We woke up at 7am...finally adjusting to the time difference. Scott once again headed straight for the water and hooked some more nice sockeyes. There seemed to be another run this morning as everyone around us was hooking up. We made the difficult decision to leave the cabin (and the fish that were running) to start the drive back toward Anchorage. We would have to spend the night there in order to catch our early flight to King Salmon the next morning. So, we started to head North, looking for fishing opportunities along the way.
Our first stop was the Russian River Ferry where the Russian River meets the Kenai River. We had stopped there the night before to watch and thought we'd try our luck. This is literally one of the best fishing spots in the world and it's no secret. Because it's accessible by the road, there were fishermen lined up shoulder-to-shoulder all up and down the riverbank. There is actually a ferry that will take you to the other side for $8 a person. We decided to keep driving.
Our next stop was Quartz Creek. We heard that there were spawning sockeye there and that was an understatement. As soon as we pulled up to the bridge, we saw red salmon everywhere. We got our rods ready and decided to fish here for a while. The "trail" was rediculously scary because it was basically a moose and bear footpath along the stream with 6 foot grass on either side. We talked loudly to each other about nothing and thankfully didn't spook any bears. When we got to a fishing spot, there were literally hundreds of paired-up salmon as far as you could see. As we crossed the creek, the salmon would scatter and sometimes even swam right towards your legs. We landed a few fish and got some really nice pictures. The scenery was beautiful and there were bear prints right by where we were fishing. 
Back on Route 1, the drive through the mountains was totally breathtaking once again. Besides the road and the cars, there is no other sign of civilization for hundreds of miles. It's just mountain after mountain, we didn't know what to take a picture of. That was, until we got to Bird Creek.
We knew this was our shot to catch a pink salmon. Once again, the tide was low as we drove by exposing about 50 feet of tidal mud flats that you had to cross to get to the water. We watched fishermen stumble, slip, and slide in the mud for a while before giving it a try ourselves. We found a spot by the bay and started casting. It wasn't long at all before we each had a couple of pinks and even a chum thrown in. The only problem was the mud! We were covered, the equipment was covered, even the camera was muddy. We trudged back through the mud and toward the car with no idea about how to get clean. After careful consideration, we decided to go to a car wash in Anchorage and hose each other down. It must have been quite a site, but it was probably the best $3 we spent!
We kept on going north through Anchorage to our bed and breakfast. We fell asleep dreaming of flying to King Salmon and the Alagnak River...*Next Up: We arrive at Angler's Alibi for an unbelievable first day.
*Travel Tips: If you want to catch Pink Salmon, Bird Creek is a great location even on an odd-numbered year. In the Bristol Bay area, Pink Salmon usually only run on even-numbered years. Why? Some say it is due to the eruption of Mt. Katmai back in the early 1900's. 3 feet of ash covered the area from Bristol Bay to Kodiak Island, killing all salmon fry in the brood. Since Pink Salmon only have a life span of 2 years, only the 1 year olds that had already migrated out to sea survived. They return to the rivers to spawn on even-numbered years. Bird Creek was far enough away from Mt. Katmai to not be totally affected by the volcano, and it still sees sizeable Pink runs every year. Cool!
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