Gone Fishin'

Went to Haines Alaska over the weekend. Great place! The drive there was very dangerous. The small hairs on my back were on edge as I drove thru the snowstorm at the mountain pass. I had to curb my speed several times. When the snow builds up in between snowplows it can catch the tire & pull the vehicle over. This happend often. Everyone was driving slow. My intentions of going to Haines were to try eating a fish. My friends were going fishing in Haines so I thought I'd join them. You see, if you don't understand why i'm telling this story, it's because i'm vegetarian. I was hard core vegan for nearly 10years and I started introducing dairy last year. I've decided to take on wild meats but I need to do it very slowly so I don't shock my system. My friends say, "meet us in Haines." Ok... where? I got their places of lodging but do you think I'd know where the fishing spots are? Nope. I arrive in Haines. The weather made a transisiton from snow to rain, the scenery from white to green. I love the coast. The smell of the ocean is very unique compared to the dryness inland. My senses awaken at the coast. New stimulation. So I find the places where my friends will be sleeping but they are not there. They must be fishing already (it's like nearly 5pm...duh). So I've been to Haines b4 but just stuck to town stuff. I wanted to explore the outskirts & see what nature had to offer. I heard there's lots of hiking & stuff to do outside, like a national park nearby. That sounded good. So I took a drive east along the coast. I saw seals swimming in the ocean. Yup it really is the ocean when you see seals! Looking up the fijord the high mountain peaks are all covered in white. A thin seam of lush green next to the pearl blue ocean. This is an incredibly scenic, beautiful drive. This little town is cool just for the sheer fact of where it is positioned. It's awesome. Roxy has her head out the window, absorbing the newness to her own senses. It appears that the road will come to an end because I can see the walls of the fjiord comming to a triangle to join up. The road bends & woah! There are a tonne of Yukoners here. Cars, campers & trucks all parked along the road, squeezing themselves in to find a spot. I turn the bend & there is a bridge over a creek with folks fishing the Chilkoot river. Lots of people fishin'. I continue driving to the very end of the road. Houses to the left, ocean to the right. I turn about & head back to the bridge. Perhaps my friends are fishing here. I cross the bridge & head back up the road & study the vehicles. I find my friends car! Oh, the CRV too of other friends. They're here! By sheer fluke I find them. I didn't even know this river existed. They had already been fishing all day & invited me to cast a rod. I picked it up. Oh my. How do I do this again? I used to be an avid fisher with my family when I was like 12. I needed to be schooled on how to work the rod & reel. ahh it's comming back to me now. Cast a few times & tried to not get lines crossed with the folks on the other side of the river. Low rocky stream. Stinky dead, rotting fish on the banks. Bear prints in the sand. This spot is shared with the bears who come down early in the morning. So many stimulants. I have to go to work now... perhaps i'll continue on later but i'll fore warn you now that I have a tendancy to cut my journals off short & forget to return to the story.. it's rare that I come back to it. None the less you can ask about it & I'll try to get back. Have a great day. We loved the trip to haines & it was fun in the caravan with the frineds on the way home.. Oh, and the Thai restuarant... amazing. Order the soup, super hot... it'll make ya sweat!