My Alaskan Summer 1985

I spent the summer of 1985 working in a little village called South Nak Nek, Alaska. This was a fishing camp where we processed and froze herring and salmon for a Japanese company. As a college student this was a great way to make a large amount of cash quickly. My brother, Kirk, had worked there the previous few summers and was able to get both me and my twin sister a job as well as his two roommates from BYU. The company we worked for paid for everything...round trip airfare, room and board...everything. We actually did not receive a dime of pay until they handed us a check just before boarding our plane home. There really was no where to spend it and when the fish were in, no time to spend it.

I remember reading the letter that was sent to both Dayna and myself giving us a brief overview of the camp. I distinctly recall the letter stating that there was a recreation hall that offered (and I quote) "numerous tables and chairs". Okay...red flag. How many places have to advertise that they have a large amount of tables and chairs as a selling point? I remember at the time thinking that was kind of funny...not alarming. Oh to be that naive once again.

We began our journey in Portland, Oregon where we flew to Seattle, Washington. From there we flew into Anchorage, Alaska. Then on to another flight in a smaller plane to King Salmon, Alaska. Upon arrival there, we boarded an even smaller plane...a bush plane to be exact that held approximately 8 people. That plane took us to our final destination, the South Nak Nek International Airport...pictured above. For real...the sign in the small shack says "South Nak Nek International Airport". Another red flag :) When I got off the small plane, this building was the only thing man made that you could see anywhere.

The picture above is taken as you enter the camp. This was what we called "home" for the next 3 plus months. As you can see, we were very isolated. So isolated in fact that we had very little contact with the outside world. This was long before cell phones were even thought about. There was one phone booth in the camp that would only call out. There was always a line to use the phone and there was also a time limit on your phone calls. When you actually were able to use the phone, you could not talk over the person you were having a conversation with on the other side or it would ramble your words.

We also did not have any access to a radio. We were so far out in the middle of no where, that there was no way to pick up a station. We did have boom boxes and to this day whenever I hear Huey Lewis and the News, Tina Turner, or Bruce Springstien, I can't help but go back to that summer. The camp did have one small television in the rec center. This received one station that was usually snowy. I remembering that on numerous occasions Dayna and I would be given the coveted job of cleaning the rec room. (The foreman loved both of us because of Kirk and tried to make sure that we got the "good" jobs) While up there, Kirk and his room mates, Larry and Brian, asked us to try to watch the NBA Finals to see who was winning.

Another thing that I remember is not being able to drink milk for three months. Anyone who knows me, knows that I LOVE milk...I can easily drink 1/2 gallon daily by myself. This just about killed me. Because we were so isolated, nothing fresh could be brought into the camp. Which meant no milk...or juice. We had lots and lots of Hi-C, but no real juice. On the way home in the Anchorage airport I remember buying a small pint of milk. I would have paid $100.00 for a drink at that point. I did not end up paying quite that much, but it was still a steep amount.

In the evenings before the fish arrived, the five of us (Kirk, Larry, Brian, Dayna and myself) would spent countless hours playing pinochle in the rec center. We had a reputation of being the "Mormons" and everyone knew that we would not go drinking (or anything else), so after a while, they pretty much left us alone. The foreman also knew that because we did not drink, we would be to work on time the next morning, without a hang-over. There were numerous times she would get everyone out of there at the designated closing time and hand over the keys to us so that we could stay as long as we wanted. She really trusted us.
When the fish would be in, we worked crazy, long hours with no days off. The longest stretch that I recall was 30 days in a row, working 18-20 hour days...no day off. I remember at one point someone came in and told us all "Happy 4th of July"...none of us had any idea that it was a holiday...the days just blurred together. Dayna and I once again got the "good job" of working with the glazed fish after they had been frozen. In the picture above, Dayna is holding a box that we would slide the frozen block of fish into.
This photo is of Peter working in the freezers. Brrrr!
This is the famous "Slime Line". When the fish first arrived, everyone worked on the slime line, gutting the fish. I can still feel that sensation of my knife scraping the bloodline out of the salmon. Gross. I was pretty good at this and even perfected it to the point where I could remove the bloodline with one swift swipe of my knife. We worked here about a week before being moved to the glazing area. Dayna recently reminded me that one day I got up to go to work and my hands were completely swollen from the repetitive motions of the slime line. I tried to tie my shoes and started to cry because it hurt so bad. She had to come over and tied my shoes for me because I could not do it myself. When Dayna and I were looking at these pictures I instantly recalled that awful smell of fish mingled with blood...Maybe that is why I don't like salmon.

More slime line photos (above)
This is the dock at low tide. I spent a lot of time on the docks when the fish were not in. I would go down there after dinner at night by myself and do a lot of thinking. Probably not the safest thing to do. Grizzly bears were everywhere and we were not supposed to be alone. What was I thinking? We even had an alarm system in place of a grizzly was spotted wandering through camp. There was a big horn that would sound to alert us. This could be heard throughout the entire camp. I actually only heard it go off once during the summer, but I instantly knew what it meant. Not a great feeling.

One evening while we were waiting for the scows to bring in the fish, Kirk was able to get access to the company vehicle. He took Dayna and myself to the local dump to watch the grizzly bears find food. Keep in mind that the sun only went down for about two hours each day, so when we took our outing to the dump, it was daylight. We even had a big grizzly bear come right up to our pickup truck and look in our window...Wow! Wish I had taken a picture of that!
The beginning of gill net season. This is a picture of the boats waiting for the signal to drop their nets. Notice the helicopter flying around patrolling the area. If any boat dropped their net before the signal, they would have a photo taken and be sent a ticket. Peter told me later that some of the fisherman were very territory oriented and if anyone got too close, guns would come out - EKKK! Talk about the wild west!

Going to Alaska that summer was definitely an adventure. I really had no desire to ever return, but I am happy to say that I did it and I survived. I have often thought of the long hours and hard work that was required. I think it really prepared me for anything that I was to encounter in the future...it "toughened" me up. Dayna and Kirk returned many more summers and continued to make large amounts of money. When Dayna and I were looking at all these pictures this past weekend, she made the statement that "kids today have no idea what hard work really is". One season in Alaska and they certainly would.