[steelguy]

Well, nature was against us this year! There was little to no snow melt on the mountain tops the last 2 weeks and our once a year steelhead trip in Alaska found super low stream flows and not a single fish to be seen. We spoke to everyone beforehand, even considered having a local pilot do some recon but the truth is you never know until you put your own eyes on it for yourself. On top of that, the one half gallon of Vodka, labelled "Kamchatka" was so fowl tasting we had one drink and then poured the rest out! Tasted like stale shoe leather! If you zoom in on the 1st photo and look at the snow, those are some large brown bear tracks that came up onto the deck checking for food. Zoom in more and look at the door knob handle! Guess what the dents are from in the door knob! There is actually a trap door and ladder to a loft if any uninvited intruders get aggressive.

So, the balance of the week we ventured as best we could and slept in freezing temps each night in our cabin. Good thing was the days were picture perfect and our boats performed flawlessly. So, now the wait goes on for fall silvers and once again looking forward to next spring and, fingers crossed, more favorable conditions.

 

[Pat AV]

looks like a stomper of a time regardless of the fishing, spring and freshette have been very slow to develop this year for sure!

 

[GHalliday]

I hope you had some stand by back up booze or something.

 

[Tom.B]

I hope you had some stand by back up booze or something.

Yes, like one of those fine bourbons we where talking about a few months ago. I confess, I will miss Russian Standard but who needs their hooch when we can make our own?

 

[Wyo_atl]

Sounds to me like the flavor of kamchatka vodka hasn’t changed a bit since I last drank it in college 20 years ago!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[steelguy]

Wow!! Wyo_ati, are you saying you drank this Kamchatka by choice??!!?? Maybe I shouldn't talk, I did some beyond idiot things years including drinking grain alcohol and I'm still here to talk about. Fortuntely. But that was the fowlest tasting liquid that was hardly worth the buzz I can remembrer drinking ever. Yes, I did have a single flask of Lagavulen 16 for stream-side celebration that sipped nicely in the pinch. Plus, really did not want to wake up at 3am with a headache with 30 degree temps. Better planning next time!

 

[rakuz66]

Bummer, but glad you made the best of it,, that’s all you could do. Cool looking cabin btw, and although I couldn’t zoom into the door handle, the size of those tracks were impressive.

 

[steelguy]

Here is a closeup, unfortunately out of focus, of the cabin door. Tooth marks are quite deep. All cabin doors swing out so bears are not able to simply push in. Worrying thing is the "windows" are nothing more than 1/4" plexiglass!