camping at the russian river

You can follow all of my camping adventures on instagram by following the tag #hardcoreparkours2013




"The Russian River is a 13-mile-long (21 km) river on the Kenai Peninsula in the U.S. state of Alaska. It flows northward from Upper Russian Lake in the Kenai Mountains through Lower Russian Lake, draining into the Kenai River at the town of Cooper Landing. The native Denaina people called this river Chunuk'tnu.

Like the Kenai, the Russian River is famous for its fishing, especially for salmon. There are two runs of sockeye salmon each year, in mid-June and mid-July, and a run of silver salmon in August." (from Wikipedia)




Last weekend my family went camping at the Russian River. Regardless of potential creepers, I want to share the specific places we go camping this year for you all who are curious about Alaska. The Russian River is definitely one of the prettiest campgrounds we've been to (but then again, they're all really pretty). Surprisingly there weren't many people on this memorial day weekend, which was just fine for us. When the salmon come in though, the area is swarming with people and animals looking to catch a fish. Salmon is a major market here in Alaska, so there are always commercial and noncommercial fishermen around. My parents love to fish, and always after their excursions the house smells of smoking salmon about to be canned or cooked. Mmm, love me some Salmon! The Russian river is one of the major rivers where people fish.

One of my most favorite things about camping in general has got to be the food. There's just something about cooking eggs, bacon, and bread over a fire and turning it into a sandwich that makes the taste unlike any other. And of course camping isn't complete without hamburgers, hotdogs, and smores.

This weekend in particular, the weather was so nice and warm. Of course the temperatures dropped down to about 30 degrees at night, and it's in moments like that that I'm glad I have my dad's military sleeping bag. That thing keeps me toasty. The Russian River is pretty inland, so the temperatures are more mild than campgrounds near the ocean. There are mountains on both sides so there's minimal wind, which is always nice. All around Alaska there are tons of hiking spots, so on the full day that we were there, we hiked to the falls, which I will share a photo of tomorrow in the "creative pictures" part of this camping weekend.




My dad, my mom, myself, William, Nicholas, Moriah.





Speaking of camping, that's where I am right now! (Thank goodness for scheduled posts, haha). I'm guessing every weekend will end up being a camping weekend on the blog, so hopefully you guys enjoyed it!

Have a fantastic day. :)