“Each person has his own safe place-running, painting, swimming, fishing, weaving, gardening. The activity itself is less important than the act of drawing on your own resources.” (Barbara Gordon)

Our guide Jerry from Tri River Charters, Talkeetna, Alaska, cleaning roe from a female King Salmon caught by a member of our fishing party. After six hours of casting and lots of snags, I caught a much bigger male King from the fast moving water of the Talkeena River. Landing a fish is only part of the experience, the best part is being outdoors all day along the shores of an Alaskan wild river watching the water boil over rocks and swirl into eddies, and observing Bald Eagles soar and circle overhead seeking food. I am not as agile as I once was, but I soon figured out how to wade up and down the steep shore, stumbling occasionally over underwater rocks hidden by the silty water, and managed to land my fish as it fought hard against my line in the strong current. I’d forgotten about the adrenalin rush. My knees were wobbly, legs and arms shaking with excitement. How I love to fish! And, nothing tastes better than fresh King Salmon from the Bar-B-Que.

Gail Niebrugge, Alaska wilderness artist