At the fishing camp that my sister and her husband own, Naknek River Camp, there are around eight cabins for guests, a dining hall that now has Internet and a large-screen television, and a bar on the riverfront called Trapper’s Bar. After four trips to Alaska, I finally learned that Trapper’s comes with a bit of Bristol Bay history, at least, according to one of our neighbors who shared the bear tale.
Bristol Bay is the easternmost arm of the Bering Sea in southwest Alaska. The largest community in the area is Naknek (with a population between 400 and 500 people). It’s right on the ocean shore with a lot of salmon canneries. It connects to King Salmon (population 307 and the town closest to the river camp) thanks to 16 miles of the paved (and so appreciated) Alaska Peninsula Highway. King Salmon has the airport as well as what used to be an active U.S. Army Air Force base during World War II, which closed down in 1994.
Today, the road continues from King Salmon further inland for 4.6 miles to Lake Camp. It feels a lot longer. The road isn’t paved. The dirt and gravel continually need to be grated. And along the way, you are guaranteed to see lots of potholes, likely to see the occasional bear, and very lucky if you spot a moose, fox, or lynx. We’re talking Alaskan wilderness.
Back in the early 1970s, there was no road to Lake Camp on the entrance to Lake Naknek. It was all swamp and tundra. But, military people wanted a recreational area for fishing and exploring Alaska. They used their jeeps to plow a pathway to the lake and establish Lake Camp as a place for their boats. Even today, there is no town or village at Lake Camp. It is merely a pier where people keep their boats or bring them when they want to fish.
Most of the land in the area is either part of the 4.2 million-acre national park or owned by the local Native Alaskans. Some bits and pieces have been sold to private individuals. But, there really are not a lot of people in the area. Trapper’s Bar was one of the original cabins build near Lake Camp. Back then, it was easier to bring supplies for building by way of the river than by the dirt jeep path over the tundra.
According to our neighbor, and you know that second-hand information is always true, the original owner of Trapper’s was a retired Air Force colonel. He lived in the cabin by himself for several years. Trapper’s was built before a passable road was there. In those days, it took two hours to drive to Lake Camp from King Salmon. The colonel’s home was a one-room cabin (still is) with a stove, bed, and little else. There were no beautiful windows overlooking the Naknek River as there are today. There was no bar, grill, terrace, internet, or ice machine. I’m fairly sure in guessing there was no electricity either. Instead of windows, the colonel had gun slits in the walls in case of trouble. Trouble meant curious, and oh so dangerous, bears. And, if those bears ever showed up, the colonel had his gunrack by the cabin door. He was a man prepared.
Except he wasn’t.
As the story goes, one very curious and very dangerous bear crashed through the cabin door one night. The colonel immediately saw the flaw in his preparations. It doesn’t do any good to have your gun ready for a bear when the bear crashes through your door and is standing right next to your weapon. Somehow, miraculously, the colonel edged his way through the darkness, around the wall, and escaped out of the cabin without being slashed, maimed, mauled, or eaten. But, once outside, he realized that he didn’t have his gun with him. Would you go back inside?
Our trusty colonel didn’t.
Instead, he raced to his vehicle. But, where were his keys? Inside the same cabin with the bear. The brave colonel chose not to go back in the cabin for them either. Instead, he turned around and walked – or possibly ran -- all the way to King Salmon. He never looked back and never returned to his cabin.
Is all of this story true? Well, bears still wander around Trapper’s to this day. But, in my four visits to Alaska, I’ve never seen one colonel.
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