Pre-trip Planning

Pre-August – preparation.
Ben Adamson took the lead on assembling a first-rate crew for a trip to SVA in August ’09. Ben’s first lady Emilee Carpenter, Stephen and Sarah Adamson, Scott Reed, Duncan Burn, Adrian Bruns, George Stanley and his first lady Brooks, and Cheairs Porter were the crew who self-selected for the trip. Many emails circulated in the months prior, with accelerating spaz-ometer readings as we got closer to August.

Key points of preparation:

1. Sarah Adamson worked with a outfitters’ chef to assemble a 10-page menu for breakfast, lunch and dinner for each day we were at the cabin. Said menu also involved a 6-page shopping list, which contained down-to-the-brand-and-size instructions for each item. We did not g hungry.
2. Stephen and Ben instigated a bear deterrent arms race among themselves, Porter and Reed. More than $1000 in proper armaments were purchased specifically for this trip.

August 21

August 21 – arrival in Anchorage, travel to Talkeetna. Porter arrived first, gathered the sweet Grand Caravan from Thrifty, and proceeded to the liquor store – 2 handles of bourbon, 1 handle of scotch, 3 boxes of Black Box wine (actually quite good…). Then to the grocery store [INSERT NAME] to attack The List (attached) [GET LIST AND ATTACH]. 4 hours later (after buying his 3-month old son a pair of sweet-ass Servus Alaskan fishermans’ boots), he loaded the minivan with approximately 15 boxes of food. Yep. 15 boxes. Those big ones that bananas come in.
Back to the airport, gather B. Adamson and E. Carpenter and S. Reed. One stop for oranges, salmon jerky and dill pickle sunflower seeds, and off to Talkeetna. Arrived at Talkeetna at 11:00 p.m., and stayed at Latitude 62 motel. Beers and outstanding stage-setting conversation with _____Hudson and younger guy. Learned several important things: Jim Coyle, aka RECOIL, is a crotchety old man who likes dark beer and not much else. His phone number is RED-SMUT. There are trout up Bunco Creek as long as your arm. There’s a pretty cool guy up river in a cabin just by ___ lake. S. Adamson, G. Stanley and better-halves arrived in Anchorage later that evening.

August 22

Saturday, August 22 – Talkeetna to SVA. Porter, Reed, Adamson and Carpenter woke up to the tingle of Dr. Braunners and a cloudless day in AK. So we decided to take a flight. Coffee at the general store, then breakfast of reindeer sausage and a sandwich of pancakes, eggs and bacon at Latitude 62, then to Talkeetna Air Taxi for the flight. What was expected to be a tourista roundabout gee-whiz lap around a snow covered hill turned out to be a life-memorable experience for all. TAT was a first class operation, and their pilot’s enthusiasm for the beauty of the mountain and luck of the weather on the day we were there was impressive. Multiple laps round the mountain, dropping into amphitheaters and skirting peaks, landing on a glacier, a few snowballs thrown, a few clouds rolling in a little more quickly than expected, and we were back in Talkeetna prepping for the flights to SVA.
S. Adamsons and G. Stanleys arrived around noon – we ate lunch in town and proceeded to the float dock to meet the Hudson Air plane. Enter Jock and Anna. Anna – office person at Hudsons. Jock – floatplane pilot for Hudsons. We all staged with gear and FOOD, and Jock said we were 4 trips at least. He paired us up with piles of gear, and made a large stink about a certain G. Stanley needing to travel with Sara Adamson…largest with smallest…and BOY was GEORGE the LARGEST, according to Jock. Anyway, Stephen and Ben went first, Scott and Brooks went second, George and Sara went third, and Cheairs and Emilee went last. By the time we arrived, the cabin was prepped and ready for us, and the path from RE-COIL’s dock to SVA was well-worn. It seemed that neighbor Jim was not as crotchety as described. And he definitely did not like dark beer. But he did like blue/newgrass and the reefer, and was impressed with our level of food and gear.
First Impressions of SVA: TIGHT. Comfortable. Impressively solid after 18 years, and in great shape since the couple since the last visit. Location, Location, Location. What a view! Hey bear! Blueberries on the trail? What the?
After getting stowed away at SVA, Adamsons, Reed and Porter ducktaped some holes in the canoe, ferried the motor down to the boat at Bunco, went down to the mouth to see salmon aplenty, then ran up the creek. Lots of water relative to flows during previous trips, lots of jump-able ducks, and no trout water as far as we ran. ‘Just around the next bend’ turned into a couple hours up the creek in shirtsleeves. Frikkin freezing. Great way to break in the trip.
Back to SVA to a wood stove, some box wine and an excellent dinner.

August 23

Sunday, August 23 – rain, projects and salmon. Eggs and bacon for breakfast, and then an assessment of what needed to be done to get SVA back to snuff. Base of front door was rotten and porch was worse for wear. We (Stanley, Adamsons, Reed) pulled door from hinges and put on sheathing from a section of stovepipe and a new kickplate to repair existing damage and prevent future damage. All pulled porch boards up and replaced several joists, then replaced boards. Also replaced steps to porch with a functional (but not permanent) fix. Will need more spikes (big nails) to fix steps properly.
Later in the day, we all went to the mouth of Bunco and beat up on the salmon pretty well. Mix of sockeyes that were fairly red with silvers that were bright. All ate flashy, weighted salmon flies with reckless abandon. We kept 3-4 fish for dinner and ate like kings that night and all others following. We didn’t count on salmon on The Menu, but we adapted….

August 24

Sunday, August 24, 2009
Blueberry pancakes and Reindeer sausage for breakfast before we six set out for upper Bunco Creek by foot. Water level was a little higher than I recall from 14 years prior when Stephen, Philip, Aynsley Miller Fisher and I had our Grizzly encounter in the same spot. Nary a fish in the creek. I think Stephen and Ben caught one each, but really weren’t there. We tread lightly. Returned home through miles and miles of alders. “Hey Bear!” was shouted or mumbled no fewer than 3000 times. Returned to the cabin in time to run out to the mouth of Bunco and hook up with dozens of Salmon. Cooked a couple fillets for dinner. Cheairs smoked some for apps.

August 25, 2009 - Adamson Physical Challenge (part 2)

Monday, August 25, 2009 – Denali crowed through the scattered low clouds to wake us on our third beautiful morning. We had packed the night before for a 2 day hike in the hills between Tokasitna and Ruth Glaciers. Ben and I shuttled 2 trips to get the 6 of us to our starting point. Stephen had a propensity to take the lead in our 6 hour hike through the alders and up the Bear and Moose trails. Cheairs, in his first and only 90 second lead, found a really pretty moose shed. Ben found what we think may be the match not 200 yards later. Stephen resumed leading. Got to camp site at 5pm or so. Some of us walked up to the peak to look down on First Creek(?). Stephen claims the dark spot we saw crossing the opposite side of the hill was a large griz. I maintain it was a small black cub. Cheairs spotted a curious moose observing our dinner that night on the ridge of the hill. Cold as hell. Cheairs set the tent up such that he continued to roll into his tent mate.  What happens on the Toks stays on the Toks.

August 26, 2009

Tuesday, August 26, 2009 – Awoke to slight rain and strong winds. More MountainFood for breakfast (great camping food, by the way). Down was much easier since we could avoid the alders as much as possible. Crossed Niagra Falls after picking up the two sheds, when I stumbled on a third. Stephen was hunting like a pointer for the rest of the hike back to the boat. He never did find a shed. Returned to the cabin in time to catch dinner and meet up with Duncan Burn and Adrian Bruns, who arrived at 9am. Adrian’s nickel-high hip waders weren’t adequate and wet legs aren’t great for wading. We came close to trouble by ignoring his complaints of cold – his face was blue and he was thinking more crooked than he usually does. Hot cabin and bourbon warmed him up in time for salmon dinner.

August 28, 2009

Thursday, August 28, 2009 – Scott, Cheairs, Ben and Emilee tracked the Wed course, but went higher in search of fish. Bear tracks galore.  See photos and video of the "Dance Parlor".
Stephen, Duncan and Sara hiked to the upper end of Bunco Lake and caught dozens of trout.
Adrian fixed the sink which was leaking, replaced broken boards, and did odd jobs around the house.

August 29, 2009 - Au Revoir

Chiao

To be described....

Monday, August 24th – Adamson Physical Challenge, part 1.
Tuesday, August 25th – Adamson Physical Challenge, part 2.
Wednesday, August 26th – Adrian and Duncan Arrive
Thursday, August 27th – Hey Bear/More Projects at SVA
Friday, August 28th – HEY BEAR
Saturday, August 29th- Au revoir