When: May through September; other times by special arrangement.

Length of Stay: 2 to 10 days

Minimum Number: 2 (maximum 6)

Fee charged: $280.00 plus tax per person per day for lodging meals and all activities except those requiring floatplane charters. Transportation from Auke Bay Harbor via the lodge vessel Reel Job is included in all offerings. To the best of our knowledge this is the lowest price offered for a full service wilderness lodge in Alaska. A substantial portion of our income each year goes to upgrades that reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and make the operation of our lodge more sustainable--a direct and controllable contribution to the environment.

Children: Under 5 will be considered on an individual basis, over 5 same as adult.

Accommodations:We call ourselves a micro-lodge because it is easier than saying we are a remote B&B that serves an incredible three-meal menu and takes people fishing, hiking, kayaking, and wildlife viewing. Our two guestrooms are located in a separate building just above the high tide line. Each has a private bathroom and a spectacular view overlooking Saginaw Channel and Admiralty Island. Guests are able to watch whales frolic and eagle antics right from their rooms.

Background information: We are located on a Wilderness Island in the Tongass National Forest of Southeast Alaska. The Tongass, America’s largest National Forest, contains the most extensive remnant of intact Temperate Rain Forest in North America. The lodge is about thirty minutes by boat from Auke Bay Harbor in Juneau Alaska. Guests must be able bodied enough to transfer from our large boat the Reel Job to the skiff to get to shore.

Most folks visit us because they want to get away from the cattle drive. We are about as far off the beaten path as you can get and still flush a toilet and flip a light switch. You won’t see a road, wait in line or watch a television from the time we pick you up at Auke Bay ‘till the time we bring you safely back. We recommend at least four days to really enjoy our beautiful forests and waterways and account for weather contingencies or an off day of fishing. Our minimum stay requirement is two days. Select from the options below or propose your own.

Mission: We live in an abundance of nature long vanished from most of the civilized world. Whales and other marine mammals, eagles, ravens, hummingbirds, waterfowl, bears, dear, wolves, moose, mice, the ever turning cycle of the salmon, the old growth forest hanging in mosses, all still present, all interconnected, all in harms way. For the gift of being able to live here we feel we owe the responsibility to share and protect where we live.

Proposal options:

Exploring the Rainforest

Giant Sitka spruce, white cedar, hemlock and ancient jack-pine blanket the island. Blueberry brush, skunk cabbage, elderberry, and ferns combine with thick mosses and dripping fungi to create a temperate jungle environment interrupted by open muskeg meadows and beaver ponds. Exploring the wonders of Shelter Island begins at your doorstep and leads from the creature filled tidal pools out front to the creature filled meadows out back. Discover otter dens, deer beds, mink runs, eagle nests, beaver communities, and the traces of ancient human activity.

Shelter is a nesting area for Canada geese and numerous ducks. Several spices of owl, and hawk stalk the forest for local ptarmigan. Stellar’s Jays are our reluctant pets and camp cleanup supervisors while humming birds battle for domination of the feeders and flowers. At every turn you are greeted by natural wonders. In unraveling the mysteries of the forest we discover clues to our own humble place in the circle.

Exploring the Archipelago

Exploring the archipelago can be done in the big boat or by sea kayak or a combination of both. It ranges from fishing excursions to serious photography to puttering around protected coves.

Humpback Whales

Some families of Humpback whales feed by surrounding large schools of herring and needlefish in a spinning vortex of shrill screams and bubbles. The bubbles tend to stick together forming a cylinder shaped net that captures the prey while the noise scares the fish causing the school to compress. As this assemblage of bubbles, noise, prey fish, and whales rises the small fish panic. On the surface the first thing you notice is the hovering gulls then the little fish jumping into the air to get away. First one then hundreds as the bubble ring and the vertical, gap-mouthed humpbacks break the surface of the water. This phenomenon is referred to by scientists as bubble netting, bubble feeding or group feeding. Karen and I look to the center of this vortex and see an eye, clear and gleaming-a Whales Eye.

We see this feeding technique occurring in groups of from three to fifteen whales. From our observations it occurs mostly within one family in our area. We refer to this family as the Chathum Family, because they commonly frequent the Chathum Straight area. Over the years we have been able to observe this group hundreds of times frequently right from our own kitchen window.

Other Humpback whale activities are observed commonly also. These include lunge feeding, tail slapping, fluking, sleeping, breaching and we usually have a cow and calf spend the summer in the channel in front of the lodge.

Orca

Orca or Killer Whales are also in abundance in the Inside Passage. We observe Pods of resident and transient Orca frequently on the boat and from the lodge. These seemingly playful giants can occasionally be observed ripping Dahl and Harbor porpoises to shreds or feeding on seals and sealions. It is believed that the transients are the ones that feed on marine mammals and the residents on fish. Where ever Orca are encountered there is sure to be some excitement.

 Lunch with the Brown Bears

A thirty-minute float plain trip from the lodge is the Stan Price Wildlife Refuge at Pack Creek on Admiralty Island. The Refuge presents a rare opportunity to observe and photograph Brown Bears feeding in a salmon stream up close and in relative safety. Although not a part of our guided options arrangements can be made, guided or unguided, for this outstanding opportunity.  

Other Marine Mammals

Approximately 8 miles from the lodge is a Steller’s Sea Lion haul-out on Benjamin Island. Sealions can be observed basking in the sun, defending their harems and arguing over squatting rights. Seals, land otters, porpoise and an occasional sea otter can also be observed.

Fishing

Fishing, the great metaphor for the spiritual quest. Essentially what most of us really want from life is to be content with the moment and fishing just makes people that way. We bait our hook and send it into the deep unknown to see what happens. Usually, if not profound, what we catch around here is good to eat. Salmon, halibut, crab, rockfish, catch a little, catch a lot, bring it home and we’ll cook it up for dinner, take some back and share it with friends. It’s good to know where your food actually comes from in the grand scheme and you will not eat better seafood than what you’ve caught yourself that day.

Fishing, I believe, is the best way to observe the marine environment. Trolling or drifting for salmon sets one on a leisurely course and speed to take in all else around you. Its nature’s pace. Eagles, whales and other marine mammals feed either on salmon or on what salmon feed on which places them right along side our boat.

Daily fishing excursions include excellent halibut and salmon opportunities in one of the earth’s most beautiful settings.

Fly-out Fly-fishing

The watersheds of Admiralty and Chichagof Islands, the Chilkat mainland, Burners Bay, Snettisham, isolated streams, many unnamed, offer incredible fly-fishing opportunities for trout, dolly varden, steelhead and of course all five species of salmon. We have access to exceptional guides and the best aircraft available for fly-out fly-fishing.

The bear-watching and "Fly-out Fly-fishing" options require coordinating limited reservations and chartering a floatplane, therefore, the cost is more and bear viewing reservations need to be made further in advance.