GGG-Alaska-2018
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Okay, I bet that title got your attention. Info to follow after the sacrificial first post.
Hint: it does involve caribou and the volcanic island featured in this photo.People say “Everything’s bigger in Texas.” Until they’ve come to Alaska. Our GGGs are bigger, too.
The overview:
Dates: July 21-28 (Saturday-Saturday)
Location: Adak Island (Aleutians Islands)
Activities: Hiking; Backpacking; fresh-water fishing for Dolly Vardens and Rainbows; possible salt-water fishing for flounder, halibut, and crab; hunting caribou; long walks on the beach; exploring the Zombie ghost town left by the Navy.
Variations: July 21-25 or July 25-28 (only two flights a week, Saturdays and Wednesdays).There’s the Midwest, the Rocky-Mountain West, the West Coast, then there’s Alaska and then, far further west, are the Aleutian Islands. Adak is over a thousand miles (>1600 km, Roger) west of Anchorage. Adak is further west from Portland Oregon, than Portland Oregon is from Portland Maine.
Aleuts lived there for thousands of years until the Russians came and enslaved them to catch sea otters.
Then they were ignored during the early US period until WWII when we realized, “Crap! The Japanese have invaded and occupied the USA” (Attu and Kiska Islands). So Dutch Harbor and Adak got developed as military bases.
We won that war and rolled right into the Cold War. The Navy used Adak as a forward base and as a listening post to intercept intel from the Soviets. With 6000 Navy personnel on the island, it was one of the largest settlements in the State.
The Navy brought 77 caribou calves to the Island as an emergency food supply (everyone was thinking nuclear war) and to provide recreational sport hunting for Navy personnel. 22 survived the first winter and multiplied from there.
We won the Cold War, too, eventually, and the Navy left.
The mammal balance shifted from 6000 bipeds and 300 ‘bou to 200 humans and 2500 lichen eaters. So the State just wants them harvested, to not so over-graze the island, and not get established on other Aleutian Islands (they can swim quite well).
This will be my 5th time on Adak and 12th trip to the Aleutians. It’s a grassy volcano in a cold, northern sea, so it’s just like Iceland (but without all the annoying hot springs, amenities, paved roads, or universal health care). It’s kind of hard to tell Winter (45F and blowing) from Summer (52F and blowing) except for the longer days. At least you don’t get too hot while hiking around.
We’ve been spectacularly successful in harvesting caribou, at least when we bring Manfred, and we’ve also been skunked or gotten one or two. It might not only be the sharp-shooting German guy, because we’ve also gotten more successful each trip we make.
Currently there are 6 BPLers (if we count kids) and 2 Alaskan friends of mine going. We’ll rotate in and out of Adak town, do some backpacking / camping to get further south on the Island and generally play it by ear, based on the weather. Last year, we had great weather all week, a tiny bit of drizzle, a few hours of low cloud ceilings, and no high wind. OTOH, I have experienced gusts to 126 mph (203 kph) in the Aleutians and my response is to hunker down – inside a building – and watch videos.
I’m offering intel on the island and share our past experiences in hunting, fishing and gathering successes (and failures).
I’m not offering to be your travel agent or hunting guide. HYOH (hike your own hike, hunt your own hunt). But having more people on the island at once, could make some things easier (packing meat, sharing a spike camp 5 miles from the trailhead, etc.
If you check airfares on Alaska Airlines, it will be about $1200 RT from Anchorage and $2000 RT from the West Coast. But if you have Alaska Airlines award miles or know someone who does, it gets far, far more reasonable.
You could do a totally unsupported thing for cheap – camping/backpacking every night. Or you could rent “a Lodge and a Dodge” for the duration and have a 2-bedroom ex-Navy condo with beds, TV, a chest freezer, and a full kitchen plus a POS truck to get the 5 miles to the trailheads. I’ve always done both – some nights camping out and then retreating to a condo if the weather report was bad or just to get meat processed and take a shower.
Hmmm, sounds interesting. I want to go fishing in the bays and eat lots of fish and maybe a caribou burger.
David, just a little video to get you pumped and help you remember what the wind is going to be like out there.
Dan, Here’s your stove heating water for butter & chives mashed potatoes overlooking Expedition Harbor where we saw sea otters, oyster catchers (a shorebird) and, of course, eagles.
It’s rained a bit so far but mostly it’s been dry (-ish). Lots of stomping around on old roads, trails, and off-trail. So far, I’ve prepared caribou hash, teriyaki caribou, caribou stew (‘bou stew), green curry caribou and caribou fajatis.
There are a lot of stream crossing and sone dramatic cascades around the island. The volcanic souls erode easily, giving the island a “young” feeling, geologically.
Caribou Teriyaki with Brown Rice:
Grilled caribou for Caribou Fajatis:
Very interesting place to visit. The weather is harsh to say the least but still an interesting place to visit.
Have you found a cove or some nook and cranny to camp in, out of harms way of the weather?
I like the fact that mosquitoes are not a problem. Are caribou a mainstay meat product for the local residents? Does the meat taste like chicken ?
Your seasonings can make any meal taste good Interesting info found: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adak,_Alaska
Pink salmon from the head of Finger Bay.
And the most effective lures for pinks, dollys and rainbows.
Your seasonings can make any meal taste good 
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