Fur and Feathers Journals, 2024, Entry No. One

 Entry No. One

Bears or Bed?

“Want to go out to the beach and check for bears?” asks  Karl after dinner on our first night at Shelter Creek tent camp.

 

I don’t respond, just reach for my camera and start to stand.  Then, while listening to my body hurling all kinds of threats and invectives, I stare down at the table for a moment and say, “No.  I’m going to bed.”

 

And I do.   

 

I am beyond exhausted.  I reach the tent, take off my shoes and wrestle my way into a large, flannel-lined sleeping bag with a pillow.   Inside the bag is a sheet folded in half length-wise and I try as best I can to get between the folded sheet while still wearing the rest of my clothes.

Four cot tents, but Alicia and I are the only two in this tent.

 

The sun is still shining, so it must have been 8-ish when I hit the sack.   Or  bed, or bag. Whatever.

The tents are Hansen Weatherports and very roomy.   These are the ribs with sun shining through the trees.

 

I am chilled.   The wind had blown all day and by evening I was starting to get cold.   After dinner, the chill really took hold.    I pull the sleeping bag over my head and snuggle down as much as I can while wearing clothes, and in between a folded sheet.

 

Then, I think about how I arrived here.

 

A week before I had no intention to go anywhere.   Then, Wednesday I spoke with a friend who offered me an unbelievable price for three nights in the Shelter Creek tent camp and three nights at Silver Salmon Creek Lodge.   It’s one of my favorite places in Alaska and after first declining because of the exterior restoration project I was immersed in, I changed my mind and said yes.

 

We were to meet at Lake Hood, the floatplane base in Anchorage, at 11 AM Sunday.  Our plane would be on wheels and take off from the adjacent airstrip.

I arrived there at 10 AM, but our flight was re-scheduled for the next day at 7:45 AM because of strong, blustery winds.

 

I drove the hundred miles home, had a lot of trouble falling asleep, got maybe two hours of sleep, and headed back the hundred miles to Anchorage.  

 

My friend, Eddie, and I were the only ones there.   The woman who organized the trip didn’t show until 10:30 or so.   Then, the pilot texted 11:30.   More waiting, but eventually we were off.   Mixed texts; mixed messages.

Tide flats west side of Cook Inlet

 

After an hour or so, the Cessna 185 skipped across the mud flats to slow the plane and came to a stop on the sandy beach.  Carts and staff met us, loaded our luggage and us, and headed for the lodge.

The charts are pulled by an ATV.

 

No sooner did we clear the first line of trees and enter the meadow, than we saw a Coastal brown bear walking our way.   No problem, we just let him go.

Here's a video I took, probably with my phone.   Listen to the noise of the wind.

 

After lunch at Silver Salmon Creek Lodge, we board an aluminum boat with Oliver in command and we bounce and slam our way across the waves about ten miles south to Shelter Creek.   The seas are rough.   So is the ride.

 

This boat, or another like it, is what took us to Shelter Creek.

We arrive at high tide and Oliver is able to enter the creek and drop us off right in front of camp.   We meet our co-hosts, Ronnie and Karl.

Karl, left, and Ronnie, right.   Great camp hosts.

Note the ladder to get up the bank.

  

Our glorious kitchen and Ronnie's domain.

 

One of the Hansen Weatherports

Four men toting fishing gear and huge cameras climb on board the boat for a ride back to the lodge.  They had to spend an extra day because of the same bad weather that delayed us.

 

I notice they look pretty glum and I wonder if they hadn’t caught any salmon.  But why do the photographers also look glum?   No bears?

 

We have a nice dinner and sit around chatting until Karl asks me about checking for bears.

 

Nope, nope.  Soon I am tucked into my flannel-lined sleeping bag. There will be bears tomorrow.

 

 

Looking upstream from camp.   The large peak on the far right is Mt. Iliamna, a dormant volcano.   The three peaks to the left are actually another ridge in from of Iliamna

Another upstream view showing the tidal spread of Shelter Creek.

Photo taken from in front of camp and looking to the mouth of Shelter Creek and into Cook Inlet.  That far green strip on the left is where Karl wanted to check for bears.