A dreary, cold day in Portage Valley today, but time to move on. Took showers in a building that I thought would be very cold, but wasn't so bad - felt great to be showered after all the exercise yesterday. Then a session at the dump station and a quick RV wash before pulling out. Since checkout was 11am and we had not eaten yet, we pulled in at the Moose Flats picnic area just a few feet from our campground to regroup. Made a quick breakfast and took Sara for a walk in the Moose Flats - big muddy ponds (with a dry walkway for humans) that would have been a perfect place for a moose to drink from, but again, no moose sitings! They must be avoiding us, or this whole Alaska wildlife story is exaggerated! So we drove south into the Kenai Peninsula, known as Alaska's Playground - all kinds of locations for outdoor activities and sports. Weimeraner friends had recommended Russian River Campground as a great area for fishing, hiking, and bears. We are told this is THE place to see bears, take precautions!! I am actually typing my blog from the driver's seat so I can keep an eye out for bears! Everyone cleared out of this park after Memorial Day, and the salmon run fishing starts June 11, so there is no one else in our section of campsites. It's very wooded and the Russian River is just behind the RV, down about 20 feet. We took the trail below us, believing it would meet up with the Russian River Falls Trail, but we were confused when it fizzled out in the river. We rerouted and looked at about 3 different topographical, geological maps (can someone just draw some lines for us?!) before we figured out which direction to turn - now we've been walking 45 minutes and we just found the trailhead! It says 2.5 miles to the Russian Falls - shortly thereafter, we meet our first humans of the day, a couple who had been to the Falls and recommended the hike. So it's 4:30 pm now, but no danger of it getting dark, so off we go! Wearing the bear bells and leaving Sara in the RV and being "bear conscious"! It was a nice hike through fern forests, passing many streams and rivers. We got to the Falls which are famous for being a big challenge for returning salmon - apparently salmon are born in fresh water rivers, migrate to sea for several years, then are "called home" to their River of birth, which they are able to find, and swim upstream and jump up waterfalls, in order to get back to their birthplace and lay eggs for new salmon, then die from the exertion of it all! That's why I'm not into extreme exercise! But this waterfall is particularly challenging for the salmon, so they have built a salmon shoot to assist the weaker salmon in bypassing the falls. Hope the video shows you the power of these falls and why the salmon may need a little help! Unfortunately, we are 12 days too early to see the salmon, but hoped to find one errant early bird salmon in the river - again, no luck! After every sentence I'm scanning the woods looking for a bear!! But I don't want to complain too much, for fear I will meet one face to face in the woods!! Back at the RV, Sara is distressed that she had to stay home, so now it's another quick walk with her and dinner for us. Toward Homer tomorrow!!