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Discover http://www.OctagonExecutiveLodge.com with complete fishing amenities and nice fishing lodges in Alaska.

Duration : 2 min 49 sec

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A TripAdvisor™ TripWow slideshow of a travel blog to Denali National Park and Preserve, United States by TravelPod blogger Jennasmith titled “Savage River Hike”

Jennasmith’s travel blog entry:

“Today’s is a long one.

So today I went on my first hike into the National Park. Very cool. We (my hiking buddy, Cindi – she’s from Colorado and used to the altitude and hiking) decided on Savage River. It’s about 15 miles into the park and relatively moderate hiking once you leave the maintained trail and head on the social trail. The weather was perfect, except for the wind.

(Here’s my nerdy side coming out) Savage River trailhead: 63.73916°, -149.29111°.
Denali National Park: There are over 1200km of faults in the park.
Generally there are over 600 seismic events in the park every year,
most are less than M1.5 and are rarely felt by humans. Because of the
ongoing activity, Denali (the mountain) is growing about 1mm every
year. The oldest terrane and rock, the Yukon-Tanana, are actually found
near the park entrance. Most rock seen in the park are basalts,
rhyolites, and other volcanic and/or metamorphic rock. As of today,
almost 2/3 of the roads into the park are open, with the last 20 miles
still undergoing rennovations from winter. The rangers are looking for
“discovery” trail volunteers – people to go with the rangers on unknown
trail (ie trails that have not been open since last year or before) to
see if they are in good condition; or to go into the backcountry to
clear parts of the land. No, I will not do that – quite beyond my skill
level of hiking/climbing. But it sounded fun anyway.

On the way there, we came across some Caribou. Also, we were some of the few lucky ones – “the 30% percent club” – that saw Denali (or Mt McKinley). She was hiding partly behind a cloud, but we could make her out behind another hill. That’s 2 for 2 with me. Guess I’m part of the 100% club, ha ha.

(Here’s your lesson for the day) The blue ice: “ice is blue for the same reason water is blue: it is a result of an overtone of a oxygen-hydrogen (O-H) bond stretch in water which absorbs light at the red end of the visible spectrum”. Touching the ice can cause serious results. It can freeze to your moist skin instantaneously; cause frostbite 5x times faster; the list goes on. The blue ice we found was not quite this cold, as we were only at 3400 feet. Really neat, none-the-less.

We hiked about 4 miles total. Long for me, who’s not used to being 3000+ feet in elevation, going on some 40 degree angles up and down, with the patches of snow and ice. Of the animals we found were the Dalls Sheep, Snowshoe Hares, Ptarmigan birds, Swallows, and Marmots.

We decided to start walking along the road back towards the entrance, mostly because we were bored sitting, waiting for the bus and didn’t want to miss it (again). We walked about 2 more miles. When we flagged down the bus, the driver said that they had seen a Grizzly on mile 12. (You with me here?) Wow, we thought, how cool. Savage River is 14.5 miles into the park. We walked a little over 2 miles. We were less than 1/2 a mile from the Grizzly. We couldn’t help but laugh in our fear that we were that close and it had started walking our way apparently. Creeped us out. On the bus back, we saw a couple of female moose walking around through the trees.

Anyway, once back from the hike, we went to a local coffee shop (which had remarkably good tortilla soup) to hang out for a little before heading back to the Village, where I got to spend my evening doing laundry. Fun times ”
Read and see more at: http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/jennasmith/1/1244001367/tpod.html

Photos from this trip:
1. “Caribou”
2. “Denali”
3. “Attack Snowshoe bunny”
4. “Savage River”
5. “Dalls Sheep”
6. “Me (finally)”
7. “Check out the avalanche shoot”
8. “Blue ice”
9. “Avalanche shoot”
10. “Small waterfall”
11. “Denali Park”
12. “Ptarmigan”
13. “Hitching back”

See this TripWow and more at http://tripwow.tripadvisor.com/tripwow/ta-00bb-a6e0-639e?ytv4=1

Duration : 0:2:38

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJroRPbwohU The Fishing In Kenai Alaska is amazing. It's mind boggling how many quality trophy fish are in this river. If you go to Alaska, this is a can't-miss destination.

Duration : 33 sec

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http://www.octagonexecutivelodge.com has alaska fishing lodge for all people who want to find a nice place for fishing.

Duration : 3 min

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Palin champions will hold up last night’s “Sarah Palin’s America” episode as proof of the candidate putting her money where her moose is. That is to say, after years of talking about being a hunter, Palin actually went out and shot something.

While much of the debate around the episode is an ethical one about a millionaire shooting a defenseless animal so as not to have to pay for meat, the real conversation should be about how the episode absolutely exposes Palin as a charade.

In this most recent episode, a woman who has blindly championed the NRA and legitimized her frontier-woman status by claiming to be a “lifelong hunter” comes across as anything but.

For starters, Palin and pa head out on a long hunt without bothering to sight in Palin’s rifle, a mistake no serious hunter would ever make. Why Palin’s dad chose for her a “varmint rifle” for a caribou hunt and why Palin, an admitted “moose hunter,” would not question such a gun’s appropriateness is never answered.

From there, numerous bungles along the way to finally downing the caribou show a hunting tourist who, at worst, appears to pose a genuine danger to fellow outdoorsmen.

While Palin’s hunting-for-TV jamboree certainly impressed the hockey moms, it seriously eroded her base of genuine hunters. One online commentor, on Sean Hannity’s website no less, grumbled, “I turned on Sarah Palin’s Alaska a minute ago and she just shot four maybe even five times at a caribou and missed. Needless to say I’m not impressed with her ability to handle a firearm let alone aim it and hit something.”

On Palin’s own Facebook page, a viewer wrote, “What a joke. I was a fan before the show. No one who is a true hunter lets others carry their rifle or can’t load their own shells. Sarah, you are a phony in this area of your ‘skills.”

Several others wondered why Palin, an experienced hunter, didn’t bring her own rifle, pointing out that familiarity with one’s weapon is a core principle of hunting. Another pointed out, regarding Palin’s veteran hunter dad, “I was surprised to see him using the gun as a walking stick.”

Several hunter friends to whom I showed the video were less than impressed. All agreed that she did not look like she had handled a gun many times. One, who just posted his November kill on his Facebook profile, said “I would not hunt with her.”

In the episode, Palin is handed a second gun, which, thanks to good video editing, she uses to down the animal in one shot.

But knowledgeable hunters would have all recoiled in horror watching Palin immediately place her finger on the trigger of the “hot” Savage 110 as it was handed to her. Keeping one’s finger off the trigger until the very moment of the shot is the first lesson any responsible hunter ever learns.

But Palin’s inexperience with guns is in no way more obvious than when she is handed the rifle and she asks, “Does it kick?” It was an exchange Brad Schlegel took note of, writing on Palin’s Facebook wall, “‘does the rifle kick’ what kind of a question is that? Doesn’t matter if it kicks or not you shoot it the same. That was a girly question momma griz.”

It would behoove Palin real American opponents and supporters alike to remember that pretending to enjoy hunting is an American political tradition. Indeed, who can forget John Kerry, avid fowl hunter? Or this: “My father taught me how to shoot.”

Of course, not everyone was convinced that the mystique of Palin as Alaskan hunter is a con job. In the tradition of justifying anything to preserve a dear illusion at any cost to reason, a commenter on Hannity’s forum dismissed questions like so: “You’d have seen her dad take a tumble while caring the gun she used. He must have knocked the scope out of alignment.” Another hunter in the 24 Hour Campfire forum reasoned, “I bet the producers of that show knocked that messed with the scope to make it more dramatic,” while another theorized, “If I had to guess, it’d be someone on the set messed with her scope with promises of wealth to make her look stupid.”

Source: http://www.theawl.com/2010/12/sarah-palin-the-tv-star-exposes-sarah-palin-the-fake-hunter

Duration : 0:7:12

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A short film on aerial hunting of wolves in Alaska.

Duration : 0:9:58

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Roughly 28 miles in and we’re finally at the bus. We’ve crossed two deep and fast moving rivers, 20+ streams, hiked 13 miles up and down mountains and hills and have a 13 mile hike back to camp to look forward to, all in 24 hours. Needless to say, we’re exhausted.

We didn’t make this trek because we idolize Chris McCandless or what he did. We don’t condone his decisions or his actions, nor do we fully understand them. Chris did lead an extraordinary life and had the courage to follow his dreams, even if they led him to his own demise.

I can’t speak for Sean, though I know we have a similar outlook on Chris’ story but as for me, I came to see the land and having a destination that was the core of a well told story made it that much more worthwhile.

Follow your dreams but not that the expense of common sense.

It’s late, I’ll likely revise this and post a link to a blog about our trip.

Constructive comments and criticisms only please. Please be respectful of other commenters, we’re each entitled to our own opinions and interpretations.

Duration : 0:4:3

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Sportfishing in Gustavus Alaska with Deep Blue Charters. Gustavus AK is the gateway to Glacier Bay National Park. Come fish for giant halibut, king salmon, ling cod, silver salmon. View abundant wildlife including moose, bears, eagles and humpback whales. Enjoy your stay at our comfortable lodge with all the amenities. see www.alaskasportfish.net for more info

Duration : 0:9:4

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Each year, the state of Alaska permits private citizens to chase down and kill dozens of wolves using low-flying aircraft and high-powered rifles. Find out what you can do to stop this brutal and unnecessary killing.

Duration : 0:2:24

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My brothers co worker is fishing in Alaska, everyone would think this is a fish story but it is true. He caught an estimated 50 lb kingsalmon when an Orca- killer whale bit the fish in half 15 feet from the boat.

Duration : 0:2:33

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