Eagle River and the Crab Feed

A group of us headed "out the road" to the Eagle Beach State Recreation Area. This is a favorite place as it is surrounded with beauty and grand views, offers easy walking for a multi-generational crowd, and frequently has milder weather than downtown (when Juneau is cloudy and drizzly, Eagle Beach may have high-clouds and no rain, and sometimes even sunshine).

Mist over Eagle River

Watching the river

Fun with Grandpa

A dense fog hung over the vegetation in places along the river, giving it a soft focus look.  As always, we looked for bears (recall a year ago we watched a young female bear delicately eat a salmon in this same place - see Beautiful Juneau).

Exploring with Grandma

No fish

No bears

As with the streams at Mendenhall Glacier, we found the streams at Eagle River void of spawning salmon, so little to draw the attention of hungry bears. We found interesting plants in the area, and enjoyed exploring along the access road to the campground and cabins.

High-bush cranberries almost ripe

Wood rose

We drove over to nearby Eagle Beach for a walk on the sandbars. It was fun to skip rocks on the water, listen to the birds, and take in the sweeping views of the sea, the craggy mountains, and Herbert Glacier in the distance.

View to the mountains and Herbert Glacier to the right

Family portrait at Eagle Beach

A few days later, my brother and dad pooled their personal crab licences, and treated us all to a crab feed. My brother arrived with a plastic table cloth, an assortment of kitchen shears and pliers, and two King crab legs per person. We fell to work releasing the crab, and feasted on the sweet, delicate meat dipped in melted butter.

Crab Feed 101

Gaining momentum

Finishing up

In the pictures of the event, we all look pretty grim, but don't be fooled. It's just pure concentration and culinary pleasure. We celebrated another birthday with delicious cake and ice cream, this time for a sexagenarian.

The aftermath of a great crab feed

Birthday Black Forest cake

We had enough crab leftover for several crab melt lunches. Needless to say, we were full of gratitude for the gracious squandering of the season's crab take on our behalf. It was delicious, and a wonderful experience!

Preparing the crab melts