Invasion of the Salmon Snatchers!

Hi Blog!

As you know, we are camped in Glennallen, Alaska. We are in the heart of the Copper River Valley. Along the Copper River and its tributaries, salmon is king. When the salmon return to spawn, so do the fishermen. The locals refer to this as the Invasion of the Salmon Snatchers. Alaska residents are allowed to dipnet a whole year's supply of salmon!

We thought it might be fun to view this spectacle firsthand. On Friday, June 21, 2019, we drove down from Glennallen to Chitina. Along the way, we stopped to take in the view of the Wrangell-St. Elias Mountains.

Our destination was the famous Copper River. The Copper River rises out of the Copper Glacier, which lies on the northeast side of Mount Wrangell. Here is our first view of the mighty Copper River.

As we made our way further down the Edgerton Highway, we stopped at Liberty Falls State Recreation Site to take in the view of the waterfalls. We would have liked to hike around the falls, but a mother Grizzly and her two cubs had taken possession of the trail. We spent our time enjoying the falls from the parking area.

We had visited this area back in 2016. One of the most impressive parts of the drive was through a narrow stream valley with three small, but spectacular lakes. Here is the view of the beaver lodge on Three Mile Lake.

Just around the corner from Three Mile Like, is Two Mile Lake.

The smallest and most unique with its emerald green color is One Mile Lake. The three lakes get their name from their distance to Chitina.

Upon arriving in Chitina, we decided to drive straight across to the bridge over the Copper River. On the far side of the bridge, the famous McCarthy Road begins its 60 mile journey to Kennecott and McCarthy. We found a place to park in the Ahtna Corporation Campground. Here Kathy walks like an Egyptian on her way to the pay station.

The Copper River and its tributaries are mostly glacial fed. They bring with them lots of debris. Much of the debris is deposited in the flat river bottom, creating braided channels. The channels freeze solid in the winter. As spring snow melt comes down from the mountains, it is blocked by ice in the old channels and is rerouted to create new channels, sometimes moving the mouth of the river. As the river moves, anything parked on its banks gets swept away. We saw a number of trailers and fish wheels littered along the banks.

In order to take in the spectacle, we decided to walk across the Copper River Bridge. From here, we could get a birds-eye view of all the activity.

Dozens of fishermen drove their trucks and trailers out onto a gravel bar in the middle of the river.

We watched as two more fisherman came and attempted to make their way out to the launch area. For some of these fisherman, this is their first time here. This guy didn't bother to follow the tracks of the other fisherman and decided to try and drive through the soft wet sand. Lucky for him, his buddy was right behind, saw what happened, chose the correct path through the gravel and came back around to pull him out of the wet sand.

Over the years, we've seen numerous ways to fish, from fly fishing for trout to jigging for cod, but this is our first encounter with dipnetting. Available to Alaska residents only, dipnetting is a process by which the fisherman wades into a river (or boat) with a large net and scoops out an entire year's supply of fish. Alaska's dipnetters are a unique breed, with a willingness to put up with cold water, bad weather, wind-driven waves, crowded beaches, strong currents, steep banks, and many other inconveniences for a chance to stock the freezer with one of the planet's most delicious, nutritious whole foods - salmon. Dipnetting is, for many, the highlight of the year, with a chance to camp on the beach with the family, relax around a beach fire, let the kids run, and catch enough fish to last the whole year. This is like "Burning Man" for fishermen.

We were surprised to see that many of the fishermen brought ATVs -- not boats. The braided channels and fast currents make boating difficult. Many fishermen just hop on their ATVs and splash through the braided channels to get to a deep section where they can dipnet. We thought the braided channels made a perfect backdrop for a shadow selfie!

We decided to picnic back in Chitina and leave the craziness behind. After lunch we took a drive up O'Brien Creek to get one last look at the Copper River. Those little dots along the shore are more dipnet fisherman.

We left the Copper River with the feeling that we witnessed something truly Alaskan. On our way back, we hoped to stop for a short hike. One of the tributaries of the Copper River is the Tonsina River. The Tonsina River flows east from Tonsina Lake to the Copper River at Mile 19 of the Edgerton Highway.  The river is a glacial fed system with class III – IV whitewater. The BLM maintains an easement trail from the Edgerton Highway to a bluff high above the Tonsina River.

Here we are at the trailhead.

The trail is just over a mile long and almost perfectly straight. We hiked over a lush carpet of green moss. At times, the trail was a little spongy, but we managed to keep our feet dry for the most part. Surprisingly, the mosquitoes were at a manageable level.

We emerged from the green canopy to spectacular views of the river valley. After the chaos of the Copper River, it was amazing to have this entire valley to ourselves.

To see what we saw, click this link for an amazing video view of the Tonsina River Valley.

On the way back to camp, we stopped at the Kenny Lake Farmers Market and stocked up on sweet treats, sourdough bread and homemade lemonade. As we were leaving town, Dave noticed this momma moose and her two calves.

Not sure what our next adventure will be, but you'll be the first to know when it happens. Until then, watch out for those salmon snatchers!