COOPER LANDING, ALASKA

Russian River Ferry taking fishermen across River

We have been in Cooper Landing for four days and it would be easy to stay longer if I was a devout fisherman.  The Salmon are running now and fishermen are everywhere.  We are staying at the Kenai Princess RV Park which is operated by the Princess Cruise lines. 

Princess Lodge

The RV park is here because the company has a Lodge where they bring people from Cruise Ships that port at Whittier.  They run tours into the interior of Alaska from the Lodge.  It has all the amenities of any resort, a fitness center, a spa, and great restaurants.  We traveled the area, going 18 miles up a gravel road that followed the Kenai River deeper into a most desolated area.   The scenery was beautiful, we saw a moose and calf, a man that was dredging for gold in a pool at the base of a waterfall. 

Mining for Gold

The road ended and we drove off a side road to what we discovered was Cooper Lake.  There we met George "Bubba" Hunt and his wife Lynn.

Bubba Hunt

  He was a true Alaskan and is a famous Bear and Moose hunter from Soldotna.  As a matter of fact, he had shot a Black Bear the day before on the hillside beside the Lake.  When I returned to our RV I googled him and read about his exploits.  He was also a 3 time world champion moose caller.  Bubba has stage 4 lung cancer and he asked for our prayers,  We all hugged each other and while his wife, Lynn, came to tears we prayed over and for him.  Linda and I both felt this was a divine appointment because there were many times we talked of turning back.  We talked with him about being prepared for what is to come and whether he is a Christian.  Lynn and he both are!

On Sunday we went to the Kenai Lake Baptist Church for services.  We felt right at home!  Since it was fathers day, they had dinner on the ground after the service with BBQ ribs and grilled Salmon.  Of course we stayed and it was delicious.


Dinner on the Grounds

The pastor gave me several Russian River flys to go salmon fishing with.  After church we went back to visit with Bubba and Lynn on the Lake, sitting around their fire, just talking about life.

On Monday we drove to the Russian River campground and hiked 2.5 miles deep into the forest to the Russian River Falls.  Linda was nervous about the hike because it was into Bear Country and the Salmon were running up the river and trying to jump the Falls.

Salmon Jumping

In the last 2 weeks there have been 2 bear attacks with one person killed this past weekend, but she braved the trip in and out for a total of 5 miles.   We saw no bears but we saw salmon running and trying to get up river at the falls.

Moose with Calf

After walking out we drove to a point on the river that was covered up with fishermen.  It is interesting to watch the technique they call flossing.  Today we start making our way to Seward.