Susitna Landing

We are spending the holiday weekend at Susitna Landing Access Facility.  It is located at the confluence of the Kashwitna and Susitna Rivers.  It is a popular boat launch and campground of local Alaskans during the salmon runs.  

We have found that staying in places where the locals stay is much more enjoyable.  You get to visit with people who live in Alaska.  People here are very friendly.  They love to take time to tell you how to fish the river and share other stories about life here.

We spent much of the day with two couples camped next to us.  We talked about salmon fishing.  They gave me some flies to use when we get down on the Kenai where the red salmon will be running in a week or so.  Last weekend they caught some huge king salmon.  This weekend has not been very good.  Only one large salmon has been caught in the whole camp.

I learned about moose hunting.  They had many tales to tell of moose hunts.  Packing out an animal that large can be a challenge.  One of the guys said he never ate any beef until he was an adult.  His family lived on fish and moose meat.  He thought beef tasted a little bland the first time he had it.  

Life here is so much different from what we know in the lower 48.  There is more of a subsistence lifestyle where people fish and hunt to stock the freezer.   Having grown up on game, the meat you get at the supermarket doesn’t have the appeal it does to the rest of us.

The temperature here today is about 55 to 60 degrees.  It is breezy and cold to us.  We are bundled up in our winter coats.  Folks here are in shirt sleeves.  Kids are in swimsuits playing in the river.  They say the ideal temperature is between 50 and 70 degrees.  Any hotter than that is not comfortable.  When it hits 80 they are miserable.  

The two rivers we are camped next to are very different.  The Kashwitna is clear and turquoise color while the Susitna is heavy with gray silt from glacier runoff.  The current is very swift on both.  Our friends say if you fall in without a life jacket you are in a bad way in a hurry.  Not only is the water cold and swift but the slit will fill your clothing and make you heavier.  It is so fine it filters out in the fabric weighting you down.  We see warning signs near all river launches regarding lifejackets.  Some launches even provide loaner lifejackets for children.

One couple is from Wasilla, Alaska.   They know the Palin family.  They had only good things to say about them.  They are just normal Alaskan folks who have lived like most Alaskans.  They say they are a respected family in the community all politics aside.

We will visit Wasilla tomorrow on our way south.  We will have to take our photo next to the welcome sign.  Maybe we can find Sarah and have her autograph one for us.