Alaska, salmon, mushrooms, and end of summer

The last few days of August are marching by. How...never mind, you've heard this question from me all year long. Just enjoy I tell myself...

that's unmelted snow way back in the middle, at the end of August!

Jeeping drive to Emerald Lake (we said hi - Tiffany and Chris!) and then over Paradise Divide. The late wildflowers were great - they've been great all summer. The first tinges of fall coming is visible with a branch of yellow aspen leaves peeking out here and there. Fall is spectacular here but comes early and done, done by the end of Sept. A doe I saw this morning was mottled in color - starting the change from brown to gray. I am not ready for this.

Float plane to remote area 60 miles out of Anchorage

Mt. McKinley 20,322 ft

35lb king salmon - he caught more this size and even a 50lb!

our nations majestic bird

Go Mark!

and the bear swimming

Crazy looking salmon - chum/calico

too rough for the guests and yes, a woman was part of the group

rugged looking crowd if you ask me!

As promised, some of Mark's Alaska fishing adventure photos. And, he brought back my camera safe and sound. Phew...was missing that. He caught all five kinds of salmon,slept out in tents for 6 days, had good weather, very few mosquitoes, saw both black and brown bear (browns are close to grizzly size), and made new friends - part of their group was a husband/wife team and she was an avid fly fisherperson, or however you want to say it. Good times, but as I said before, just a teeny tad too primitive for moi.

Edible! Oyster Mushrooms (well, maybe...)

It's mushroom time here and a banner year all over. The CB Mushroom Festival has resurrected itself after 4 years off, and while we didn't participate there, we certainly tried to do a home grown version - at least in the hunting part. We searched in our woods and found at least 20 different species. All photographed, none picked. I made the mistake (or wise decision) to buy a book a few years ago on mushrooms, and promptly decided to never pick them. Not interested in dying too soon... Wow , the amount of poisonous lookalike mushrooms is staggering. Just put up a sampling of photos for fun, and only one I believe, is supposed to be edible. Had fun finding them, and in the process found massive areas of low growing bushes with luscious looking berries. Thought wild blueberries or huckleberries - nope, my favorite plant nursery put me straight. Inedible - Colorado creeping holly. Boo, and I thought a pie was eminent...