I’m home from Alaska. It was amazing and never seems to stop offering up glory, wonder and awh. Once again, Rapids Camp Lodge took incredible care of us and Mother Nature was in full cooperation mode as tempuratures were mild and pleasant. The only rain we had was on the morning we left to return home. Talk about luck!
Five out of the six days we fished were remote destinations where hiking several miles was a requirement. This is something that I enjoy and appreciate. It ensures we’ll run into no other anglers (even fly-out programs), the fish are wild and the river pristine. Those are all reasons to go to Alaska. And with private float planes at your disposal you are guaranteed to find fish.
While there is tons more to fill you in on this trip, I am forced to keep it short. I depart for Greenland this afternoon. Below is a quick “image dump” of the Alaska trip. Just to tantalize your taste buds and wet your whistle:
Greenland is new to me and to tenkara. It is an exploratory adventure targeting Artic Char with Breakaway Classic Adventures Owner, Indrek Kongats. We met at the Edison, New Jersey Fly Fishing Show this past February. He was unfamiliar with tenkara and intriged by the method as well as some of the fish I have landed. His thoughts went directly to his homeland and to the beautiful and abundant char that fill the rivers there. Almost immediately we started making plans.
This afternoon I fly direct on IcelandicAir from Denver to Reykjavik, Iceland. From there I transfer to Greenland Air and fly to Nuuk, Greenland. In Nuuk, Captian Arnannguaq will pick me up at the airport and transport me to the marina where I board her small cabin crusier and, if seas are cooperative, travel 2 hours north to the tiny village of Amitsuarsuk. With 73 inhabitants as of 2020, it is small and remote. We’ll then travel up river a short ways where I’ll disembark, wader-up and hike about 1.5 miles to camp. A true adventure.
We will sleep in tents at a stationary base camp and will have 6.25 miles of river to explore and fish. The river is narrow and a 15ft – 30ft cast is all that is necessary. Perfect for tenkara. There are also 2 lakes to explore 5 miles up river and we’ll have float tubes for those. Additionally, there is an opportunity to take a boat trip for Atlantic Salmon from some islands near by. If we do that, we will need a sinking shooting head and regular fly gear, which I have also packed. The average tempuratures are in the mid 40s and drop into the high 30’s as lows. The water will be very frigid. Greenland is the largest island in the world and has the second largest ice sheet on the planet. Greenland ironicly, is almost entirely covered with ice.
All in all this, will be a mind-blowing adventure and I’m hoping to get even more lucky and also spot a whale or two, which I’m told is a real possibilty. I return 10 days from now and will absolutely fill you in on a trip overview. So stay tuned – Zen is heading to Greenland! Whoot! Whoot!