Well hello everyone out there. I know it's been quite awhile since I have rapped at you, but I have some great pictures to post here in this mighty blog. Make sure you make it all the way to the Bottom to see my celebrity section! I'll cut right to the chase and get with the content...

I haven't been up to much lately really..just working, hanging out, and enjoying all the fine amenities that Alaska has to offer. However.....

I did get to go on a really nice hike with the crew from Hidden Lake....

Lovely view of Skilak Lake..













Picture of the Kenai River Mud Flats with Mt. Redoubt in the background..




So I was making the short back to the office when I look to my left and spot this nice group of Caribou!




So I actually do, do a little bit of work. I've talked about it before but what I do is count juvenile salmon smolt that are migrating out to the Ocean. We have a trap that has an incline that catches the smolt as they are migrating towards the ocean. Sometimes we catch other fish.

Here is a Stickleback



Here's a net of smolt....We have been averaging around 6,000 smolt a day for the last few days. This represents roughly 2% of all fish leaving the river...total smolt migrating out of the river with our 2% trap efficiency is..300,000 smolt for that day alone!



we actually do have to take 1 in every 215 smolt back to the shop to gather some data on them....here is my best attempt to be artistic











A nice stringer of smolt! I wish we had a lego guy showing off his prize catch..but alas we didn't





Maximus suiting up


Our great flat bottom row boat that we take out to the trap full of our junk





See I actually do, do a little bit of work. In this picture I am carying 5 gallon buckets full of water and smolt. We have to do efficiency tests on our trap. What we do is gather 1000 smolt, dye them orange, and release them upstream. We than try and catch these smolt and see how many we caught. From this we can calculate roughly how efficient our trap catches the smolt.

Funny story...when we were carrying these heavy buckets full of fish up the trail, I look up right in front of Max and there's a Moose probably 15 yards away just munching. We yell at it in attempt to get it off the trail and the moose does not react at all. While we are doing this the Moose actually moves a bit closer to us, so we become a bit more alarmed (it's never good when a large animal approaches you). We both set our smolt down (don't want to spill the big buckets full of fish!), and finally Max throws a stick at it. This Big Ol' mooose just takes off full blast out of there we can finish our work...fun times



Max admiring his smolt stew


Psychedelic Smolts! (they actually look pretty dam cool when they are dyed





Quick, what Mountain is this? Hint: Highest Point In North America!




************CELEBRITY SECTION*********************



So there was this global sea food show that I was real lucky to goto because the guy who was supposed to go couldn't go because he was in the field (THANKS PAUL!!!). Anywho there were a few celerities...I'll give you a hint as to who they were.

One of the celebrities always wears this coat while smoking copious amounts of cigarettes.








































































Keep Guessing







































































































Yep, Jonathan from the Deadliest Catch (you do watch tv don't you?)
Jonathan and Larry


also

Phil Harris, and his boys




Talked to his boys for about 15 minutes...great guys...still working all year, didn't seem to washed up in all the publicity and fame...but definitely loved the attention from the females, and the free drinks they receive.




Sig was supposed to be there, but he got sick and had to stay in Seattle :(



Also I got to meet the Hottest GOVERNOR in the nation, miss Sarah Palin....



She was a blast to talk to for a second..she even put her arm around me.....oh man...



This was part of an industry trade show where Alaskan businesses came together to sell their products..it included a dinner, expo, and site visits. The dinner was an absolute blast.......all Alaskan food and drink with a bunch of BIG WIGS. Unbenounced to me I was babbling to a legislature that was sitting at our table for awhile..Here's what the menu inluded, and I must stress it was all you can eat drink....

King Crab
Snow Crab
Halibut
Salmon




and........

BEER

and...

WINE


oh my...Unlimited Alaskan Amber, IPA, and Summer.....Everywhere you turned there was a a tray full of glasses..it was glorious!

I tried King Crab for the first time and here is a picture




We also got to go visit a very small processor....

A nice king!



Filet Machine, notice the awesome sticker on it




you will lose every finger, not just one if you mess up.





well that's about it. I leave for a 10 day vacation tomorrow morning! Hope you enjoyed the pictures and the little bit of information I provided. I'll post vacation pictures when I get back

Take care

Kevin