You can get a picture like this if you have a kid who loves water and a waterproof camera.
This is Casey in the bathtub.
Saturday, November 22, 2008
FISH OF THE FAMILY
You can get a picture like this if you have a kid who loves water and a waterproof camera.
This is Casey in the bathtub.
Sunday, November 16, 2008
TANGLED UP IN FINGER NAIL!
Maggie inadvertantly caught Casey with a finger nail. Are those some blue eyes or what?
CHRIS CORNELL CONCERT
November 2, 2008
Seattle, Washington
Showbox SoDo
Chris rocking the house. Click to enlarge.
I flew down to Seattle on a quick 24 hour trip for a Chris Cornell show. This latest tour is in support of his new album "Scream". This is the old grunge rocker's third solo album, in addition to his Soundgarden, Temple of the Dog, and Audioslave work. Flying down to Seattle every year or two to see a Chris Cornell concert has become a tradition of mine.
Chris Cornell playing the Showbox SoDo in Seattle, Washington.
One of the stops I always like to make whenever I'm in Seattle is at the Central Tavern in Pioneer Square. This legendary little bar is where the likes of Soundgarden, Nirvana, Alice in Chains, Mother Love Bone, and others got their start. The walls are full of things just like this below.
Kurt and the Boys on the cover of Rolling Stones magazine.
Seattle, Washington
Showbox SoDo
Chris rocking the house. Click to enlarge.
I flew down to Seattle on a quick 24 hour trip for a Chris Cornell show. This latest tour is in support of his new album "Scream". This is the old grunge rocker's third solo album, in addition to his Soundgarden, Temple of the Dog, and Audioslave work. Flying down to Seattle every year or two to see a Chris Cornell concert has become a tradition of mine.
Chris Cornell playing the Showbox SoDo in Seattle, Washington.
One of the stops I always like to make whenever I'm in Seattle is at the Central Tavern in Pioneer Square. This legendary little bar is where the likes of Soundgarden, Nirvana, Alice in Chains, Mother Love Bone, and others got their start. The walls are full of things just like this below.
Kurt and the Boys on the cover of Rolling Stones magazine.
Saturday, November 15, 2008
THE LAKE CREEK FLOAT
DATE OF FLOAT: AUGUST 21-26, 2008
Click to enlarge.
This turned out to be a trip of a life time. My friend Luke, whom I've known for quite a few years, and I started talking about planning some sort of float/fishing trip about 5 years ago. Last year, about this time, the talk started getting serious. Our original plans had us floating the Talachulitna River, but at the last minute we had to change our plans. We received word, through the pleasant folks at Willow Air, that water conditions were so low on the Talachulitna that rafters had reportedly been dragging boats through lots of shallow water. So we decided to float Lake Creek instead.
So it began; Luke, Luke's childhood friend Adam, and myself put my deflated raft in a float plane and flew to Lake Creek.
This airplane is a Beaver, and in the foreground is all our stuff. Click to enlarge.
And this is the Beaver's radial engine.
We flew for about an hour until we reached Chelanta Lake. Ole' Steve-o (the pilot) put us on the beach and bid us farewell.
The deflated boat and all our gear.
Loaded and ready to go.
So we set off downstream on our 60 mile float to where Lake Creek meets the Yentna River. Lake Creek turned out to be an absolutely beautiful float. The water coming out of Chelatna Lake was slow, wide and blue. There were tons of bright red sockeyes darting all around.
A shot of a sockeye with the digital underwater camera.
It's tough to guess, looking back on it, but I'd say we floated somewhere around 4 miles that first day. However, before we made it to our first campsite we all hooked and released several nice Rainbows, and to top it off Adam landed a nice bright Silver which made for several excellent riverside meals.
Adam caught the trip's only Silver.
And that nice Silver ended up in the frying pan.
Typical view on the upper section of Lake Creek.
The second morning was nothing short of exceptional. We brought several nice fish to the bank before we even left our first campsite, and the fishing to seemed to get better and better as we made our way downstream. We caught Rainbow after Rainbow, and tons of nice Grayling too.
Luke with a really sweet Grayling.
The further we made it down the river the more challenging the water became. It was boulder after boulder, at times it felt like our boat was a ball inside a pin ball machine. We got stuck on rocks, bounced off other ones, and in two places we went through short stretches of class IV water. The boat handled extremely well, and all three of us are pretty experienced rowers.
This is the second Class IV rapid.
This is another nice rapid in the canyon.
And we saw some other interesting things along the way. This is definitely Mother Nature at work.
Maggots chowing down on a King Salmon carcass.
The rest of the float was phenomenal. Every evening that we pulled off the river we found excellent places to set up camp.
The fishing seemed to get better and better as we made our way further down stream, with only one stretch of canyon being an exception. The second to last day was the best single day of trout fishing I've ever had in my life. I would guess that all three of us probably landed somewhere in the neighborhood of 50 Rainbows. I have been trout fishing my entire life and never have I experienced anything quite like that.
This is a beauty that Adam caught. Best viewed LARGE... click on picture to view full size.
And another beauty of a Bow.
Luke and Adam working to release a couple Bows.
Adam with a beaut.
Look at the colors on this fish.
One last fish picture. You get the idea!
The rest of way to the confluence of the Yentna River was fun but not with out obstacles.
Getting the boat underneath a log jam.
Once we arrived at the Yentna River we pulled over at a predetermined pick up spot and began to fold up the boat and prepare our gear to put back in the airplane. I was an adventure that none of us will ever forget. My instincts tell me I haven't seen the last of Lake Creek!
The float plane landed in the still water on the river to pick us up.
Click to enlarge.
This turned out to be a trip of a life time. My friend Luke, whom I've known for quite a few years, and I started talking about planning some sort of float/fishing trip about 5 years ago. Last year, about this time, the talk started getting serious. Our original plans had us floating the Talachulitna River, but at the last minute we had to change our plans. We received word, through the pleasant folks at Willow Air, that water conditions were so low on the Talachulitna that rafters had reportedly been dragging boats through lots of shallow water. So we decided to float Lake Creek instead.
So it began; Luke, Luke's childhood friend Adam, and myself put my deflated raft in a float plane and flew to Lake Creek.
This airplane is a Beaver, and in the foreground is all our stuff. Click to enlarge.
And this is the Beaver's radial engine.
We flew for about an hour until we reached Chelanta Lake. Ole' Steve-o (the pilot) put us on the beach and bid us farewell.
The deflated boat and all our gear.
Loaded and ready to go.
So we set off downstream on our 60 mile float to where Lake Creek meets the Yentna River. Lake Creek turned out to be an absolutely beautiful float. The water coming out of Chelatna Lake was slow, wide and blue. There were tons of bright red sockeyes darting all around.
A shot of a sockeye with the digital underwater camera.
It's tough to guess, looking back on it, but I'd say we floated somewhere around 4 miles that first day. However, before we made it to our first campsite we all hooked and released several nice Rainbows, and to top it off Adam landed a nice bright Silver which made for several excellent riverside meals.
Adam caught the trip's only Silver.
And that nice Silver ended up in the frying pan.
Typical view on the upper section of Lake Creek.
The second morning was nothing short of exceptional. We brought several nice fish to the bank before we even left our first campsite, and the fishing to seemed to get better and better as we made our way downstream. We caught Rainbow after Rainbow, and tons of nice Grayling too.
Luke with a really sweet Grayling.
The further we made it down the river the more challenging the water became. It was boulder after boulder, at times it felt like our boat was a ball inside a pin ball machine. We got stuck on rocks, bounced off other ones, and in two places we went through short stretches of class IV water. The boat handled extremely well, and all three of us are pretty experienced rowers.
This is the second Class IV rapid.
This is another nice rapid in the canyon.
And we saw some other interesting things along the way. This is definitely Mother Nature at work.
Maggots chowing down on a King Salmon carcass.
The rest of the float was phenomenal. Every evening that we pulled off the river we found excellent places to set up camp.
The fishing seemed to get better and better as we made our way further down stream, with only one stretch of canyon being an exception. The second to last day was the best single day of trout fishing I've ever had in my life. I would guess that all three of us probably landed somewhere in the neighborhood of 50 Rainbows. I have been trout fishing my entire life and never have I experienced anything quite like that.
This is a beauty that Adam caught. Best viewed LARGE... click on picture to view full size.
And another beauty of a Bow.
Luke and Adam working to release a couple Bows.
Adam with a beaut.
Look at the colors on this fish.
One last fish picture. You get the idea!
The rest of way to the confluence of the Yentna River was fun but not with out obstacles.
Getting the boat underneath a log jam.
Once we arrived at the Yentna River we pulled over at a predetermined pick up spot and began to fold up the boat and prepare our gear to put back in the airplane. I was an adventure that none of us will ever forget. My instincts tell me I haven't seen the last of Lake Creek!
The float plane landed in the still water on the river to pick us up.
Friday, November 14, 2008
EXTREME FISHING
YOU REALLY HAVE TO BE DEDICATED!!!
This morning at 6AM Doug, (my brother-in-law) and I left Anchorage on the 115 mile voyage to the Hidden Creek trail head. From there we walked about 2 miles down to where the Kenai River drops into Skilak Lake.
The truck on the Skilak Lake Road.
The drive down was pretty dicey. We ran into blizzard conditions in Turnagin Pass which made for white knuckle driving. Did I mention it was total darkness? We finally started to get some day light about 15 minutes before our drive ended. Not that helpful really. Once we arrived at the trail head we dressed into snow pants and boots, loaded up our big packs with fishing gear, food, and the likes and started the walk in. About 45 minutes later we arrived at Hidden Creek where we stopped to put our waders on.
Arrival at Hidden Creek
Once fully dressed we crossed the creek and walked the last 1/4 mile to the mouth of the Kenai. The fishing was a bit slow, we worked the river for about 2 hours. I caught one Rainbow about 20" long and 2 pretty nice Silvers that were a bit on the rosy side.
Landing a Silver!
I let everything go, as filleting fish this time of year sucks. Fishing was pretty tough, the eyelets of the fly rods were constantly freezing up making it nearly impossible to cast (this is a sign that ice fishing season is around the corner). Doug was snake bitten and didn't land any fish. We did have a nice lunch though. Doug built a small fire on the river bank and heated up a couple cans of chunky beef stew. It hit the spot considering it was all of 26 degrees.
The Cook Making Lunch!
It was a great trip, I hope there is one more in the cards before Mother Winter takes over. Stay Tuned!
Thursday, November 13, 2008
THIS IS MY FAMILY!
A favorite of mine from...........just yesterday!
My beautiful wife Michele and my second born Indio.
A picture of Maggie and Casey from over 3 years ago!
My 2 little home slices!
EAST COAST TRIP
Michele and I are getting ourselves and the kids ready for our voyage to the East Coast. We will fly in to Washington, D.C. where we will rent a car before driving 5 hours to North Carolina. We will spend a little over a week there with Michele's family. It will be fun and crazy. Michele's Mom and Dad will be there (Myles and Regina), Michele's sister and husband and kids (Kim, Randy, Gabby, and Quinn), Michele's brother and wife and kids (Kirk, Alex, Sammy, and Teddy), of course the five of us.
We rented a house right near the beach, we will spend Thanksgiving and my 35th birthday there. Once that wraps up we'll be driving back to D.C. where we'll spend 4 full days taking in as much as we can. Fun Fun!!
I'll keep you posted!
We rented a house right near the beach, we will spend Thanksgiving and my 35th birthday there. Once that wraps up we'll be driving back to D.C. where we'll spend 4 full days taking in as much as we can. Fun Fun!!
I'll keep you posted!
WELCOME TO MY BLOG!
Hello Everyone! Well I'm officially a nerd. This is my first entry of my first blog. This will hopefully give our friends and family a little different view of the Ireys family in Anchorage. This is not meant as competition to my beautiful wife's blog, clearly I can not compete! What's next...................a facebook profile. Say it's not so! This picture of me appears on Michele's blog too, but since it's my first blog entry I didn't know what else to put. I caught this fish a couple of weeks ago on the Kenai River.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
