This is an account of the Alaska fishing expedition from Sterling. It’s a great overview of the day-t0-day experiences the boys, parents, and staff have while on the expedition.
In Sterling’s words:
“Alaska is an amazing place! Alaska is immediately spiritual in it’s own grand way and overwhelmingly beautiful. I love more than anything to share Alaska with people especially my young men from Triumph past and present. I am absolutely overjoyed to witness their excitement and enthusiasm when they see a glacier close up for the first time, when they see a bear or a moose for the first time (or even for the 20th time) and experiencing the pure excitement of when they catch their first big halibut out of the ocean or their first powerful salmon out of the Kenai River. This year was no exception!
This year we had so many boy’s and their fathers that wanted to participate, we split everyone up in to two groups, one group primarily of younger age and the other group of an older age. The first group (Primarily Younger residents) arrived in Alaska June 20th and I could see immediately that all of the boy’s and adults were very excited even just to be in Alaska.
We started right away stopping in Anchorage only to buy fishing licenses and supplies for the trip. Before you knew it we were on the Seward Highway heading towards the Kenai Peninsula on the coast along the Turnagain Arm of the Cooks inlet. The group was amazed by the soaring mountains coming right out of the ocean and the endless, incredible view all around them.
A few miles into our journey, we stopped along the cliffs to a glacial waterfall coming right out of the cliff where many years ago a local Alaskan put a PVC pipe into the waterfall for easier access to fill their jugs. The group drank from the glacier water and filled their bottles.
After taking a few group pictures with the ocean and mountains in the back ground, we drove to the small ski resort town of Girdwood where we ate lunch and as tradition, we ate ice cream made by the natives of Alaska. We then drove with our sights set on Ninilchik, Alaska stopping to take a group picture by the Kenai Peninsula sign before passing through the winding beautiful and scenic roads of Cooper Landing where the aqua blue Kenai River begins flowing out of Kenai Lake.
Stopping outside of the town of Sterling, we visited the custom knife shop of Paul Walsh (PW Knives). As always, Paul went out of his way to display and explain his work in great detail. Paul also let the group feel caribou antlers and hold doll sheep horns before he began teaching how he chooses his horns and antlers and how the sheaths are made specifically for each knife.
Our group then drove through the town of Sterling to the city of Soldotna, Alaska where the world record King Salmon was caught. In Soldotna we purchased last minute supplies and stretched legs before leaving for Ninilchik. On the road again we drove for 45 minutes making a few quick stops to take pictures of the magnificent Mnt. Redoubt and the spectacular Iliamna both of which are active volcanos.
By this time the boy’s were more than eager to get to our final destination. Twenty long minutes later we arrived in the fishing village of Ninilchik Alaska where we started by eating a wonderful home cooked meal with Captain Ron and his wife Anita who are gracious hosts. After eating with and visiting with Captain Ron and Anita we headed for our cabin located on the outskirts of Ninilchik along the high banks of Deep Creek.
After arriving at our cabin, we ran a FCG’s group (feelings checks and goals) where everyone takes a moment and shares their feelings at that time, check in as to where they are in their treatment and goals for the rest of the day. After a very positive FCG’s group, we showed groups of 4 to their assigned rooms before meeting again to plan out the rest of the evening.
The next day part of the group went fishing while the rest of us got prepared to go to Seward where we would spend the next two days. After a 2 1/2 hour jaunt, we arrived in Seward and began exploring the harbor before gathering for dinner and checking into our lodging for the night. The next morning waking at 4:30 am, we prepared to go fishing on a large combo charter out in the ocean where we hoped to catch halibut, rock fish and if we were lucky silver salmon and king salmon.
We arrived at the slip of the Perseverance which is the name of the vessel to take us to the fishing waters through the one and only Resurrection Bay. After arriving at our first of many fishing grounds most of the boy’s and some staff came up from the cabin below–a choice they would soon regret after the waves began to make them sea sick which makes for a very long day. A few of the boy’s and a couple of the stay did get sea sickness in one form or another.
We all caught a lot of fish and enjoyed non stop breathtaking scenery (even the green guys). We saw: mountain goats and doll sheep up in the rocks and cliff faces, orca and hump back whales in the ocean and sea lions laying on the rock mounds. We also were blessed to see bald eagles flying down and catching fish with their talons. We ended the day by taking pictures with our catch, shopping along the harbor and coming back together for an evening BBQ.”
To be continued….
