Welcome to my first blog entry of the year 2021....First thing I wanted to do is post this link to my friend Keith's Blog, he posted a pic of Mile 14 that all my Kenai friends will want to see. He also said some nice words about us and how life moves along....thanks Keith.
Quietude....Now I was so impressed when MP used that word when she was basically telling me to shut up for the 14,237th time. We were watching birds with her new binoculars when she used it to tell me what people expect when watching birds. The mystery was that I'd never heard he use that word and even though she's a Mensa smart woman I figured she made it up....well, nope. I looked it up and sure enough she surprised me again with her vocabulary and right here in writing the southern bureau of Mile 14 apologizes of accusing her of getting word lucky. Sorry baby😎
But if it's quietude you want, watching Sandhill Cranes at the Whitewater Preserve is no place to go...I guess somebody forgot to tell the birds because 30,000 of them in one place is a sensory experience.
The G-man who was watching over the place told me it was the most ever in the 20 years he had worked there. I told him it was nice to see the planet is doing something right.
So MP has new bino's for watching and I decide to get my old super zoom Minolta camera out and only got one good bird pic on the whole trip with Bob and Dana...I guess my old camera does better with dead fish being held by people in a black boat.
As we went from spot to spot looking for different flyers we came across Arizona's oldest tree...So here a pic of Arizona's oldest tree and Arizona's second oldest Kenai guide ( hehehe, Chick is here )
If you're in this neck of the woods you can't drive by Tombstone or Bisbee without stopping. Tombstone is...well...just a tourist trap and rather uninteresting if you're a person who reads. But I did get to talk with Ike Clanton and sure enough he's got people on the Kenai and is going there to fish next summer. I told him he'd fit right in.
Bisbee is a really cool little town. It's full of old mining footprint and in a non-covid world it would have been fun to wander the streets that are full of history and local art , you know the kind of town you'd spend time in eh ? so as I searched for the coolest pic I settled on this.
For some reason we were having CNN news syndrome and had to get the hell away from the TV...I was starting to think that maybe it was me going crazy instead of the country. SO, as we drove aimlessly across the desert we decided to go to Mt. Lemon only about 40 miles away. MY goodness ! it is gorgeous and even at Glacier and Denali Parks I don't think I've ever driven to 8,000 ft. These pics were just when we started up from the desert floor and took in the view of Tuscon.
And then it happened , again . A couple ladies who were sisters about our age noticed the Montana plates and told us they were from Helena Montana and had graduated in 69 and 72. MP told them she was a 73 grad and I was 71. Then one of the gals said their other sister was a 71 grad and had been married to a guy named Terry Murphy....mmmm.....one of my best friends and I replied "you're Linda's sisters" and MP said this is Jeff King and they looked real good and laughed " we know you, you're the one that went to Alaska"!!! Here's my old/new friends Dee and Diane Meyer.
What a wonderful example of life's convergences you meet with an open heart. Diane and Dee are retired snow birding and enjoying RV life in Tuscon. We talked about life's changes and the early days in Helena as we all started to head for adulthood and of course we talked about Linda and Terry ( Buck ) Murphy who we lost at way to young an age...so we're doing it with your spirit Terry, one of the most naturally talented people I've ever known. Dee said he had a certain confidence that made everybody feel safe, warm and welcomed. Thanks for finding us Dee and Diane, it's just what I needed, as I told you I've been feeling a bit anonymous lately...even lonely...I shouldn't moon, I suppose with all things going on a good part of the world feels ....ah....lonely. Love you guys and we hope our trails meet again.
So after seeing Dee and Diane we spotted something on our next stop. MP said it was the strangest looking Birch bark she had ever seen so I looked closer...It was a message tree and fit exactly how I was feeling at that moment...You see what I see ?
At the top of the mountains is the town of Summer Haven, so I guess it gets a bit hot around these parts. My pics don't do it justice but the views down are awesome.
The rock formations are so unusual. They are called Hoo Doo's and they look like they could fall anytime. You drive under around and even through hundreds of them. If you come to Arizona you MUST go to Mt Lemon. With the exception of maybe the Grand Canyon it's the most beautiful scenery I've been around....but then again in Jeff's world the best is always the one you're doing now 😉
Mile 14 on the Kenai River, well, its a special place on earth. I tell people the Kenai river is like my first girlfriend, always changing, fickle, unpredictable but absolutely gorgeous. This place is the major league of salmon fishing, and you'll see why. No politics here, well maybe a little fish politics, just plain simple fun and adventure.
I have been a fulltime guide on the Kenai River here in Alaska since 1981. I'm a fishing machine between my summer job and surf fishing in Mazatlan Mexico. I've been married to the best person I know for 32 years. I'm a musician , health nut and I like to have fun. Mile 14 is where I live on the Kenai River. So this Blog will be my views, experiences, huge catches and adventures right here from Mile 14...and most of them will be true.
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