What a night. Dragged anchor in 35-40 knots of wind and driving rain. Set a second which held. Think the Rocna (primary) probably got something stuff in its craw. Naturally the one night I take a sleeping pill. Kevin, Brian and Josh handled the bow in terrible conditions incredibly well, and I did an OK job driving the boat to drop the second while still on the first anchor. Crazy instant Aleutian Weather...
The next morning, Brian, Josh and I headed in to fish the very promising river. Sure enough, after bushwhacking for a while we found an amazing fish hole…with FISH in it. A whole school or either salmon or steelhead trout were swimming right there. We casted, we changed patterns, we casted, we searched for hungrier fish, but to no avail. Just couldn’t figure out what, if anything, they were eating. We finally gave up, having just enjoyed the hunt.
We finished our time on Atka exploring the old, collapsing trapper cabin on shore. The remains of a stove, some tools and a rotting, collapsing floor are all that are left. We set up for a group timer shot, but I’m not fast enough. We adjust, open beers, and toast Atka.
As we set sail for Unilaska and our exit from the Aleutians, the entire herd of Reindeer (Caribou) ring the top of the hill watching us sail of into an amazing sunset. The scale of Atka and the Bay we are in are so incredibly large. Three separate volcanos ring the ridge line, and the sun illuminates a thin line of clouds as we leave for the Eastern Aleutians.
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