It's all about food and friends

The date has arrived for our friend Isabelle to join us for 2 weeks in Alaska. She landed as planned in Anchorage and met us at Ali's place to share a last dinner all together. We would head out the next day to the Kenai Peninsula with her and when back in Achorage, Ali would be gone to Japan for a business trip.

We had a great time and Caroline cooked an Alsatian specialty called “Fleischnaka” (Meat snails), which is basically ground meet in handmade pasta dough rolled and cut in slices. What a treat for her to be back in the kitchen and cook a dinner! This was a great way to say good bye to a friend and welcome another one.

Back to Hope for more fishing

Since we like the town of Hope so much the first time when we went with Ali, we thought it would be a good first stop to introduce Isabelle to the beauty of Alaska and to one of the best thing there is to do around here: fishing! After negotiating driving arrangement, it was decided Isabelle would ride with Chad. With her new helmet on that fitted perfectly, we left Anchorage. The ride was great and uneventful despite strong side winds.
As soon as we arrived in Hope, the fishing rod and spinners were taken out of the top case. There were still plenty of Pink salmons running: this would make a great dinner for the three of us. Chad cast the first line and after a few minutes got a male, easy to recognize with its hump on the back. However, we were fishing for females as we got a recipe to make salmon caviar. Isabelle and Caroline gave it a try too and after 15 minutes, we each had caught a fish. We filleted them right on the river bank. We were ready for our feast: fresh pink salmon, broccoli and local fruit pies plus ice cream and desert. Caroline also insisted to prepare some caviar for the next day, which she was the only one brave enough to try the next morning. Not bad again at all but only for the braves!

Isabelle and her first glacier

So we had already done the salmon experience. This was the right time to introduce Isabelle to another Alaskan “specialty”: glaciers. As we were riding towards Seward, a well-known fishing town, we stopped on the way at the Exit Glacier in the Kenai Fjords National Park and did a short hike to the toe of the glacier. As soon as we turn our first corner on the path, Isabelle said “Look, a bear right there!”. She was indeed right: a huge Black bear was about 30 feet (10 meters) far from us. Chad had his hand on the bear spray, ready to fire if the bear happen to be hungry for delicious French food. But he just looked at us and continued into the forest. Good, we had a non-aggressive encounter only!
As we arrived at the glacier, we were struck by how much crevasses and textures this one had. The light made the glacier look turquoise blue, beautiful contrast with the white and the dark rocks it was carrying.

We were all happy to be enjoying the beauty of the Exit Glacier and were taking our time to take many pictures. As we went to the Visitor Center before leaving, the ranger on duty recommended we hiked all the way up to the Harding Icefield, at the top of the mountain. Since it was about a 8-hour hike and we were already late in the afternoon, we promised him we would come back the next day to explore what was at the origin of this glacier.