Recap

So I know it's been forever since I've posted anything on the blog, but that is because I have been literally too busy to even get to a computer in the last few days. I do not have any pictures to post right now (I'll put those up later) but I do want to recap for you the amazing last few days that I had.
Wednesday - I left about 10:00 a.m. this morning with Phil (brother in-law), his father and his two grandfathers and we took off for Deep Creek, which is about a 4 and a half hour drive south of Anchorage. We chartered a boat and went deep sea fishing for halibut. It was the most incredible fishing I have ever experienced before in my life (yes, my fishing experience is extremely limited but let me assure you that does not reflect on how awesome this trip was). We rode about 18 miles out to sea (about a 50 minute boat ride) and anchored down in a good spot. The captain and the deck hand then baited our hooks for us with Cod and Herring and we dropped our lines about 200 ft. down to the bottom of the ocean. Once you hit bottom you just bob the bait up and down a few times and literally within seconds the halibut were hitting the bait, it was the fastest paced fishing I've ever done. We ended up catching our limit (2 per person) pretty quick but we threw back some of the small ones and kept going for larger. We ended up averaging about 20 to 25 lbs. per fish the biggest one being about 40 lbs. or so. Not too big as far as halibut are concerned but supposedly the best for eating.
Thursday - I got home from halibut fishing at 2:00 am this morning, woke up at 9:00 and turned right back around and headed up 2 and a half hours back in the same direction to Kenai where the mouth of the Russian rivers connects to go Salmon fishing. Big Bernie, Chad and I all headed down together, we had a blast. Unfortunately we ended up bringing absolutely no fish home. I personally hooked about 7 or 8 good sized salmon but the line broke or they got loose everytime. Salmon are pretty good fighters, they thrash around a lot and get off the hook pretty often. Nevertheless the trip was tons of fun and I will definitely be going back before the summers over.
Friday - This afternoon I got to go mountain biking with Chad and Natalie's uncle Chris, who happens to be a hardcore mountain biker. I have done plently of mountain biking back East in the mountains of Virginia but I have never experienced biking like this before, it was absolutly incredible! We first climbed, on our bikes, about 1,000 ft. up a mountain, which was pretty much miserable. Then the fun part came when we rode single track trails all the way down, winding back and forth, up and down, dodging roots, logs and trees. Like I said I have done plenty of single track riding back East but it really doesn't compare to how extreme it is here. I took a few nasty spills, the first one I just landed in some soft brush but the second one I knocked my head right on a tree and snapped a branch! (don't worry mom I was wearing a helmet). Needless to say it was a blast and I plan on going a bunch more with Chris while I'm up here.

Well that is the recap on the last couple of days, unfortunately I am an idiot and forgot to bring my camera on all three fun trips, but I do have some pictures from the halibut charter that I will be able to get a hold of to post up pretty soon. Gretchens wedding is today so that is the main attraction for the next few hours or so. My responsibilities include carrying heavy objects, video taping the ceremony and watching little Emme during the ceremonoy as well (which should be pretty entertaining!).
- Adam