A trip to the Alaskan Wild: Bombers, bears, and Bristol Bay
This article at a glance:
A crashed bomber, a river full of bears, and a boat pitching hard enough to send everything flying across the room. Pride of Bristol Bay team member, Wil Clausen shares his favorite highlights from 10 days in Alaska with a few of his closest friends.
Written by Wil Clausen
The Bomber
Over the course of three days, we hiked a loop through the Talkeetna Range, staying at some backcountry huts along the way. I’ve spent a lot of time in Alaska, but this was my first time backpacking and camping in the state; the same goes for my friends, John, Evan, and Henry.
I kept referring to this hike as the "World Tour" because of how many different types of terrain we traversed. Rolling green hills gave way to jagged peaks that looked just like the Alps. Barren stretches of ice and dirt in a monotone landscape felt just like Iceland, and turquoise lakes full of glacier silt brought me back to my home state of Washington; the kind of color that looks fake in a photo until you have stood in front of it yourself.
In my opinion, Alaska is one of the most bountiful places in the world for the outdoors. I feel like you could spend a lifetime exploring the mountains, rivers, and ocean and never get tired of the beauty. We specifically chose this hike because of the World War II bomber that had crashed in 1957 and still rests on the glacier. We were fortunate to arrive at the plane on a sunny day. The light was glistening off the silver metal, and we took our time studying the interesting artifacts scattered about and the overall magnitude of what we were standing in front of. This will go down as one of the most incredible backpacking trips of my life, and I am especially excited to take my daughter back there when she is old enough to backpack with me.
Katmai, again and for the first time
The next stop was Katmai National Park; my fourth time there. For my friends, John, Henry, and Evan, it was their first. There is a particular joy in returning to a place you know well and watching it land on people who have never seen it. After arriving on our float plane, we were immediately greeted by a mother bear and her cubs. John was in the front seat and I can still see the excitement in his eyes when he turned back and looked at me, like, “I can’t believe this!” The feeling persisted when we arrived at the viewing platform to 15+ bears in front of us. We spent two full days watching the bears, and collectively, we probably walked away with a few thousand photos.
Back to the Bay
After an amazing trip to Katmai, it was time to fly back to King Salmon where the trip changed shape. The guys went on to continue their adventure in Seward, while I hopped on a tender vessel headed south to Ugashik district in Bristol Bay. It was about 11 hours until we’d reach our destination and I would transfer onto the Ava Jane with Captain Steve.
As a commercial fisherman, I have been around tenders when we deliver fish, but I have never taken a ride on one. That was a really cool experience, and I made some great connections with the crew and another fisherman named Taylor who was also catching a ride to Ugashik. It was smooth sailing for about half of the trip, until, coincidentally, I decided it was time to get some rest. I claimed a bunk down below, that also happened to be the workshop. I didn’t think much of it, but as time went on, the seas got rougher and eventually there were tools flying everywhere and the makeshift ladder to my bunk fell backwards onto the floor. I chose to laugh about it and figure it out in the morning. Looking back on that moment, the swell must have been pretty big to push around a vessel that was well over 100 feet.
Around 7am, Steve pulled up alongside us; I hopped on board and we immediately got to fishing. It was the end of the season so the run was tapering off, but there were still fish in the net and money to be made. I came out at this time to shoot photos and video of the crew so I wasn’t in the way at peak season. After a few days of fishing, Steve decided it was time to call the season. I remember that moment as a deckhand, when you’re completely worn down, slightly delirious from lack of sleep and missing home like you never have before. There was a new energy I could feel from the crew that was only amplified when asked if we wanted to go beach combing. I shared that excitement with everyone because this was something that I’ve wanted to do for a long time. In fact, one of the top goals on my bucket list was to find a glass float.
We made our way to a "spot" Steve knew about and crept into the river mouth slowly. We were late on the outgoing tide, so the water was very shallow and sandbars were starting to appear around us. The tides in Bristol Bay have incredibly fast currents as they are pushed and pulled by the Bering Sea, and the tide pinned our boat against a sandbar not marked on the chart. The concern wasn't whether we'd make it out of there, but if we'd even be able to reach the shore on foot. I'd say we were a couple hundred yards from land, and there were a lot of "mini rivers" still flowing between the exposed flats. We sat for a little while studying the landscape, and we found a path we felt good about. It had one river crossing that had the potential to turn us away, but we decided to go for it.
We embarked on our trek to shore with a small window of time before the tide turned. As we waded across the river crossing, the water was almost up to our waists; if it had gotten any deeper, we would have had to turn around. But it didn't. We hustled to shore and started beachcombing. We came across what looked like a bunch of bear bones, fresh wolf tracks, old lines, and other relics, but nothing spectacular. It was time to head back, and along the way, something in my gut told me to walk towards a small, remote gravel bar in the distance; it must have only been 5 feet wide by 20 feet long. To my surprise, sitting there inside a grass patch was a float, perfectly placed and gleaming in the sun, like it was waiting for me all along. I couldn't believe it! I couldn't have asked for a cooler way to find one, and it certainly made wading through ice-cold water in shorts worth it.
We arrived back at the boat, greeted by Steve whose pockets were filled with agates he couldn’t wait to show us. We relaxed until the flood picked the boat up and pointed the bow back to Naknek. Time to go home!
