I know what you’re thinking. Fishing guide website advertising current conditions has got to be about water temperature and clarity or how many we’re catching this week. Considering the Upper Kenai River in Cooper Landing won’t open for fishing there aren’t that many current conditions to report on that will particularly guide a prospective client to booking this week or stock up on a certain fly. The trout are spawning peacefully and the eagles are taking their swipes at them just as they have for thousands of years. They’ll play this game year after year. I can recall once during the annual Memorial Day weekend softball tournament in Cooper Landing watching as a bald eagle gracefully swooped off the river and right over the ballfied clutching a fresh caught rainbow. This fish was a trout of a lifetime for many but for this eagle it was perhaps more than it could handle. The bird did its own version of catch and release by dropping its quarry in the gravel parking lot amidst a chorus of groans from the many diehard anglers that make Cooper Landing their home. As an avid hiker I’ve found salmon and trout scattered all across the most unlikely of places throughout the Kenai River valley. These nutrients are no doubt one the reasons the area is a fertile wonder of nature. Acts such as these having been taking place in noticeable and subtle ways for as long as the first moments the glaciers receded from the land.
As mentioned some of these acts are anticipated annual events. Just as the eagle waits for the fish to return to the shallows we wait all winter for breakup and the opportunity to stretch our legs and cure whatever symptoms of cabin fever we’ve been diagnosed with. Some folks are excellent historians and record all types of events taking place every day and will cross reference them with previous years and confirm that the planet is not in fact wobbling out of control and the sun hit the yard the first day of February this year just as it has for a dozen or for however long they’ve been paying attention. Sometimes however things take place that everyone notices as just a little but unusual. Conditions will change. Most that have lived in Cooper Landing and for that matter most of southcentral Alaska would say that the winter and spring of 2025 have indeed been one of those years. I’m not one to really talk about the weather much. Its just the kind of small talk that says “i’m not really interested in what you’re up to nor am I willing to share my thoughts” but someone feels like they gotta fill empty space with noise so they bring it up. The other person replys with a yep or a nod and that’s considered a conversation. All that being said the weather has actually been interesting for a change and a decent topic of discussion. For a while Florida had a more snow than the Kenai Peninsula! Surely this won’t last, and it didn’t, but winter never really got going at the lower altitudes at any point over the next several months. It wasn’t long before the kids gave up hope and started making plans for the summer. By mid January the local sledding hills were empty and grass still standing upright. Strange but not the first time I've seen conditions like that.
Nothing ever really changed and eventually by early February I had given up hope as well and had headed into the mountains on foot rather than snow machine. It was time to get out do the first of my foraging in search of moose antlers. Moose are fairly habitual creatures. Subsisting on not much more than willow sticks all winter they can be somewhat predictable in their overwintering. Once they find a good willow patch they will stomp it to pieces. Stripping every branch within ten feet of the ground and leaving obvious clues to their lingering, moose nuggets! Heading out to the usual and likely spots it didn’t take long to notice that things were different. No snow on the frozen earth made for easy walking and covering lots of ground was a breeze. No snow also meant that the long legged moose, perfectly adapted for standing in snow three to four feet deep, were not going to be very comfortable bedding down on frozen puddles and root covered hummocks. No snow also meant the precipitation came in the form of rain. Moose have thick air filled hairs that form a barrier between the harsh elements and their thick hide but eventually even the rain will get through and soak them to the bone. A death sentence for any creature trying to stay warm and maintain fat on a diet of sticks and bark. I don’t think it took the moose long to notice things were going to be different and they headed for the hills. The lowlands were devoid of any signs of life in all regards. Observing the obvious I followed suit and headed for higher elevations and soon found more and more signs. Its not hard to spot a moose trail with some practice and following these into the hills was proof that they wee all behaving the same way. Seeking out the cold dry air and resuming business as usual. Living in an area for quite a few years helps a person notice the anomalies and taking into account the other driving forces you can piece together a puzzle. I eventually found as many antlers as I could carry on some days and will note these locations and guard them for their sake and my antler hoarding hobby. Talking with other shed hunters most were experiencing the same trends all across south central Alaska.
As spring progressed other things started happening that got me wondering. Are all these forces of nature communicating somehow? The web of nature is somewhat understood by modern people but I have no doubt the vast majority of it is a mystery that few will ever even begin to understand. I think the next thing I noticed was the earliest arrival of morel mushrooms I’ve seen on the Kenai Peninsula.Walking my dog on the evening of April 28th I took a wishful look at one of the early producing spots and to my surprise it was full of fresh mushrooms! Typically Memorial Day weekend is a dependable time to find them but here we were a month early and I was filling my ball cap. Keeping this secret I beat trail to my spots, not all are secrets, and found these areas responding in similar fashion. Most were holding mushrooms that were less than a week old, above ground anyways, and all were untouched to my delight. Fungus is absolutely a wonder of nature and they were responding to stimuli en masse. I picked for three weeks in secrecy before I heard of anyone else finding some and the seasoned pickers I dared mentioned it to expressed surprise and appreciation for the mysterious early bloom as well. Soon enough the secret was out but a prolonged and in a couple spots what I would call a profuse sprouting has continued. Why so many? What undetectable marker has triggered them to carry on? Are they anticipating an event? Do they sense the need to distribute a mass of spores in an attempt to save themselves? How can even relate my hypotheses to what’s actually going on with them? Stopping over in the forest and getting up close with nature will give a person plenty of time to think about it and most likely overthink it. Whatever the case may be something is going on and it hasn’t stopped with the mushrooms.
Next on my list of unusual appearances or lack thereof was the late arrival of the green tree swallows. These chattery acrobats are not hard to miss and in my yard a very welcome sight. Mosquitos are their favorite source of food and not surprising the mosquitos were right on time. Considering they are likely one of the older insects and most successful creatures on they planet they did not hesitate to prove those points. I spend a lot of time in my yard and for me the swallows impact is noticeable immediately. Dipping and fluttering all around your head and eating who knows how many mosquitoes and hour, they can knock the numbers down quickly. Every time I encountered a swarm in the bushes I’d find myself looking up and hoping for some assistance. Eventually it was another notable anomaly so I used some technology and searched my keywords in my text messages. April 24, 2024 “the swallows are back!” was sent and received with a little red heart. They are sure easy to love. Days grew into weeks and still no sign. About the 10th of May I heard the the chatter and looked up and saw two! Relief for several reasons settled in and I even announced as I had the previous year, “the Swallows are back!”, except they weren’t actually. This pair was not to be seen again and it wasn’t until about April 17th that I had seen enough to feel confident that they had officially returned. Staking claim to the houses scattered about the property and fighting their little bird wars was a welcome sign. I suppose a lot of things can delay their arrival or prevent it altogether. An bad fall storm as they migrated out the previous summer, a late spring snow storm blocking their path and taking its toll on their exhausted little bodies or maybe in the best case scenario an abundance of food in their overwintering grounds holding them back. The latter seems most unlikely as these little birds, just as the former animal and fungus mentioned, have a timing that is necessary for the survival of the species. As I peck away at the keyboard sitting outside they’re doing their thing all around me but to me the numbers seem a little down. Hopefully the new birdhouses serve them well and they get their broods fattened up on time and they can safely return to their winter homes.
Current conditions are just that. A report of what’s going on in that moment. In fishing I suppose they are somewhat useful but in my particular river things can change fast and I don’t put too much stock into them. If a client asks weeks ahead of their trip I generally give a broader combination of conditions. It doesn’t really matter if you’re out for one day of the season because we’re going anyways and we’re going to make the best of them. Guiding throughout the summer those conditions can stack up and make your days hell or in the best case everything has been great and every fly seems to work. I often get asked on the boat, which is a little late to be asking, “what’s the best day to be here?” My answer is always the same, today! Today is always great day to fish and especially if it’s your only day to fish. Current or past conditions matter for sure but a good guide will hopefully have a few tricks to offset any less than ideal conditions and pull off a good trip regardless.
Humans have it easy. We’ve adapted our conditions in most aspects of our lives to make every day optimal for our survival. Spending days and weeks and years outside in one of the continents harshest environments you certainly will understand that we’re alone in that regard. The will to survive and thrive is an amazing trait of all the rest of the planets creatures, even the annoying mosquito. Thriving is even harder. Rooting for the animal easy to do. Rooting for your brothers and sisters seems to be a lost art. If we had to endure for even a fraction of the time like they do I think it would do us a world of good. Clearly there a populations that by whatever metric you use, don’t have it as well as others but something that I've noticed is their ability to make the best of their less than ideal conditions and still thrive and find joy in their daily life and live it day to day. I’ve seen moose calves and swallows playing in the rain. I’m not convinced mushrooms feel happiness but they can certainly thrive in their current conditions. I suppose the only one I can really help is myself and those nearest me and even if it doesn’t always appear so, I’m just trying to deal with my own current conditions and hoping for the best. Maybe we can continue to find effective ways to communicate our current conditions and once again thrive, all of us.
