The last day of the hunt and our scheduled day to leave the island to go back to Anchorage to prepare to go our respective homes; a winter storm from hell blows in! With snow and ice being pushed around with sustained winds of 45+ gusting to over 60 mph; needless to say our flight gets canceled. OK……no big deal. Earlier in the day we enjoyed our last hunt in which I got to spend on a lagoon outside of the harbor where the Harlequin and Oldsquaw like to loaf. As luck would have it with the cold and wind starting to blow before the big storm; the birds didn’t move accordingly. I sat and talked with Capt. Russ, another decoy carver and more advanced than I, and I ended up taking only the second Black (Common) Scoter during the season and a nice bull to boot!!! So…..the next scheduled flight off the island on day two is at midnight. With the wind still howling…….yep; flight canceled again!!! Hmmm….OK. As much fun as I was having; all of us had jobs, families and homes to go back to. Needless to say; most of us had everything packed and I think all of us shipped items back home so the airlines wouldn’t charge us the gouge rate with luggage. As is normal in life and humanity; a little bit of cabin fever set in with the crew of Week 4 in 2011. We were all ready to go and there were hunters sitting in Anchorage, Charlie’s last group of the year, which were ready to get to the island and hunt. Finally the fourth morning……PenAir calls and tells us things are shaping up and there are two planes coming to the island for departures back to Anchorage. Moods improved and we helped pack up the boat and gear as the other hunters decided they would roll over into next season. Once some of the native Aleuts knew we were stranded; we would be treated to home cooked meals by them which included deep fried Halibut one night and seal meat the next. They are the only people that can legally hunt them for food. I was honored that they would give us a little bit of their culture and cooking. We got to Anchorage and four us had flights departing later the next day as two got on redeye’s that night. We secured our birds in the freezer at the motel and after all of us got good nights sleep; the next day we enjoyed breakfast close the hotel and dinner at a real nice place in Anchorage. After we ate we looked through some upscale gift shops and outdoor clothing stores as well as toured the famous annual ice sculptures in downtown Anchorage. Later that night I was the first of the last four to leave for home so the journey had officially ended for me. After four flights from Saint Paul to Anchorage, Anchorage to Seattle, then 6 hours later Seattle to Chicago, then finally Chicago to Houston, I arrived home 24 hours later.
Although I was ready to head home, it didn’t take me long to miss Alaska. I absolutely love it and am already looking forward to planning my next Alaskan Adventure within the next two years hopefully. Saint Paul is a fascinating place and I intend to see it again……as I stated earlier; I have to.
This trip was just what the doctor ordered after the year I had last year. There is absolutely no place I’d rather be than Alaska to hunt, sleep, eat, explore and make new friends in the process. I still want to go back and hopefully read all my posts on my Facebook page as it was a way to stay in touch with my family and friends as well share my feelings of things I had gotten to see as well as pass on as each goal of my trip was reached. From what I understand by the some of comments I got and people I’ve talked to since I returned…..it was quite entertaining.
Farewell my friends……until my next flight leaves for the “Great Land” again hopefully someday sooner than I expect. Somewhere out there floating in the Bering Sea is a big, bull Pacific Eider drake with my name on it!!!!!!
Look at the top of the waves being blown backwards!
The Crab Fleet anchored behind the leeward side of the island avoiding the 60+ mph winds.
Hard to tell but these are probably 12-15 footers if not more!
Some kind of monument behind the duck camp; it's written in Russian.
I've loved reading about your trip Mike! Can't wait to hear about the next one!;-)
ReplyDeleteThank you Jamie!!! You're too sweet!
ReplyDeleteMike your post's were great and very accurate thanks for putting the ffort into it as many of my future clients will enjoy reading them. As always Thanks for being a great person and a ball to hunt with, Please don't forget about me as I have a great spot waiting for you to kill your pacific with me when your ready and a great return rate for all past clients. Take care
ReplyDeleteCharlie....once again; none of this could have not have been possible without you and your staff of guides, and lovely Deb. I really had the time of my life this January!! We are friends and than cannot be denied; by all means lets stay in touch. If you ever got them in....I'd love to have a hat! I wore my Saint Paul Island cap to the decoy show in Ohio and people recognized me from the blog and forums. They all wanted to hear about it!!!! I got to visit with Capt. Russ as well which was a treat. Take care and have a great spring and summer fishing!
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