Blog Update - Time to fire up the Redneck Smoker and smoke some Alaska Salmon!

Yesterday was a day filled with amazing smells and the reward was after about 8 hours, some of the best smoked salmon I have ever had....

Fist you have to get the smoker ready - in this case it has a tone of miles on it and some great history - it is a simple thing perfected by time - old refrigerator with steel walls metal shelves and an electric stove element 220 volts installed in the bottom, vent added to the top for precise smoke control and a door thermometer and a digital temperature probe...

Best in pics!

Clyde The supervisor was on duty!



The Smoker - getting it ready!



Trays loaded!



In the smoker - two full racks!



Add some apple bark chips to the burner!



We got smoke!



Precise digital monitoring!



After the 8 hour wait!



Fini!



Now the plan for the next adventure!!



Plan to leave on Monday for a 4 or 5 night trip and find some fall leaves and mountain and lake views for a little photo adventure! Should be a great time!

Stay Tuned!

Capt. Jim - "The Gypsy"

Traveling and photographing the Southwest and Alaska!

Blog Update - Road Trip Adventure to Noxon Reservoir

Took at trip about 120 miles from Kalispell to the Clark Fork River and Noxon Reservoir camped at a wonderful free forest service campground at Findley Flats. They have 18 sites and a couple pit toilets and a bat ramp. Nice place and easy to launch and get to with a nice bank to tie up to at night near your campsite. We had a wonderful time.

The story is best told in pictures....



Here we are ready to leave Kalispell!



Jim towed his trailer and I towed the boat so we had everything we needed for a few days of camping and fishing. Good roads and easy access to the campground and by going on a Thursday we beat the weekend rush.

The place was beautiful!



The fishing was a little slow, but being a new place neither one of us had ever been to, we were happy to stay even or ahead of all the locals who were not catching much either. We managed to nail one nice walleye and several smallmouth bass and quite a few northern pike.

The walleye was destined for the skillet!



Not having all the ingredients for our standard coating we resorted to crushing up some spicy CheeseIts and after an egg wash and roll in the crumbs it hit the skillet!



It was VERY Tasty!



The second morning brought loads of people and the campground filled up and the ramp was busy...but there was some pretty dense fog, which made for some morning photo ops!





Been wanting to work on this shot - still not perfected, but the idea is there and will get refined this year!



We brought our own entertainment - Clyde was always having fun in the campground! Playing dead and grinning, he was a happy dog!



Evening meant a great dinner and a campfire - with Jimbo's own method of one match fire lighting!



Add some propane and a weed burner and the fire lights right up!



Saturday night the campground was full and we had an obnoxious neighbor who decided to run his loud generator till way late at night, so Jim and I took a walk towards the water with cameras and tripods to do a little star shooting. Our neighbor was so bad we considered getting out the cordless drill and adding a few holes to his boat! But we refrained....

Here is the "Big Dipper"!



Here it is in black and white...I like the color better!



So now a few days waiting for better weather and getting some shopping done, some fish smoked and packing up for a little photo adventure to catch some changing leaves and mountains on the East side of Glacier National Park!

Stay tuned for an update - supposed to have snow in the higher elevations and rain and cold for the next few days so we are staying put.


Capt. Jim - "The Gypsy"

Traveling and photographing the Southwest and Alaska!

Blog Update - September 3rd 2014 - Ready for another Adventure!

I have been very busy since my return from Yes Bay Lodge in Alaska - ready for some more short trip adventures.

First outing was a trip to the Kalispell Air Show to see the Air Force Thunderbirds - open pasture at the end of the runway at a friends place - folding chair, cooler with beer, hot dogs on the grill and no rain, perfect day. The sky was cloudy and went from bright white to dark grey so shooting pics was a trial, but managed a few good ones!

Here are some air show pics!

First a real nice P-51



Then a nice bi-plane!





Now the Thunderbirds!





One guy kept flying by upside down - must have been a bad pilot!















My political statement!!





The bomb-burst done horizontal due to low cloud cover!



Then on Monday the 1st of September met a visiting photo forum friend and his wife from Arizona and Jimbo and I took them on a long day trip all the way around Hungry Horse Reservoir - drove over 200 miles. Great day but cloudy and rainy in the morning so made photography a bit challenging but managed a few good shots!

Love to do some closeups especially when the sky is bad!





Now for some landscapes!















A black and white conversion of the above stump!



A reflection shot! And beautiful green shoreline!



Today we are packing up the boat and Jimbo's trailer and in the morning we are heading down to Noxon Reservoir to do a little walleye fishing for a few days - he is towing the trailer and I am towing the boat. May take a few pictures while we are there, but mainly fishing!



When we return we are planning another 4 or 5 day trip to capture some fall colors on the East side of the mountains, that will be a exploring / photo trip - should be fun.

Then the end of the month I will head down to Dillon and meet my friend Steve for a little Beaverhead Trout fishing!

Stay Tuned!


Capt. Jim - "The Gypsy"

Traveling and photographing the Southwest and Alaska!