Camping In Alaska 2008

[Phil Lilley]

We have put together a test camping trip this summer in Alaska. I say test, may be I should say adventure! We've never done this so that's why I prefis this in that way.

On Naknek Lake there is an area called the Bay of Islands. Located in the north part of the lake, dozens of small islands are protected from the wind by mountains on 3 sides. The lake is known for it's northern pike, rainbows and lake trout- all big of course. They feed all summer on salmon fry, known as smelt.

As well as fishing the lake, there are 3 places we will boat to- Brooks River (bears), Margot Creek and Idavain Creek, weather permitting.

We will be tent camping on one of the islands. All camping equipment will be provided except for a sleeping bag and your favorite pillow. You'll need to bring your own fishing gear, although we will suppliment some equipment such as spinning gear. We will have a list of items to bring for those interested.

We plan on charging the same for this trip as we do for the cabin trip - $1795 per person per week - in the future but because this is an "adventure" trip, we're only going to charge $1200 per person. This will cover most everything except your fishing lisence and flight to King Salmon.

This will be the only week we'll do this this summer. Next year we may expand it.

Sockeye will also be running that time of year. We will catch plenty of sockeye at either of the 3 rivers I mentioned, to eat and take home. Kings will be running but they don't go into the lake- they stay in the Naknek River and spawn.

We plan on boating from Lake Camp to the Islands on Saturday afternoon or evening, July 5th and returning early on Saturday, July 12th. We will have my big boat at the islands as well as several small jon boats and kyaks to tool around in the islands.

Bears? No bears on the islands. They're chasing salmon in the creeks and rivers.

I'm sure I'm leaving out something. This trip is still in the planning stages. Right now I'm looking for 6 clients to take. We'll need a deposit to hold the reservations of $500 now and $500 in May. Flights look like they are going to run about $1100 to King Salmon, about 10% higher than last year.

Just a warning... this isn't going to be a plush, easy trip. Wading at Brooks is fairly difficult. The water is fast and the rocks slick.