Raspberry Island, Alaska
On to Raspberry Island! When we loaded into the float planes, were told to bring everything we’d need for our first day of fishing with us. It was my first time in such a small plane, but our pilot was great and the take off and landing were amazingly smooth. Once we landed I understood why they told us to keep everything with us. Our luggage was coming through on another plane, and it’d show up after we were already off for the day. I was glad I’d kept my camera backpack with me! Some other folks who’d brought their own poles and had them with their luggage were a bit disappointed, but we all managed. We got fishing boots, waterproof layers and were ushered onto the boats.
The last time I could remember fishing was years and years previously - also with my father-in-law, but up in Wisconsin. We ice-fished and none of us caught anything. I wasn’t really sure what to expect for this trip. As a vegan, watching the fish be pulled out of the water was a bit distressing, but I knew anything we kept was going to be cleaned and flash frozen and consumed by someone on our trip (or their friends). We threw back anything that wasn’t on our license and I found myself getting into the competition part of it.
Could I catch a big fish? Maybe a King Salmon? I couldn’t wait to bring the fish home and give some to friends and family telling them - yup, I got that for you! On our halibut day I really just wanted to catch my limit and start taking photos. I told myself “the next fish is going to be my “Big One” and then I can just hang out. Turns out, positive thinking works! I caught the BIGGEST FISH of the entire trip. I personally found it funny that one of the vegans and the only lady caught the record breaker. The fish was offloaded from the boats as soon as we landed, and processed right there, the guts and ‘extra’ pieces going to the shore birds and otters who came to visit. The fish was then flash frozen and packed in boxes for us to ship back home.
I was glad to be on the boat that we were- our motto was “A day on the water is a good day. If you catch a fish, well that’s not too bad either.” We were all pretty low-key and they didn’t mind when Birch paused our fishing to ease up to a bald eagle for me, or slowly go through an area where he often spotted whales.
The laid back nature of our fishing group meant that everyone was happy to do some nature viewing while we travelled around. Birch brought us to a rookery full of puffins, a raft of otters, pointed out whales and birds. Sadly, my ‘dream’ bird, commonly around in the winter, the crested auklet, had all headed further out the Aleutians and was no where to be seen. I guess I’ll have to visit again in the winter! I learned puffins are tiny and FAST and that otters hang out in rafts of ball-kelp to chill and float.
Raspberry Island itself is absolutely beautiful. Birch and Tiffany run the lodge. There are a few cabins and a larger “honeymoon house” where Chris and I stayed. (The cabins are set up as bunks, our house had a bed that could fit two people, and we were the only couple in the group.) They have a banya and some trails heading up the mountain that they maintain. They made us tasty vegan snacks for our day trips and always made sure we had options at breakfast and dinner.
We took one day off fishing for a hike, following their guide, Danni, up the mountain. I think it was her second week there, so she wasn’t super familiar with the trails, but we found our way. We packed the usual bear-spray, but silly us, forgot to bring one of the dogs with us. Would’ve been great to hike with Rambo, the energetic young doodle-mix. Danni told us that she usually carries a lucky “bear rock” when she hikes. To throw at a bear or just distract them, I’m not totally sure. She said she hadn’t had to use it so far, so maybe she didn’t know either.
Beautiful views, though at times I thought we might get blown right down the mountain! The winds were intense.
I can’t imagine this mountain being my back yard. There are times when I think it may be time to pack up the NYC lifestyle and find a mountain of my own. Then I remember how much I like my neighborhood and my community and…. being able to walk up the street for an ingredient I forgot to pick up. No spur-of-the-moment recipes here! The remote nature of the lodge means that deliveries are brought in via boat or float plane and in the winter they’re even more cut off. That would definitely take some getting used to.
We took a day off from fishing for a kayak trip in the morning and “bear viewing” in the afternoon. I wasn’t really sure what that meant when we signed up for it. Would we find a ‘bear blind’ and just hang out? Hike out somewhere? Turns out it was a flight to Katmai in another float plane, with one of the best pilots I have ever encountered. The conditions were pretty foggy, and at times it felt like he was just a few meters above the water. I know these guys do that all the time, but for only my second time in a float plane it was pretty exhilarating!
Moments after we stepped off the plane a bear lumbered by us about 4 arms-lengths away. I didn’t even have my camera out yet! Our guide Brock told us to never ever behave around other bears the way we could here. They’re in a protected reserve, so no one hunts them, and they’re focusing on getting nice and fat for the winter. They have very little interest in humans. That said, he did have a rather intense hand-cannon for safety, though he said he’d never had to use it. We were glad to be hanging out with Brock and not part of the other group we saw, full of what he called “bucket people.” I guess they were on a small cruise, he said they just sit on their buckets all day waiting for bears. We swooped in, walked around (which they couldn’t with their buckets), saw some bears and left. No idea what the rest of their tour was like, but didn’t look very fun to me!
When my father-in-law originally asked us if we wanted to join him to Raspberry Island, I thought it would be fun, but I didn’t anticipate how magical the whole place would feel. It was a return trip for him, part of me thought he was kind of humoring us by going again. Towards the end of the trip, though, we were all already talking about next time, and who we could bring back with us to share the experience. So next time? It’s this summer. We’ll be going back in July of 2023, though this time we’re not going to extend far past our time on the island with another road trip, just an extra night on the front end in Kodiak so we can explore there a bit more. I truly can’t wait.