Igi is where we are headed, an Eskimo village, next to Lake Iliamna which is the second biggest lake in the USA. It's roughly 200 miles from Anchorage.... one hour flight by twin otter.
The twin otter.
Pilot and Rachel (Kitchen Assistant) reading the paper while flying.
After takeoff.
The volcano Mt. redoubt smoking.
Snapshots of the scenes below. So beautiful.
Once we land Quinton (Rach's BF and fishing guide) picked us up with an ATV and trailer.
Then he took us for a ride on the boat to the lodge.
After being hypnotized by volcanoes, glaciers, ice sheets, big lakes, big fish jumping... we made landfall.
Right away I got to work studying Brenda's menu. It consists of mostly comfort southern foods with a bit of Alaska... BBQ babyrick ribs, ribeye, shrimp scampi and scallops, grilled fresh salmon caught right outside the lodge. I've eaten smoked salmon for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for the last 3 days.
My homework.
Half of the kitchen.
My bedroom. Extremely cozy. On the bed is about 10 blankets haha, but you need it because it drops down to 40 almost everynight.
Looking towards the kitchen.
Big bear on the wall. Brad, the lodge owner, is also a bear guide. The neighbour told us today that the locals saw a giant (+1,000 lb.) bear in town today, and it's most likely roaming around the woods behind us. Quinton (Q) said a bear used to visit everynight until a couple weeks ago, maybe the neighbour shot it? On my 6 mile run today to the lagoon I saw plenty of bear skat at tracks. Foxes are plenty around here too.
The living room. I still haven't seen the TV turned on yet.
Salmon in brine.
Salmon drying after you take it out of the brine, this causes the fats to remain in the meat and not leech.
Big chief knows what smoking... salmon and Mt. Redoubt.
In just a couple days I've already eaten probably 3 lbs. of smoked salmon. I'm contimplating going on the eskimo diet... fresh berries and fresh salmon.
By the way two steps out the door and you're walking in a field of wild blueberries. This morning I made crepes with blueberry filling, blueberry muffins, and fresh blueberries in blueberry yougurt.Here's just one of my smoked salmon concouctions; smoked salmon 3-cheese quesadilla.
