Jen’s Journal – August 5, 2019

Day 37: Captain Cook State Recreation Area, AK

Sunny and warm.

First thing in the morning (11:00) we went to Stormy Lake for Tom to do some fishing. I baked cookies and worked on a little house project while he was fishing. I am putting a fabric protector on the wall behind the stove to cover the motor home fabric.

We checked out a brewery and a small Russian orthodox church. Then we camped at some federal special use land. This was a large parking lot on a beach on the Cook Inlet with beautiful views of three volcanoes in the Aleutian Range across the inlet.

Here were dozens of locals ‘dip netting’ (legal for Alaska residents) in the shallow water.

I have a huge interest in farming, but I don’t like to think about how my protein got to the supermarket. I was horrified by the scene. Fish parts all over, kids slicing into live fish, and a smiling gent originally from Switzerland ripping the eggs and guts from a pink salmon and throwing them on the beach. I was tiptoeing barefoot through the mess.

Fishermen here are instructed not to throw away the remains but to toss them in moving water. All is flushed to the sea and is food for all of the sea creatures.

Here is a typical setup for fishing. See the large nets on the back of the RV, the ATV, the coolers.