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

Good to be back in AK!

Well, I received the wonderful opportunity to return to Alaska for another summer. This summer has the makings to be a truly epic summer filled many adventures, close calls, late nights counting salmon, and general shenanigans.

A quick rundown as to why I am here….I am, and will be counting Salmon all summer. First I’ll be located on the Kenai Peninsula in a town called Kenai where I will wake every morning to go count salmon smolt (think baby salmon) in our smolt trap. Basically I go down to a floating barge that catches salmon smolt all night and count and release them the following morning. While I’m in Kenai I’ll also have the opportunity to see a lot of different sights because I have driving privileges (which is very nice!), and the ability to actually go places because I am on the road system. In case you have never been to Alaska, there are very few roads in this very large state. Many of our remote field camps do not have roads that are near them, and everything must be flown in…anywho..moving on. Next I’ll head over to bear country and count large adult salmon as they return to their natal streams to gloriously spawn…from there I’m not sure.

As of late, I have had had the opportunity to go to Seward (200 mile drive round trip) 3 times in 4 days, and see all the sights in between…the weather has been amazing, as have the people and the times I have been having. I guess I’ll just post pictures with a bit of an explanation underneath them……………………

The First and Second Group of Interns Respectively:

My favorite dog up here!



The awesome drive to Seward, AK.













Here's some pictures in and around Seward:











These are called Halibut....taste very good!:





At Exit Glacier:


A sea Lion in Seward munching on Halibut:





Here's some shots of me at work, I get to drive really old awesome trucks and bronco's:



and bark orders at older people.....



and count smolt!



sometimes I make other people do my work...




......while I sit and look at birds that are eating all our fish!



such as these, and Artic Terns, and Gulls...




These are the smolt we are counting.





This is my co worker Max. He's a real cool guy from Wabash College in Indiana...in this picture we had to float this big barge down a river that was littered with rocks. The barge was like a pinball in a pinball machine bouncing off the rocks. It was a blast and we almost fell in a couple of times when we nailed some big rocks!




Now lets meet some of my coworkers!

First of all meet Amber. Amber is a 21 year old female from Monticello Kentucky. She has a glorious Southern Accent, and talks "country" too. Listening to her is a trip, as well as engaging in any conversation what so ever. She also packed a hair dryer and loads of hair spray for camping for 6 weeks. Her hobbies include smoking cigarettes (putting a cigarette out on a glacier is one of her many accomplishments) and sleeping all day. She's a hell of a person and very fun to be around. She is very missed now that she is in the field.




Heres the res to the crew...


Yes we go under the bridge do indulge in some adult beverages (cue Red Hot Chilli Peppers)

and look at this view...




Here's what we do in our gravel parking lot when there is nothing going on..also I want you to meet Kat (aka Kitty Kat). She's Amber's co worker in field camp.




we also gawk at Moose!





One of our camps required several boats...Almost looked like the Griswalds were going on vacation!






Here's my favorite group shots from Seward...






I did get to float the Kenai river with Todd in a Kayak built for 1. The water was Glacial fed..and very cold to say the least. We flipped it once and called it a day. It was a blast though!



Here's some highlights from my recent trip to Anchorage!
amazing shot of Turnagain Arm:




a little White Birch Salmon Food Porn!



A great band I saw in Homer called "Three Legged Mule"




and last but not least I cut my hair...here's the progression










well I hope you enjoyed! I have ton's more pictures, and many other stories.....Have a great summer!