Fish Camp

Monday, after working on the trail script and the fire presentation, I got to head out on the boat towards Nondalton.  The ranger had to drop a guy off at Fish Camp, on 6 Mile Lake, so I was able to tag along.  Everyone here had been talking about fish camp, and I had no idea what they were talking about, so it was about time I investigated.  Turns out it's a place where families go to catch and process fish.  They are looking for salmon specifically, and once caught they set up little rigs along the water to process the fish, cutting them into filets and drying them on the bone racks.  Then they smoke the fish.  It's quite the process; I'm still learning, so I'm certain I have some of that wrong, but you get the idea.

The fish camp we went to was different though.  It's a research station for the fisheries biologists of the park.  They have a tower set up, where they count the amount of salmon that swim by for 10 minutes on every top of the hour.  The camp itself has a log cabin that has their kitchen/living area/office, there's a steam-bath being constructed, and a bear fence that has about 5 tents within.  It really is camp!  After meeting the people that work out there, I've decided that fish camp would be a great experience...if only I liked fish...

 View from the top!  This is the tower that the biologists stand on to count the fish.  It felt like a jungle gym; I don't know how they aren't all climbing on it all the time, it was so fun! On a day like Monday the conditions were perfect, not too windy and only 50 degrees, but I can see how it would be tedious on a windy day that's freezing!  All in the name of science though!

This is the camp itself.  See the cabin and fish nets?  The second picture is the view from our boat that we took to get out there.  They also had a storage cabin, just to keep everything dry.  It rains quite a bit out here, so any extra covered storage is necessary. 

It was quite the day.  I learned a lot about fish camp and what's being done in the park.  Perhaps research is in my future career endeavors.  We'll just have to see.