clam gulch

We spent several days camping on the beach at Clam Gulch. Johanna's family have been commerical fishermen there since 1969. Her family all gathers and camps through the summer to fish. They are set-netters-- which means their nets are set in one place. Fish and Game control when the set-netters can set their nets in the water, so most of their summer days are a a process of setting nets, pulling nets, the tide coming in and going out. And salmon-- lots of salmon to pick out of nets, to set in ice and transport to the weighing station. Ash has spent some time commercial fishing, so lots of what we saw on the beach wasn't new to him, but for me, all this was a unique, educational experience. One piece of information I especially put to good use was when out in one of the boats, watch the horizon-- if you're feeling sickish. I felt sickish when the boat would stop in the water and bob around as Johanna and her brother pulled their nets through the boat to pick fish out. Charlotte went out in the boats a couple times and never seemed bothered by sea-sickness. The fish blood in the boat never bothered her. Watching the salmon gasp for breath-- breathlessly begging to be thrown back into the water didn't seem to upset her either. I wouldn't make a good fisherwoman-- or is it fishmonger? but Charlotte loved it all. She even carried a dead Dolly Vardon around calling it, "My dolly." For my part, every time Johanna and Peter pulled in a Dolly I sang a Dolly Parton song. I only had opportunity to sing, "Islands in the Stream." I had "Two Doors Down" waiting- aching to come out though.
Here is Liam with our gracious hostess... let me tell you, sourdough pancakes and good coffee around a table with friends is a very good thing, but put those things on a beach with a view like Clam Gulch and... amazing. Our first night was rainy and cold on the beach, but the next day the clouds broke and I gasped as they unveiled one of the most breathtaking views on the planet. From our beach we could see a mountain range with three volcanoes-- Illiamna, Redoubt and Spur. The water between us and those mountains was littered with bright orange fishing buoys and the beach was loaded with seasonal camping trailers, boom trucks and big fish coolers. I relished these scenes that are quintessentially Alaskan to me. What a heritage to offer children and grandchildren-- to spend summers on a beach that greatgrandfathers were setting nets from... and where great grandmothers were cooking sourdough pancakes.

And here's my favorite Johanna-- who my children love so much. She was helping me put them to bed that night-- bed in a tent where the water would come within ten feet from at high tide. Each night I woke when the water was closest-- woken by the sound of a rolling tide. I'd cover my babies back up and then pull my blankets to my chin and nestle in for another few hours of sleep.