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Gerry Christiansen cleared snow while George Kirk and Dave Jones unloaded materials from the Finlander. Due to frozen ground we didn't accomplish much in early April. After camp set-up and spring steelhead, we returned to the building project in early May. The Lazy Bay, a landing barge, delivered the bulk of the materials. The ground thawed and the building started to move along. With the help of Eric Cymbolin and Matt Kushner we were able to dry up the shell by early June. The new building includes a shop, a greenhouse and staff residence. It will allow us to free up space in the main lodge and increase our guest capacity.   Out camp set-up crew included Tim Longrich, Shawn Finn, Craig "Ole" Olsen and Dave Jones. Our camp season always starts with camp set-up. We started set-up in 2009 on April 22 to accommodate our third year of spring steelhead fishing.   Left: a mother fox had made her den under our gear storage pile on the river. When we began to move stuff she moved out six kits. It took her six trips.  Above: Dave installs running water in the camp. Left: Tim displays one of the few steelhead caught.   Left to right: Pat, Donny, Dave, Josh, Ole and Tim.   Camp, April 25 - May 2, 2009 Josh Lewis * Kodiak, AK Pat Steed * Eden, NC Tim Longrich * Kodiak, AK Donny Andrews * Denver, CO Craig "Ole" Olsen * Kodiak, AK Staff for the week were Dave Jones and Shawn Finn.   The river was blown out by the second day. Snow melt and rain combined to put an end to our steelhead hopes.  It was a big river as we flew to Kodiak after evacuating camp. We flew out to Uganik Lake for a fantastic day of Dolly Varden Fishing. Most of the fish were of a large average size. Captain Willy parked the plane and spent some time fishing with us. Fresh fish sandwich.   Donny reverts to his boy scout days and roasts a fish on a stick. Donny kayak fishing on a trip to fish a lake near the City of Kodiak. We caught some beautiful rainbows. Mike and Derek with a king. Camp, June 10 - 15, 2009  Bernie Beaudoin * Overland Park, KS Ray Sirois * Shapleigh, ME Mike Logue - Deerfield Beach, FL Derek Logue - Deerfield Beach, FL Chris Sirois - Greene, ME Tyler Sirois - Greene, ME Left to right: Bernie, Mike, Tyler, Chris, Ray and Derek. Molly and a fox. Bare-Bear viewing. Pajama fishing. Grilled salmon for Dinner.  Camp, June 15 - 20, 2009  Ray Sirois * Shapliegh, ME Scott Bobbitt * Nashaua, NH Ron Pletcher * Molt, MT Gail Pletcher - Molt, MT Mike Jones - Nashaua, NH A view from the out-house. Left to right: Ron, Gail, Scott, Dave, Eric, Ray and Mike.   Above: A sunset in mid June is upstream of camp. Right: In contrast, a sunset in mid September is downstream of camp. Below: Eric shares some of his favorite tunes. It's going to be a great day! Flight 1 at Gate A. Bear Viewing Sockeye Frank has another talent. Camp, June 20 - 25, 2009  Mark Vickstrom * Kodiak, AK Frank Pirnique * Palouse, WA Tuck Bonney - Kodiak, AK Don Shaffer - Richfield, WA Marcus Weiner - Anchorage, AK Troy Leatherman - Anchorage, AK Left to right: Tuck, Frank, Dave, Don and Mark.   Above: Dave and Troy with a king Left: Marcus and Dave with a king. Bottom: Mark with a king.   Tuck, Frank and a bear share a pool.   Lloyd with a king.   Molly with a king.  Camp, June 25 - 30, 2009  Tim Longrich * Kodiak, AK Frank Pirnique * Palouse, WA Mary Pirnique * Palouse, WA Lloyd Luedecke - Pullman, WA Dave and Tim with some sockeye.   Mary gets some advice from Dave.    Mary's sockeye.   Bears will eat a lot of grass between trips in the river for fishing.   What's that? The Finlander at rest on her mooring. The Finlander loaded with materials in Kodiak Harbor.   Subsistence gillnetting at Saltery Cove. Kathryn, Dave, Mickey and Molly.  Lodge, July 12 - 18, 2009 AlpenView Friends and Family Week Kathryn, Molly and Sarah. Boots gets a trim. Christi, you go girl! Lodge, July 28 - August 1, 2009 Lucy Bell - Kingston, TN Steve Bell - Kingston, TN Dan Donahue - Winston Salem, NC Kay Donahue - Winston Salem, NC Left to right: Dan, Lucy, Kay & Steve. Lucy and Shawn with a fly caught pink salmon.  A bear caught swimming in the bay escapes to the hills in a hurry. Everybody into the pool! The view from the lodge can have quite an effect on people. Getting ready to clean some of the days catch. One of our commercial fleet at work in Ugak Bay. Rocks on Seal Island. Our weekly poker game is a lot of fun. Left to right: Frank, Sally, Brent, Heather, Patty and Bill. Lodge, August 1 - 5, 2009 Frank Varriale * Boise, ID  Sally Varriale - Boise, ID  Brent Varriale * Fruitland, ID  Heather Varriale - Fruitland, ID  Bill Davis * Boise, ID  Patty Davis - Boise, ID  Patty has a nice time fighting fish despite the rain. Hiking on a creek with no name. Above: Frank caught this giant chum in a creek with no name. Below: Brent caught this bright chum while fishing in Ugak Bay. Brent's giant halibut. Bear's bread grows on a cottonwood tree. Packing fish for the folks back home. In route to do some kayaking in Waterfall Arm. Clockwise from upper left: Dave Jr, Jennifer, Rob, Thomas, Cooper, Owen, Dave Sr and Sue.  Lodge, August 8 - 15, 2009 Dave Case * Portland, OR  Sue Case - Portland, OR Dave Case Jr * Hood River, OR Cooper Case - Hood River, OR Owen Ramsey - Hood River, OR Jennifer Curran * Lake Oswego, OR Rob Curran - Lake Oswego, OR Thomas Curran - Lake Oswego, OR Everyone pitches in! Crab shell fun. A picknic at Saltery Cove. Shawn leads the younger boys on a bear viewing hike. Jennifer and Dave Jr have processed a lot of salmon roe in past visits to the camp. This time it was not used for bait! Dave Jr and sons. Sue transports a giant halibut from the bottom of Ugak Bay to the deck of the Finlander and on into the freezer. A humpback whale in Ugak Bay. AlpenView's new building progressed to this point during the 2009 fishing season. The cycle of fish processing at AlpenView begins by bleeding them in the fish box (left, top). Then they cross the cleaning table where they are cut to proper proportions (left, bottom). They are stored in seawater cooled buckets for transport to the processing shed (below). In the processing shed, the fish are vaccum packed in individual labled bags (below). Then they are placed in the freezer for guests to take home (right). Clockwise from bottom left: Eric, Matt, Dave, Rick, Will and Amy.    Lodge, August 15 - 22, 2009 Rick Saroney * Pinetop, AZ Eric Saroney - Syracuse, NY Matt Kushner - Kodiak, AK  Will McClusky - Kodiak, AK Left: Will and a dog fish. Center: Matt fights a large halibut, lands it and releases it. Right: Shawn helps Matt display his trophy. Left to right: Orca, fish running up, fox fishing sand lance and fox eating sand lance. Dave guides Eric in the proper halibut fighting skills. Even in Alaska there are some water skiers. Rick and Eric kayaking near a sea bird rookery. Great food is a part of AlpenView's charm thanks to chefs Mickey Jones and Deb Christiansen. Left to right upper level: Beth, Charlie, Jim, Marie, Cathy and Deb. Lower level: Shawn, Dave J., Dave D., Amy and Tom.    Lodge, August 22 - 29, 2009 Charlie Ryan * Lima, OH Beth Ryan - Lima, OH Jim Reber * Lima, OH Carolyn Reber - Lima, OH Dave Drum * Lima, OH Marie Drum - Lima, OH Tom Ahman - Lima, OH Cathy Ahman - Lima, OH A nice rack of king salmon. Shore lunch. Cathy's lingcod. A pot full of dungeness crab.   AlpenView from the air. One word, "Implants".   One on the runway and one at the gate.   Bathing Beauties.   Dave Drum at the wheel.     Jim and his yelloweye.  Lodge, August 29 - September 5, 2009 Joe Toth * Carson City, NV Jim Jacobsen * Novato, CA Pinky Gray * Carson City, NV Ray Sirois * Shapleigh, ME Michael Sirois * Hinesburg, VT Ben Sirois - Durango, CO Eric Sirois - Durango, CO Pinky in his spot. Silvers in the salt and in the fresh. Center, left to right: Eric, Ben, Ray and Michael. Ray wins the weekly poker game. Joe sets up to toss in the horseshoe pits. A bucket of crab. I didn't know crab could jump that high. Ask your doctor if Flowmax is right for you. A colorful kelp greenling. Broken Hammer crew. Left: Reamy and Erling. Above: Robert, Jack the dog and Reamy. Lodge, September 5 - 12, 2009 Peter Schug * Staufenberg, Germany Werner Jung - Staufenberg, Germany Fritz Jorg * Poulsbo, WA Ron Murray * Highlands Ranch, CO Dan Straub * Highlands Ranch, CO Rafael Pastor * Nine, Portugul Juan Vert * La Eliana, Spain   Clockwise from far left: Amy, Werner, Fritz, Rafael, Erling, Shawn, Juan, Carole, Ron, Robert, Dan and Peter. Shawn "Mr. Fun" hosts the Whoop-T-Doo to celebrate the end of lodge operations for 2009 and Dan Straub's first birthday as a cancer survivor. Entertainment provided by Erling and Rafael who traded off singing and playing guitar. Dave in his red bull shirt from Spain. Thanks to Rafael and Juan. Sea birds feed on bait fish in Ugak Bay. Top left: Peter's lingcod. Top right: the hot silver fly. Dan, Fritz and Ron fish together again after a 16 year interlude. Note Ron's original Kodiak Outfitter's hat. Dave's business was named Kodiak Outfitters when Ron first visited in 1987. Behind every good man there are usually several women without whom nothing would work. Fru Finn helps operations in Kodiak, meeting clients, shopping and running errands. Carole, Deb and Amy make the lodge run smoothly. Left: Shawn helps Fritz display a silver salmon. Center: Dan's silver. Right: Werner with a nice silver.  Camp, September 12 - 19, 2009 Rafael Pastor * Nine, Portugul Juan Vert * La Eliana, Spain Joe Moltzen * Guilderland, NY Steve Lamb - North River, ND Doug Parker - Arvada, CO Bob Barber - Arvada, CO Left to right: Rafael, Juan, Steve, Deb, Shawn, Joe, Bob and Doug. Juan fights a silver in the home pool.   A bear fishes the home pool. Catch and release.   Rafael wins a one fly competition with a stimulator dry fly.   Tie night, Joe Shawn and Steve.   Tie night, Dave, Doug and Bob.       Left to right: Chris, Rob, Wade, Joe, Jim, Charles, Dave and Shawn.  Camp, September 19 - 26, 2009   Wade Ward * Jacksonville, NC James Slack * Emerald Isle, NC Rob Jones * Greenville, NC Charles Efird * Jacksonville, NC Joe Taft * Greenville, NC Chris Ward - ? A beaver unloads at camp. Some people just don't like fish.    Jim and Charles "The Dancing Bear" bust a move.   Chris lands his first silver on a fly.   Deb's first fish on a fly. Captain Shawn.  Dave and Shawn calmly discuss who will carry the raft the next day.   You know it's cold when your Rolex floats!   Joe gets into his night shirt while Jim mixes the Metamusil.   Shawn gears up to clean out Char... errr, ahhh, the oil heater.   Dave and the bear fight over a pool.   The bear won.   Dolly fishing in the home pool.   A magnum of prepared salmon roe.   All lined up in the one fly competition.   Rob is the one fly winner. Left to right: Phil and Bill.   Camp, September 26 - October 3, 2009   Phil Reinig * Los Alamos, NM Bill Enloe * Los Alamos, NM   Some fall colors.   Dave and Phil admire a fine scotch.   Some of our catch of steelhead.  Camp, October 3 - 10, 2009   Donny Andrews * Denver, CO Eric Jensen - Bend, OR   Eric fishes a pool below Bear Falls on the Dog Salmon as Donny looks on. Our home away from home.    Spike camp kitchen.   Donny wades some tough water on the Dog Salmon.   A family of beavers have been hard at work.   Eric caught this one.   Donny caught this one.   Bare, bear viewing.   Red sky in morning, sailors take warning. Southeast winds in excess of 60 kts blew late in the day of October 9, 2009. Ole shows how big his steelhead was. The fish escaped his grasp while he tried for a picture.    Shawn shows off a big silver.   Camp break-down at season end. The kitchen looks bare.   Saying goodbye for 2009.