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Page Updated 02/06/11 |
The Lodge / Cast & Blast - Day 1 / Cast & Blast - Day 2
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The Lodge / Cast & Blast - Day 1 / Cast & Blast - Day 2
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(L to R) Laura, Bob, Dez Young, Bob Ledda, Landon and Dash.
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(Click any of the small photos on this page to enlarge them into a pop-up window.) Dr. Bob Ledda runs a top-notch outfit at All Alaska Outdoors Wilderness Adventures in Soldotna Alaska, located in the NW part of Alaska's Kenai Peninsula. We enjoyed the lodge and our two-day hunt with the famous duo Dez Young and his Llewellin Setter Dash from the TV shows "Upland Days with Dash and Dez" and "Dash in the Uplands".
The Lodge: Our accommodations at All Alaska Outdoors were a two-story cozy cabin furnished with all the essentials. In the evening we went out back to a firepit and sat around a campfire while Dez Young entertained with his guitar, singing songs he written for the Hunting with Hank show along with a few folksongs.
Cast and Blast - Day 1 (08/20/2010): We were all really pumped on our first day and ready to get out on the Alaskan tundra with Dez and Dash! First thing in the morning we boarded a float plane and took off on our first adventure. The Alaskan landscape was breathtaking from the air, the mountains, glaciers and river valleys were sights you just don't see in Iowa. After about an hour flight, as we were coming in to land on a remote lake (200 miles from the nearest road), Dash started getting excited, he knew he was going to get to hunt. Dez had to keep him calm and give him some reassurance until the plane was anchored and we could disembark.
I've heard about the Alaskan tundra, but there's no preparation for how HARD it is to navigate, it was squishy in some areas and was like walking on sponges, and other areas had big tufts of grass on mounds so it was constantly like doing steps, step up and step down, etc., nothing was flat! In some of the lowlands, we had to trek through soggy ground before ascending into the higher hills, so we really had to watch our footing carefully. There's something to be said for being in good physical shape to hunt on the tundras of Alaska. At this first location, we trekked WAY up the mountain in search of ptarmigan. We had to get to a fairly high elevation before we reached bird country, we were so high in fact that the float plane was just a tiny white speck on the lake below. Once we arrived at the desired altitude, we all sat down for a much needed rest.
By the time we got back down the mountain to the plane, even poor Dash was tuckered out! We boarded the float plane and headed toward our next destination, another remote location in the midst of the Alaskan mountain ranges where we did some fly fishing for Alaskan Grayling and Arctic Char. Dash enjoyed a little swim time while we fished. This particular location was a fly fisherman's dream, a "sure thing". Every bead that was cast in the fast flowing stream produced a hit. If we had been keeping the fish, we would've reached our limit in no time flat.
Everyone had a great time, we shot birds and all caught a few fish.
Cast and Blast - Day 2 (08/21/18): Our second day was an amazing repeat of the first, two new locations for willow ptarmigan hunting and fly fishing which also produced great results. Our views from the plane were spectacular, the green-blue glacial waters are gorgeous, made us feel like we were in the tropics despite the temperatures. Bob Ledda flew us over known locations for Grizzly bears so we could see if we could spot some and he didn't disappoint. Dez gave me some fly fishing pointers since this was my first experience with this type of fishing.
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