into fresh fish! WOW!!

Your axle flip and bigger tires I'm sure paid off on this trip.

Again, spectacular trip and thanks for sharing.

John

[Sunline Fan]

Awesome trip, Tod! I shared the link on the Sunline Facebook page so more people (and former employees) can see your epic journey. May not be the Sunline customer photos section, but it's as close as we can get.

[Tod Osier]

Originally Posted by henryj

Wow, you really made the most of that trip! I want to go again. Just curious, what route did you take through BC? Any ferries?

Henry

No ferries, I drove the direct route from CT to AK, I was just trying to get there to meet up with the plane. Passed a lot of awful pretty territory on that drive.

"Your" tires held up well on the trip, gave me a lot of confidence running on those LTs. Again thanks for doing the legwork on that and sharing what you found.

T

[Tod Osier]

Originally Posted by JohnB

Tod,

Outstanding!!! Very nice and thank you for sharing your trip and family with us.

If Sunline was still in business, that pic of the camper and truck at the Artic Circle would of for sure made it into a sales brochure somehow.

Seeing that wilderness in it's many splendor and you tent camping in it brings back memories of my trips to Quetico Provincial Park and the White Otter Wilderness area. (the Canadian boundary waters area north of Minnesota) after the first portage, there is no one.. other than maybe an occasional fellow canoe'er. Just you were out a lot further into the wilderness.... We where only 40 miles out. You just cannot beat fresh fish out of those pristine waters. And you for sure where into fresh fish! WOW!!

Your axle flip and bigger tires I'm sure paid off on this trip.

Again, spectacular trip and thanks for sharing.

John

Thanks John. We did the Dexter wet bold/heavy duty suspension upgrade before we left as you suggested and I was glad I did. When I pulled the driver's side the shackles and bolts were very worn and the shackles had a bend to them. 13,000 miles would not have helped that situation.

The trip was pretty rough on stuff, I put 50K miles of wear on my truck tires. There was a 1000 mile strech of the Alcan that was really frost heaved and stone and tar, so very rough on tires. You could almost watch your tires wear between stops, for sure between the start and end of the day. Camper tires faired well, though.

While I'm detailing issues... I had three tire issues on the trip, two of my metal valve stems loosened up and a core came loose. They were all slow leaks, easily caught and easily fixed. I was expecting at least one flat, but I'll take it.

[Tod Osier]

Originally Posted by Sunline Fan

Awesome trip, Tod! I shared the link on the Sunline Facebook page so more people (and former employees) can see your epic journey. May not be the Sunline customer photos section, but it's as close as we can get.

Thanks Jon. We did see one Sunline in AK, it was a permanent camper at a campground. I thought we had a photo, but I can't find it.

[GoodoleBob]

That's what I call fishing! What a great adventure.

[GoodoleBob]

Tod, I sent you a PM.

[JohnB]

Originally Posted by Tod Osier

Thanks John. We did the Dexter wet bold/heavy duty suspension upgrade before we left as you suggested and I was glad I did. When I pulled the driver's side the shackles and bolts were very worn and the shackles had a bend to them. 13,000 miles would not have helped that situation.

While I'm detailing issues... I had three tire issues on the trip, two of my metal valve stems loosened up and a core came loose. They were all slow leaks, easily caught and easily fixed. I was expecting at least one flat, but I'll take it.

Good deal om upgrading the suspension before this trip. You would of been riding steel on steel by now if not.

The tire valve, if it is the metal nut, put a drop of blue loctite on then tighten

See here
Napa3.jpg Photo by JBarca | Photobucket

BlueLocktite.jpg Photo by JBarca | Photobucket Can get it at NAPA or other auto parts stores

Just make sure it is the blue removable kind. They make all kinds. Some are "permanent" and they are not coming apart...

No tire failures, that is a testament to LT's!!!