After landing at Iliamna River Lodge and lugging all of my gear from the plane to my new room, I run into Bill, my new boss and the owner/operator of the lodge. He's raking gravel along the walkways.
"Can I help with anything?"
"Yes, Becca, take over raking the gravel. But before you get to that, let's talk..."
He pulls me aside and tells me this is a special situation. Normally, he wouldn't accommodate a transfer; instead, he would send the guide packing. But he believes in me.
"Becca, serious question. Do you want to finish the season?"
"Yes, Bill. Not only do I want to finish, but I want to come back for another season. I know I can be successful here."
I grab the rake and get to work, wondering if I will have time to properly unpack before our guests arrive in a couple of hours. I start to feel guilty about the accommodation that has been made for me to move to a bigger lodge, but am still thankful for the chance to continue my first season. I sit and reflect on my first two months in Alaska at The Ridge....the location overlooking the Copper River, the intimacy of hosting just four guests per week, the learning curve of being a rookie guide, the family I made there...and I pray that my new lodge with a bigger staff to build community with will be the catalyst for my success as an Alaska Fly Fishing Guide. Ok, it's time.
Our week holds a rowdy group of guests at all different skill levels. Guiding has its hiccups, of course. One guest loses his balance on my raft and falls out, filling up his waders, but I quickly put him on a beautiful rainbow trout he sight fishes. Day redeemed. Later in the week, I rip my waders on an airplane cleat as we are loading up gear. They immediately fill up with water, too. Luckily, the other guides help me patch them up and I only have to use my backup waders for a few days. Overall, things are going well. One morning, as I'm getting ready, my new roommate Elyse (who handles hospitality at IRL) busts into our room while I'm brushing my teeth.
"Becca!"
Frantically, I rush out. "What's going on??? Has there been a change in schedule? Am I leaving earlier? Where are they sending me now?"
"Actually, I just brought you coffee."
Wow, ok. I need to chill out a little bit.
I start to learn the cadence of events over at IRL. For example, the lodge puts on a bonfire night for guests at a nearby sand beach ("Bonfire Beach") when the weather is good. The guides haul tables, chairs, food, drinks, and other provisions to the beach as part of the setup, then run back to the lodge to pick up guests for their special evening. There's music, cornhole, and dinner straight off the portable grill. When it's time to light the bonfire, we offer bottle rockets to the guests to shoot the diesel-doused logs until they catch fire. The whole production is alot of work, but it's a unique experience for our guests and an opportunity for us to get to know each other better in a lively environment outside of the lodge. When the party is over, we put the fire out by spraying it with our jet boat motors. Let's go!
On the last day of guiding for the week, I am back on a technical river with a guest who has struggled to catch his first rainbow trout...so I make it my personal mission to get him on a good fish. Towards the end of the float, it's game on. He hooks into a big rainbow trout, the fight takes us both far downstream, and I almost fill my own waders getting the fish to net. But it's landed and he gets to leave with the memory of a great fight, and a picture of him and a beautiful Alaskan rainbow.
That night, for their last night in Alaska, the guests feel like hanging out on the Guide Porch - so they mix up Franzia (something they brought as a gag gift) and club sodas to make us cocktails. We call it the "Miami Heat." Hey, we aren't picky here! We make a fire, crank up the tunes, and hang out for one last hurrah. It's a long night followed by a slow morning, but a great introduction to my second half of the season at Iliamna River Lodge. The guides get busy with changeover chores and, when I finally head back to my room to relax before our new guests arrive, I find a note from Elyse full of beautiful words of affirmation. I'm starting to feel really good here.
The next week is just as much fun. Our guests feel like family, and guiding starts to feel less and less like work. The lessons I've learned in the first half of my season seem to be coming together, and my confidence grows each day. We have a film crew around for a few days and I am charged with making sure they get plenty of fish content on their fly out day with me. Mission accomplished, except during the process, we encounter a "bad bear." I first see the bear from three hundred yards away and immediately know the situation isn't good - we are in a very remote area, and this bear probably hasn't seen many humans. He notices us and immediately starts running our direction, cutting the distance to just a hundred feet. My guests panic, and I hear myself yelling "do not run - slowly back away and head back to the jet boat!" As the guide, I stand in front of my group, separating them from the bear and wondering if I would even survive a mauling. I take my bear spray out but immediately sense the wind blowing in my face. It's a useless deterrent on a day like this, unless I want to spray myself in the face. The bear starts charging for me again and I prepare myself for the end. But suddenly, at thirty feet or so, he stops. He stands up, smells me, and turns around. We wait until he is finally out of sight, and continue fishing. Later, I ask the film crew if they caught it on video.
"No. Things were unraveling quickly. We didn't want to capture an attack." It's a reminder how quickly things can change in Alaska.
The weeks start flying by. We lose one of our guides, Logan, for a week as he fills in over at The Ridge. Before he leaves for the other lodge, he tells us that he will have to cut his season short to handle some family matters back home. I wonder if I'll get to see him again before he leaves Alaska. My anxiety about transferring lodges has all but disappeared, and I feel settled with my new guide family. We spend evenings rigging up, downloading how our fishing days went, and getting to know each other.
It's approaching September and I'm starting to feel like I'm actually going to make it through the season. My waders are patched and no longer leaking, but I'm now on my third rain jacket of the season...and my boots are starting to give, too. But the fishing has been good - big rainbow trout, char, and even my first day halibut fishing. One morning, our plane lands in front of the lodge and - before I can start loading gear and guests in for our day of fishing - I see Logan step off the plane. It's the best surprise.
"What are you doing here, Logan? How was The Ridge?"
"We had an awesome week. And I'm back for two more weeks at IRL - then I'll head home."
Heck yes! I give him a big hug, then turn my focus back to loading the plane. The weather has drastically changed and most days are cold, wet, and miserable, but I'm the happiest I've been all season. Alaska feels like home, and my excitement for the next day of work has only grown. Only one more month to go.
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