Jeff smoked most of the king salmon we caught. They turned out really good! They’ll be good in salmon salad, dip, soups and casseroles. It’s nice to be stocked up on fish again. On to something else now.

King Salmon are huge fish. After Jeff filleted them we were left with the carcasses which were still full of meat so we put them on the grill and once cooked through I got all the meat off the bones and made salmon dip and salmon chowder.

Jeff is good at filleting salmon. The salmon steaks are beautiful!

Jeff and I went fishing again and got 2 more King Salmon. Jeff got a small one but kept it. Mine was twice as big as his!

King Salmon season is here! We haven’t been able to get any kings in years because Fish and Game has not allowed retention of them. After taking a break for a few years though the run this year was really good and a few days ago Fish and Game made their escapement goal for this year and opened kings again to the public for fishing starting today. We went right down and caught us a couple! Beautiful BIG fish and lots of fun to catch!

We’ve had a male and female mallard duck hanging around the cabin. Jeff found them in the little creek by the yard once. The male is so colorful. They are easy to identify. I didn’t get a picture of the female. But they are plain brown with orange legs. Not very colorful.

Found this lost baby duck on the road by the boat as we pulled up. It was peeping and walking around like it was lost. It was getting further away from the creek it came out of and there were dogs trying to chase it so a guy picked it up and took it back to the water. It got back on the road and came right back to us so I picked it up and took it back to the water and once again it climbed back up on shore and began climbing back up to the road. Finally I picked it up and went on a walk with it as far upstream in the creek as I could walk away from access to the road and let it loose there. That’s when I noticed it’s parents upstream. Couldn’t get the little one all the way to them but when I released it at least it began swimming in their direction. Hopefully, they heard it and waited for it. It was moving along pretty slowly. Cute little thing.

We raced a thunderstorm on the river to the cabin. Almost made it but got pounded by a hailstorm just as we got close and then had to unload in it once we got to the cabin. Then it passed by us and headed over sleeping lady. I was mesmerized for an hour or so with the loud thunder and lightening. It’s not that common to have hail and thunder and lightening in Alaska. It’s a problem as it causes wildfires and this storm was no exception. I heard the lightening started a number of new wildfires.

Devil’s Club is another wild Alaska plant that many people eat in the Spring. I’m not recommending it because I don’t know enough about them but in this Spring photo you can see the bud on the stickery stem just coming out. These buds are what people pick off and eat. I’ve never tried it and to be honest I’m a little scared to. After this point the plant grows fast and the leaves get huge and are no longer edible. Devil’s Club get 11 feet high and take over the forest and block your way through the forest because of all their thorns. To me they are a problem plant but many people love them and they are an important plant to the natives. The plant also has cluster of red berries in the Fall that are considered poisonous to humans but bears eat them.

Twisted Stalk is another wild plant that is edible. In the Spring, when the shoots are young and tender, people collect the stalks and leaves and use them fresh in salads, cook them in sitr fry and pickle them. They taste like cucumber, hence the reason they have a nickname of wild cucumber. The problem with eating the stalks is that twisted stalk is similar looking to a couple of poisonous plants that also grow in the same areas: false hellebore and False Solomon Seal. Both plants have similar characteristics so you have to study them all and make sure you know the difference before you experiment with eating twisted stalk. Once the plant matures it gets berries that give it its’ other nickname: watermelon berry. The berries are edible and taste a little like watermelon. They are used by some Alaskans but aren’t the most appetizing berries and they do have seeds in them which if you eat too many can upset your stomach. It’s best to spit them out if you ask me.