The Dock is Not In

You’re looking at the confluence of Beaver Creek and the Kenai River.  

And here’s a view up the creek from our cabins.

April is the time of year the residents of Beaver Creek diligently watch for the moment when the ice goes out. We call each other, we send photos, and we talk about when the docks are going in. It’s an important topic because of where we’re situated. We are tide dependent for getting the docks in and only have one or two shots in the spring to do so.

On paper, the tide cycle this past weekend is/was the first opportunity to get it done.

Unfortunately, spring has been late and not all the ice is out of the creek. 

In a couple of weeks, I’ll have another opportunity to get the dock in. I’m a little bit worried because the May high tide is not quite as high as the one we just experienced. It’s right on the edge of how much water is needed to float the dock into place.

While scouting out ice conditions I saw several harbor seals. Clearly, there has to be a food source for seals to be ten miles up from the ocean. My guess is it’s resident trout. It’s a bit early for hooligan and salmon.

This is an encouraging sign of things to come. Even though we still have plenty of snow on the ground, the pussy willows on the river banks are starting to bud. Whenever I see pussy willows, my thoughts immediately go to my grandmother. They were her favorite and I would often cut several sprigs for her.

I’ll end this blogpost by thanking my neighbor Ron for the use of his photo, and Ross Harding of Riddle’s Fishing Lodge for letting me use his deck to take the other photos. Hey Ron, we did it! Over 300 words!  

See you all next week.