On Sunday we packed fishing clothes and dip nets along with our food for fellowship meal and headed up the road for church. It was the first service we had that was completely back to normal, and boy did it feel good to be able to visit with each other and have a meal afterward again.
We planned to head up the road two hours to Seward, Alaska that afternoon to dipnet hooligan, so we all changed into fishing clothes in the nursery and strapped the children into car seats for the drive.
All four children slept, and Andy and I talked as we drove into the mountains in Cooper Landing, and then turned off on Alaska Highway 9 to go to Seward.
Seward is a small, very picturesque town, at the end of the road. The town sits between the ocean and the base of the mountains and is surrounded by even more mountains and glaciers.
When we arrived, we went to the creek where Andy had caught two coolers full of hooligan just two days before. There were quite a few people there, but their nets were coming up empty, so after scouting out a few other spots, we decided to go see Exit Glacier instead. Maybe the fishing would be better later.
The glacier was developed for tourists, and had a parking lot, signs, gift shop, and well maintained trails.
From the sign we realized that to actually get all the way to the glacier was a two mile hike. We surveyed our fishing boots and small children ruefully and decided we had better just go to the glacier overlook – only 1/2 a mile one way.
Along the trail there were signs with a date marked on them to show where the glacier had come to in the 1800’s-1900’s. It has retreated a long way!
The walk was gorgeous and pleasant. Some of the time we walked along a chalky blue river – runoff from the melting glacier.
I was disappointed we couldn’t go all the way to the glacier, but the overlook gave us a good view of it, and before long we headed back, Oscar on Andy’s shoulders and the older two running ahead. Andy carried the bear spray and I carried Ariel.
When we got back to the fishing spot, it still didn’t look like much was happening, but we decided to get out the nets and try. Half the reason we fish for hooligan is that it is a small enough fish that our children can actually catch them. Most Alaskan fish are too big for a 3 and 5 year old to pull in.
Andy patiently helped Gabe and Jasmine fish while I held Ariel and kept an eye on Oscar so he wouldn’t fall in the river. The hooligan weren’t running very strong, but Andy and Gabe were able to catch 1-3 fish per scoop. A couple times they got 5-7 in a net, and even Jasmine managed to pull in a few fish with Andy’s help.
Everyone was excited and happy with our catch, and I was thrilled that Gabe and Jasmine are finally getting some fishing stories of their own.
