Ruby Trip - 2013

Day 12 - Saturday - July 27

Fireweed

Delphinium (?)

Spent our last day in town.  The boys just didn't feel like going fishing, but they regretted that decision later when the weather was calm, nice, and the river looked like a sheet of glass.  

We walked part way to the grave yard to get a picture of Ruby.  We would have walked all the way up, but the bugs were too bad and forced back into town.  

Brandon

Jesse and I did a load of laundry only because we had to.  Later we took a walk on the beach with grandpa.  The river was smooth as glass all day long, but since we did not go fishing, the boys will have to be content with memories of past trips.

Our view from the hill to the graveyard

Front Street

Roy will remain in Ruby to work and will be the only one of us with fishing tips on the Yukon to look forward to this year.

Evening view of the calm Yukon

Ruby Trip - 2013

Day 11 - Friday - July 26

The gnats are terrible even though the mosquitoes have tapered off a bit. 

The sun was shining bright after about eleven in the morning and the temperature reached around 90 degrees Fahrenheit in the sun by that afternoon. I can't decide if my arms are tan or almost burnt. 

Roy with a large Pike

When the sky was still slightly overcast in the morning and after a Cream of Wheat with blueberry breakfast, we headed over to the Melozi to do a little fishing.  

We kept three pike and even though we saw a salmon and I had caught and lost a she-fish, the fish were not biting too good today.  Maybe it is just too hot for the fish to bite right now.  

Nothing else exciting. She-fish chowder for dinner and later, showers at the laundromat.

Ruby Trip - 2013

Day 10 - Thursday - July 25

View of Ruby from the airport

Slept in until around nine or almost nine.  Found that my dad hand company.  A drifter/adventurer from Germany introduced himself as Joe, AKA Jochen Kern.  I made pancakes for everyone.  

Picking blueberries

Later, Roy, the boys, and I drove out to two-mile hill to pick more blueberries and do a little target shooting.  

In the evening we had pan fried salmon and a mix of vegetables for dinner.  After dinner the river looked sunny, peaceful, and inviting, so off we went to the Melozi to fish for she-fish.  

View of the Yukon and Melozi Rivers from a gravel pit in Ruby

Jesse caught a small one on his second cast, but it was too small to keep.  I caught one that was just large enough to keep.  The others and I also caught pike that we threw back.  Besides the onset of gnats in large quantities, it was a beautiful day!

(I didn't have my camera with me on this fishing trip.  Roy has photo's and I will post them when I get copies.)

Ruby Trip - 2013

Day 9 - Wednesday - July 24

Jesse's Pike

Went fishing by the slough again even though the weather was not so sunny in the morning.  There was a bit of wind on the river.  It was just Roy, Jesse, and I today.  Brandon claimed to have one of his headaches.  I think he just preferred to stay behind to watch movies and hang out in town.  

"What time is it?"

Swan on the Yukon

Jesse caught a large pike, near to the size of the monster we were trying to catch the other night, but not quite as big. 

 We got some pictures of a swan that took off after floating nearby.  

Jesse had a lot of fun.  He said it was the best fishing trip ever!

Ruby Trip - 2013

Day 8 - Tuesday - July 23

Not much for adventure today.  We did the things that needed to be done.  Roy did his load of laundry and we all took showers.  

Stinging Nettles on the property

My dad's friend, Ben, came over to help with building the house.  So, Roy, my dad, and Ben raised the last exterior wall.  My dad had promised Ben dinner, but since he could not do both the cooking and the construction, I got handed all the ingredients and cooked the meal.  We had fried cabbage with bacon, ham, potatoes, onion, bell pepper, and apple.  It was delicious.  For desert, and thanks to Jesse's craving for ice cream which we could not find in Ruby at the time, we bought a tub of Cool Whip and had frozen Cool Whip with the blue berries we picked.  Some of us threw walnuts in the mix as well.

Ruby Trip - 2013

Day 7 - Monday - July 22

We walked to the laundromat to do a load of laundry and take showers, but it was closed.  Oops!  On the way back Jesse seen a bee or wasp flopping around on the ground.  When he described the noise, I said, "Oh.  It was beat-boxing?"  Jesse said, "Yeah!  It was BEE-boxing!"

 After much effort on Roy's part to raise the boat transom, and that not working out as planned, we finally went across the river to do some fishing.  We couldn't make it into the Melozi once again, so we fished the little slough that runs next to it instead.  

 There was one really huge pike that was a monster.  It was caught by, but got away from Roy, Jesse, and I (not necessarily in that order).  I guess fish get that big by being a survival expert after all.

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Brandon's view of the mountains

Brandon did little fishing, complained about mosquitoes, but noticed the view of the mountains.

Ruby, Alaska

Ruby Trip - 2013

Day 6 - Sunday - July 21

We had planned on maybe going swimming, but the weather was too dreary for swimming.  Instead, we went with our back-up plan of driving out the road to do a little recreational gold panning.  After a breakfast of pancakes and roast beef hash we headed out.

Lunch Time at Hub Hill

We stopped at 'Hub Hill' for lunch.

Gold panning was not a successful venture, besides a few dust sized particles that were not even worth mentioning.  We had fun trying. 

The mosquitoes were horrible, especially for the boys who are not use to growing up with such large populations of them.  We still found time for a little exploring in the gold-mining district known as 'Long Creek'.

 

Monkshood flower

On the way back, we stopped to pick blue berries near 'Hub Hill' and the mosquitoes were even worse there than at the creek.  The boys mostly sat in the truck while Roy and I picked a bucket full.

Ruby Trip - 2013

Day 5 - Saturday - July 20

The old house

The day was grey and cloudy.  Grandpa went outside to work on his new house for a while and promptly, out of the habit of living by himself, and without thinking, locked us in the house.  We hollered and finally knocked on the door to make Thorak, my dad's dog, bark and finally gained Grandpa's attention to let us out.

Not much happened during the day, other than getting a load of laundry done.  

Charlie and his barge showed up that evening.

Charlie

Petey takes a ride on a forklift

Charlie's little dog, Petey, use to the motion and bustle of large machinery moving, loading, and unloading supplies from the barge ran around and occasionally hopped on the smaller loader for a ride.  If it were my dog, I'd be near a heart-attack. 

Later we all helped with a little more work on my dad's house.

Ruby Trip - 2013

Day 4 - Friday - July 19

Still raining in the morning.  My dad and I went for a fast mosquito infested walk between rain showers.

The Elite Bath

Jesse developed a bit of cabin fever by noon and so we braved the rain to get a few pictures of the older buildings in Ruby.  

Old Snowmobile

Ruby Roadhouse

On our walk we also discovered that the boat motor became stuck in the mud when the river rose over night.

Later in the evening the rain slowed and stopped, Roy came over and he and the boys helped ready and raise a wall on the new house my dad is building.  

By bed time the sun was shining exceptionally bright through the windows as if to taunt everyone.