Checking In

[teamnelson]

Figured it was time to check in ... we made it cross country, over water and way up north. Our stuff caught up quick. And we've had a busy summer settling in to a new house, new community, new job (church), and really a radically different way of life. My last official day in the military was this past Sunday, so there's that adjustment as well, although so many people are leaving the military right now the system is overloaded so DD-214s are lagging way behind. [read the underlined part again, slowly]

Here's some pics of the new life, hope to get back in here a bit more and pick your brains on some things I've never had to deal with before!

[phalanx]

That’s a fine catch of fish. Are they flounders ?

[Ranger99]

Nice
Hope you have the best of times

[teamnelson]

That’s a fine catch of fish. Are they flounders ?

Those are Halibut; the picture of the bunch on the table are called "chickens" cause they're smaller Halibut but very very good eating, especially batter dipped and fried in nuggets. The big one on the deck dressed out to about 50# of meat which retails for $34 a pound in Anchorage or so I've been told - caught two that size on that trip, which is the limit. They come much bigger but my buddy's boat was set up to fish at 200'. You also see a couple of Grey Cod, and a passel of Black Bass or Rockfish on the table.

[teamnelson]

Here's the house - nothing between us and the mountain except forest, brown bear and moose. Then 200 yds down to the Kenai River.

[phalanx]

That’s a fine catch of fish. Are they flounders ?

Those are Halibut; the picture of the bunch on the table are called "chickens" cause they're smaller Halibut but very very good eating, especially batter dipped and fried in nuggets. The big one on the deck dressed out to about 50# of meat which retails for $34 a pound in Anchorage or so I've been told - caught two that size on that trip, which is the limit. They come much bigger but my buddy's boat was set up to fish at 200'. You also see a couple of Grey Cod, and a passel of Black Bass or Rockfish on the table.

Halibut is the common name for three flatfish in the genera Hippoglossus and Reinhardtius from the family of right-eye flounders and, in some regions, and less commonly, other species of large flatfish. The word is derived from haly and butte, for its popularity on Catholic holy days. Wikipedia
I guess ive never seen a Halibut, or i didn't know what it was.

[teamnelson]

That’s a fine catch of fish. Are they flounders ?

Those are Halibut; the picture of the bunch on the table are called "chickens" cause they're smaller Halibut but very very good eating, especially batter dipped and fried in nuggets. The big one on the deck dressed out to about 50# of meat which retails for $34 a pound in Anchorage or so I've been told - caught two that size on that trip, which is the limit. They come much bigger but my buddy's boat was set up to fish at 200'. You also see a couple of Grey Cod, and a passel of Black Bass or Rockfish on the table.

I guess ive never seen a Halibut, or i didn't know what it was.

Same family of fish as a flounder, bottom feeder, flat.

[Ranger99]

Those "flat" fish are good eating.
Never caught any halibut in the
Gulf though   

[orerancher]

Here's the house - nothing between us and the mountain except forest, brown bear and moose. Then 200 yds down to the Kenai River.

So....Are We all Invited to Come Up and Go Moose Huntin?

[teamnelson]

Here's the house - nothing between us and the mountain except forest, brown bear and moose. Then 200 yds down to the Kenai River.


So....Are We all Invited to Come Up and Go Moose Huntin?

If you're in the neighborhood, I'll buy you a cup of coffee at Wildmans!

Seriously the moose hunting around here is not great or so I've been told; the salmon fishing is phenomenal, and trout if you like tasteless fish

[ironglow]

 Great hearing from you again!  I hope all is working out well for you and the family.

  As I recall, my late brother-in-law used ty hook some sizeable flounders, when  launching out of Valdez.

[Land_Owner]

Not sure, have not followed your relocation (or don't remember - CRS), is that Wildman's of Cooper's Landing, AK?  Sidearm carry open - right?  Brown bears.  Top of the food chain species.  Not to be taken lightly.  You are the FNG and it is their back yard.  Be SAFE and keep your family safe too!

[teamnelson]

Not sure, have not followed your relocation (or don't remember - CRS), is that Wildman's of Cooper's Landing, AK?  Sidearm carry open - right?  Brown bears.  Top of the food chain species.  Not to be taken lightly.  You are the FNG and it is their back yard.  Be SAFE and keep your family safe too!

Yep, that's Cooper Landing, and yes I open carry an Xdm with 15+1 220grs at 1200FPS. Not had to use it yet - plenty of bear, just no close encounters in our area this year so far. Plenty of fish to go around.

[teamnelson]

Looks like you are all set for the Alaskan experience. Best of luck with your new adventure. Keep a S&W Mountain Gun handy along with some Ole Woodman's. Have a generator ready and watch the snow load on your roof.

Btw, that stoney sentinel mountain ridge guarding your house seems to be beckoning for a climb to the summit. Any way to climb up that without technical climbing skills?

That is Cecil Rhode mountain, named after famous photographer who lived here and published in NatGeo. Some friends (older than us) just hiked to the summit a few days ago; there's a road that gets you above the tree line, then a pretty good trail to get to 3041 feet I think. Our house is at 50'. I hiked up slaughter ridge, across the river from us, similar elevation. Pretty neat to look down at the whole valley, see your house. Also over in a float plane last month, now that was cool, got to see the backside of Cecil.

[Drilling Man]

  I'm so happy to NOT have to put up with those moose anymore!!  They are a total complete PITA!!

  I wouldn't mind having a Halibut to eat though, I always enjoyed eating them and you are right, the small ones are the best eatin!

  Too bad they closed some of the snowmachine trails around there, I really enjoyed going up into the mountains on my snowmachine, there.

  DM

[nw_hunter]

Congrats on your retirement. Looks like a beautiful place to land. Make sure you post some winter pics of the same scene. lol! I guess you do have a snow blower. We have missed your input on the forum, and hope to hear from you often.

[teamnelson]

Congrats on your retirement. Looks like a beautiful place to land. Make sure you post some winter pics of the same scene. lol! I guess you do have a snow blower. We have missed your input on the forum, and hope to hear from you often.

Thanks! No snowblower for us here, but we’ll get plowed regularly at least. Just got new Blizzaks on a spare set of wheels today so we’re ready to go next month.

[Dee]

I see the big propane tanks is that your heating source for the whole house?

[billy_56081]

I just bought some blizzacks for my Tacoma,  going to have em mounted in November.  Probably the best snow tire made.

[teamnelson]

I see the big propane tanks is that your heating source for the whole house?

Right now those are just for cooking; littler one is the old one the gas company never picked up, but it appears to be full, so I'm not in a hurry to tell them about it. There's an oil tank in the back, for the furnace/boiler; we've got baseboard radiators for heat. Can't put in a wood stove; property and liability insurance on church property would go way up. But I brought up a backup propane heater to tie into those tanks, and a dual fuel generator to run the boiler controller off that propane when the power goes out, and it goes out alot in winter they've told us.

[teamnelson]

I just bought some blizzacks for my Tacoma,  going to have em mounted in November.  Probably the best snow tire made.

Our kids in Homer are on their 5th or 6th year on one set - and that's Sep to May. That's a whole lot better than studded tires. SIL recommended I bring up spare wheels for our new 4Runner, glad I did. Nearest tire store is 90 minutes away, I can just do the swap myself at home.

[darkgael]

TN: How nice that you are posting again. I wish that I had known you were settling in at Cooper’s Landing, I’d have stopped by when I was there.
Halibut…..a great eating fish. The few times that I was able to get to them were on a charter out of Whittier. My favorite eating fish are the red rockfish that are pretty common in the deep water.
Is there a church building for your ministry? Pics?
Pete

[teamnelson]

TN: How nice that you are posting again. I wish that I had known you were settling in at Cooper’s Landing, I’d have stopped by when I was there.
Halibut…..a great eating fish. The few times that I was able to get to them were on a charter out of Whittier. My favorite eating fish are the red rockfish that are pretty common in the deep water.
Is there a church building for your ministry? Pics?
Pete

Pete, yeah that rockfish is great, especially in piroshkis!

Here’s a winter pic, church was built before statehood from trees felled and milled on site. Also has a Bell Cache which is an Alaskan tradition. You passed it when you came over the bridge in Cooper Landing, right on the SE on the lake shore. Have done one baptism so far and grateful for insulated waders - glacier fed lake!

[Lloyd Smale]

are those pictures recent? Is there snow there all year?? your talking snow tires and plowing in AUG!!! I know officially feel bad about complaining of our long winters.

[Drilling Man]

  Lloyd, the weather there isn't much different from where you live, just a little cooler in the summer.

  DM

[Lloyd Smale]

i know that some places in alaska along the coast get much less snow and cold then we do. But dam, we have no halibut and very few moose. Man it must be nice to pull in a fish that has as much meat on it as two does. brother in law went there last year on a fishing trip and brought some back. It was fantastic. Id love to have a freezer full. I could eat that 3 days a week.

[teamnelson]

are those pictures recent? Is there snow there all year?? your talking snow tires and plowing in AUG!!! I know officially feel bad about complaining of our long winters.

snow pictures are from last winter, and there was still snow on the mountains down to the rivers edge in places when we arrived end of April. Mostly cleared up by end of May. Its been downright beautiful, sunny, highs in the 60s low 70s all summer, with lots of wildflowers. Sept is changeover month, first freeze, first snow, time to swap out tires.

The valley we live in will get more snow accumulation than say our kids down on the coast, and we live on the southern side of the valley which is the north slope of Cecil so we won't have a ray of sunshine drop into the valley from sometime in November until Valentine's Day.

[teamnelson]

i know that some places in alaska along the coast get much less snow and cold then we do. But dam, we have no halibut and very few moose. Man it must be nice to pull in a fish that has as much meat on it as two does. brother in law went there last year on a fishing trip and brought some back. It was fantastic. Id love to have a freezer full. I could eat that 3 days a week.

Haha yeah, we have maybe 100# of halibut in one of the freezers; going to take some down to our kids on the coast in Homer. Son in law is a cop now, daughter stay at home mom of 2 soon to be 3 boys. His schedule has been tight this season so he's not had much chance to fill the freezer, and $$ is tight. He took a day off to dip net, which for his family the limit would've been 70 sockeye, but missed the run and only got one. So we're going to load up the cooler with halibut, and top it off with sockeye one of my deacons donated to the cause. Got another church member who set aside 1-2 cords of firewood for them as well, since he's not been able to get out for wood either. Gonna borrow a trailer in a few weeks and haul that down to them.

[Lloyd Smale]

ours is gone by the mid to end of april and the weather here is usually between 60-80 in the summer. Freeze other then a freak one usually doenst happen till oct. Usually theres permeant snow on the ground by mid to late nov. Sometimes earlier sometimes later. We average in the mid 300 inch range here but some places near here get a bit more lake effect and can get even 500 or more in a bad winter. living right on lake superior gives us a bit more snow then inland but less below zero temps.

are those pictures recent? Is there snow there all year?? your talking snow tires and plowing in AUG!!! I know officially feel bad about complaining of our long winters.

snow pictures are from last winter, and there was still snow on the mountains down to the rivers edge in places when we arrived end of April. Mostly cleared up by end of May. Its been downright beautiful, sunny, highs in the 60s low 70s all summer, with lots of wildflowers. Sept is changeover month, first freeze, first snow, time to swap out tires.

The valley we live in will get more snow accumulation than say our kids down on the coast, and we live on the southern side of the valley which is the north slope of Cecil so we won't have a ray of sunshine drop into the valley from sometime in November until Valentine's Day.

[teamnelson]

ours is gone by the mid to end of april and the weather here is usually between 60-80 in the summer. Freeze other then a freak one usually doenst happen till oct. Usually theres permeant snow on the ground by mid to late nov. Sometimes earlier sometimes later. We average in the mid 300 inch range here but some places near here get a bit more lake effect and can get even 500 or more in a bad winter. living right on lake superior gives us a bit more snow then inland but less below zero temps.

are those pictures recent? Is there snow there all year?? your talking snow tires and plowing in AUG!!! I know officially feel bad about complaining of our long winters.

snow pictures are from last winter, and there was still snow on the mountains down to the rivers edge in places when we arrived end of April. Mostly cleared up by end of May. Its been downright beautiful, sunny, highs in the 60s low 70s all summer, with lots of wildflowers. Sept is changeover month, first freeze, first snow, time to swap out tires.

The valley we live in will get more snow accumulation than say our kids down on the coast, and we live on the southern side of the valley which is the north slope of Cecil so we won't have a ray of sunshine drop into the valley from sometime in November until Valentine's Day.

300" of snow is more than we expect to get here for sure! We live sorta in between two ice fields - Harding & Sargent - that feed over a dozen glaciers that in turn feed our lake and river. I had thought that would mean we'd get super cold, but really we don't; I think having the fields and glaciers around somehow moderates extremes, but I don't really know. We are very much protected from icy winds off the kachemak bay, but still cold enough to freeze over the lake and river. Never ice fished before - looks like I'll be learning!