Matt to Keep His Fingers in Cordova?

We've been here in Cordova, Alaska, which is located by the Gulf of Alaska with no roads connecting it to the Interior. It is only accessible via ferry or plane and because of that, there are not many tourists coming through here UNLESS they happen to be fishing and this is the place for Coho (Silver Salmon) in the Copper River.


We are staying with our dear friends, Ken & Page, whom we met in Dutch Harbor. Ken is a vet and I used to assist with medications and making appointments for them while they were not on the island. Now Ken & Page travel on a boat docked in Petersburg, AK and set up vet clinics along the Inside Passage as well as here in Cordova and Dutch Harbor occassionally. Quite the gig they have set up.

They have us set up in a guest house just behind their house and it is wonderful. Their house sits right on an inlet from the ocean and we watch the tide slowly rise and fall throughout the day. What a view!





We took a drive out the Copper River Highway about 50 miles to the Childs Glacier and from across a river you can watch it calving (breaking off), which was great to finally see. Matt was happy to see that! And as we were watching that, a brown bear meandered down the rocky beach in front of us.







Next to the Childs Glacier is the Million Dollar Bridge (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Million_Dollar_Bridge). Built in early 1900's to transport copper from the Kennicott mines, however it was over a $1 million to build and today is a bridge going to "no where". Well, lucky for us it was there so we could see it. But the road beyond the bridge only goes a few miles and then deadends in the middle of a stream. So there you have it... lots of government tax dollars hard at work. It was great hiking around out there and on our way back we saw a black bear, some ferrets, two marmots, and a bald eagle. The drive across the Copper River Delta was awesome to see - it's so wide and ever changing from the change of the river's path.

THANKS to Ken & Page for all of the fun times, food, and booze. We've spent nights drinking margaritas, wine, and eating delicious salmon & pizza. I'm so glad we were able to meet up here and we look forward to seeing you in Petersburg on the 24th.

OH and I almost forgot to explain the idea of Matt keeping/losing a finger: Thanks to Trident for the party last night. Trident is a fishing processing plant here in Cordova and they had a big party at a bar downtown. Page & Ken took us over there and many FREE drinks later, Matt was talking to all of the fishermen about hooking up with them (possibly even some for this a.m. but that has come & gone) to do some salmon fishing. By the time we left, Matt knew many of the people in the bar and needed some assistance to get back to the car. We all had a fun time, that's for sure, but Matt does want to try his luck out in fishing possibly next Spring for sure. As you may or may not know, many TRUE Alaskans are missing at least one digit and Matt is for some reason wanting to join that club. :) We'll see.

Where to next? I am heading down to Palm Springs today as I will be doing some contracting work for Figaro's Pizza. Matt will be staying here in Cordova until I arrive back next Saturday. Then on Sunday, we will head back over to Valdez and head down to the Inside Passage (Haines). From there we will stay a few days with friends in Haines & then hop on more ferries and travel down to Juneau, Sitka, and Petersburg before our final stop in Prince Rupert. I'll update later. Have a great week.