Alaska Uncovered Podcast

Visiting Lake Clark and Katmai National Park from Lake Clark Resort with Salina Alsworth Peterson

• Jennie Thwing Flaming and Jay Flaming • Episode 149

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 Welcome to the Alaska Uncovered Podcast with me, your host, Jennie Thwing Flaming, my occasional co-host and full-time husband, Jay, and I bring you accurate, helpful, and entertaining information about Alaska Travel and life in Alaska.

 

Hi everyone. Before we jump into today's episode, just wanted to tell you again about the really. Amazing small group tour that Jay and I are leading in June. I am so excited about it. And we do still have two rooms left. So that's between two and four people, depending on if you're singles or doubles.

So the information is in the show notes and check it out if you're interested in that. So come join us and there's an early bird discount until December 12th. Um, so yeah, get with me, get registered and we'll make it happen. All right. Today's episode is with Salina Alsworth, and for those of you who love national parks and have questions about remote parks, you're gonna really love this episode.

And hearing from Selena, enjoy the show.

My guest today is Salina Alsworth, Salina is the assistant manager of Lake Clark Resort, which is an awesome way for you.

National Parks chasers to get to Lake Clark National Park and Katmai National Park. So that's what we're gonna talk about today. So Salina, welcome to the podcast. Thank you for being here. 

Thank you so much for 

having me, Jennie. 

Yeah, it is 

exciting. 

It's, it's so fun, um, having you here. So, alright. I've wanted to like, do this for a long time, so I'm glad we finally figured out how to make it work.

Okay. So I would love to know just basics. Tell us how you got to Alaska. 

So I'm, uh, born and raised Alaskan, and I feel like I can't tell my story without telling like my family's story. 

Yeah, 

yeah. So long story short, we'll probably talk about it more as we talk about the lodge and the resort and things like that.

But my great-grandfather, he's from Minnesota, he loved aviation, came to Alaska to fly for the postal service and also for like some of the canneries on the Ellucian chain. Which is where he met his future wife, his bride, my great-grandmother. She's this sweet little spunky Alaska native lady from the village of Pilot Point.

Um, they met there when he was flying for the cannery for the summer, they got married and they started their little agricultural homestead in what is now Port Alsworth. Okay. And that's how I got here. 

Yes. So then 

later, four generations later, 

yeah. Then grandparents, parents followed and 

Yep. 

Then you came along.

That's awesome. So were you born in Port Alsworth? 

I was born in Anchorage. 

Okay. 

Mm-hmm. 

So your mom was like. Maybe I'll have a hospital for having this child. 

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. I don't, they like have you go in like four weeks before your due date, so you're just chilling and Anchorage 

Yes. A 

month before the baby comes.

Yes. Yes. That's good though, because if anything goes sideways, then you don't have to get on a small plane while things are going sideways. 

No. Well, my mom remembers a time there was somebody who was going into early labor here in Port Alsworth, and they were lucky. Like it was an hour plane ride in, she like barely had the baby by the time she like got to the hospital like it was already here.

Like 

that's absolutely wild. Yeah, 

I know. 

Love it. So is your mom. I know that your, your dad. It was born in Port Als. Worth the S. 

Mm-hmm. 

Yeah, so, so, 

right. Yeah. Grew up here. 

Okay. Yeah. Is your mom from there also, or is she from somewhere else? 

She's from actually Russia. She grew up in the Soviet Union. Oh 

wow.

She's lived 

like right across, um, Nome. So she could like, actually like what Sarah Palin says, like she can see Russia from her window. You know, it's like my mom actually could see Alaska from her window. 

Yeah. 

So that's how they met my grandfather was doing. A church plant in that remote, uh, Russia, Soviet Union town.

It was right after they opened the doors for people to start coming in. 

Yeah. 

And it was like a native, like a Russian native village and a military town, like kind of combined. 

Mm-hmm. 

My mom's parents were there as the school principal and teacher. 

Wow. 

And so like, she grew up there and that's where they met.

And then my grandfather invited a bunch of these Russian kids to come to America for. Like come work for us. You can also get a higher education, come to America. And that was like the big dream for a lot of these kids. Mm-hmm. Like come to America. So that's how my mom and her sister ended up here in Alaska.

And then she married a Bush pilot, so, 

oh yeah. 

Yeah. That's awesome. Oh, that's such a great story. Okay, so Salina, I'm gonna guess that many of our listeners have absolutely no idea where Port Alsworth is located. So can you talk a little bit about where it is, a little bit about the community, kind of what makes it special and unique in Alaska?

For sure. Port Alsworth is extremely remote, like think no roads in or out, completely surrounded by mountains. Only way in is by airplane. No, you can't take a boat in. You can probably hit your ride on a. Um, what is it called? A, a barge, but that's like a three, a three different barges, different road. Like it'll take you months to get here in that.

Yeah. 

In that way. Um, and we are located 160 miles southwest of Anchorage. Um, it's right between King Salmon and Anchorage. So it's the perfect little middle ground between the two places. 

Yeah. Yep. 

It's really, and that's what makes it so unique is like being so remote and the only way you can get here is fly.

I've had people like email inquiries saying, we're planning on driving in, and I'm like, 

no. 

If you find a way to get in by a car, let me know because I've seen 28 years. I have no idea. 

Um, yeah. 

You know, so that's true. Really what makes it so unique is you have to like. You have to fly in. There's absolutely no other way to get here.

And then you're just surrounded by absolute beauty of the mountains and the trees and the wildlife. Oh my gosh. It's just gorgeous. So that's just really what makes it so unique. And there's about. 177 people that live here year round that call this place home. 

Mm-hmm. 

But in the summertime with like our lodge and some of the different ministries that operate here, it can bump up to about 400 people here on a given day.

Yeah. 

So really, really bumps up in the summertime. 

Yeah. Yeah. Love that. So what. What is, as far as the economy, what people do for a living in Port Alsworth? I know that Lake Clark National Park is right there. What are kind of the main things that people who live there year round are doing? If they're not working in tourism?

The main thing that people do not working at the park, um, is working for one of the air taxis. There are two different air taxis based here, and it's really the lifeline for so many villages around Alaska. 

Yeah, 

so whether you're a pilot, a mechanic. Doing office stuff, loading planes like those, like are so vital for the operation to run.

Yeah. 

So it really does employ a lot of people within the community. 

Yep. 

Um, and then there's also like, we have a post office, we have a release. Small clinic and we have the school. So like being a teacher or one of the cooks even, like, they employ some of the locals as being like teachers' aides. 

Yep. 

So, um, those are besides like working for the national park and like the, a resort like tourism type thing.

Mm-hmm. Those are the jobs that most people have around here. 

Yeah. Awesome. I think, I think that's really important kind of for our listeners to understand is that even though you're in a very small community, it's a, a little bit of a local hub in a, in a way. Like you're say, you know, this is where there's a post office and a clinic and a school, um, and I think.

Yeah, I think that's hard for people to wrap their minds around that such a small community could be so important regionally, like Port Alsworth is cool. Okay. So can you share just a little bit about the Lake Clark Resort? What kind of, what's your history? Why are you there? Um, and what do you offer to your guests?

For sure. Um, the, so like I was saying earlier about my great-grandparents homesteading here, um, before Alaska was even a state, um, in the United States, my, their youngest son, which is my grandfather, he really saw the. As he got older, he saw the need for the airplanes and be having an air taxi that could service the villages around us and even our own for like getting food and supplies, getting people to the doctors, all this stuff.

And it was like a really big loophole with like the state at the time, like if that is a story in and of itself. Yeah. Like even getting that started to service the people. 

Mm-hmm. 

Um, and so it's really started. With that, like servicing the people. And that was like the year round work. And then they started building little cabins, offering like a bed and breakfast service, and then actually a hunting operation, which at that time it was Cabela's biggest sponsored hunting operation.

Oh wow. 

I know. It's crazy. Like I had no idea until a couple years ago. And then you can even go to, I think it's a Cabelas in. Kansas City, Missouri. It has like our company logo like on the one of the planes that hangs up. 

That is so cool. I had no idea. It's 

interesting. I didn't know either until like someone who was here in Port Alsworth was visiting family in the lower 48 and sent me a picture and was like, I.

This was wild to see. I'm like, I've never even heard of that before. Right. So that was really cool. But, um, so they did that like think like the late seventies, eighties, um, and up until the nineties when my dad took over, and of course like late Clark National Park was founded in 1980. 

Mm-hmm. 

And that's when they did their, um, headquarters here in Port Alsworth.

And during that time, as my dad is flying for his dad's hunting operation, he's seeing the rise in popularity of national parks. 

Yeah. 

And he. When he took over in the early two thousands, he like just the b and b side of it, he decided to stop the hunting side and go more towards tourism, wildlife viewing, yeah.

Adventures 

for the entire family. And he has grown that into what it is today, um, into like we share. Like Lake Clark and Katmai National Parks with people from all around the world, and even just like other little remote parts of Alaska that aren't like, they're just Alaska. Just like state land. Yeah, no, it's not just like park or whatever.

Yeah. So it's like, it's really fun to go see the parks, but Alaska is just so, it's so beautiful. Yeah. Like and I, I, I think you know that from like being 

here 

from so many spots and talking to people. 

Yeah. 

So being able to share that. People is just like, it gets you pumped up. It's so fun. 

Yeah, it is so fun.

It's really fun. Yeah. And by the way, listeners, as Salina and I are talking, if you have heard of the Farm Lodge, that's what we're talking about here. So late Clark Resort is kind of like the umbrella over that. The farm lodge is the building lodge where people actually stay. Right. Salina? 

That is correct.

Yeah. Okay. So I just wanted to make sure, we're using the term Lake Clark Resort, but that's the same place as Yep. The Farm Lodge. Cool. Okay. Salina, I'd love to, to talk a little bit about some of the questions people often have about these remote parks. Like, like Clark and Cat, my 

mm-hmm.

In Alaska and listeners, you know, we've talked about national parks a lot. I think you already know that Lake Clark is my favorite national park in Alaska. But I haven't been to Port Alsworth, right? So we're talking about a park that's already remote huge and very lightly visited. I've been to Lake Clark three times in three different places.

None of them were portal Alsworth, right? So it's not like there's. One place necessarily at. Same for Cat. My, you know, there's like all these different places. Anyway, people, a lot of people who listen to this podcast are really interested in national parks, and I love Lake Clark Resort for you for that, because Salina kind of alluded to this a little bit, but this is a place where they really focus on your park experience and most remote lodges in this part of Alaska,

are very focused on, you know, if it's a fly in remote lodge like, like Clark Resort is, there's often the focus is on hunting and fishing and that's awesome. But for people who really wanna visit the parks, they can get frustrated that there aren't a ton of options. So I just wanna tell you that this is an awesome option and we've had people in some of our story episodes who've been to Lake Hark Resort and have talked about that.

Anyway. So with that in mind, Salina, I'd love to talk about some of the things that like really confuse people when it comes to visiting Lake Clark and Cat, my, or visiting you. You know, you already said there are people who are like, I'm gonna drive from Anchorage, and you're like, I. Nope, that's not gonna happen.

Um, but I'd love to talk about some of those things and I know what a few of those things are, but I'd love to hear from you like what are common. Actually, maybe we should start with packages because this is not booking a hotel. You're not gonna go on Expedia and be like, so people have to like contact you and then you get in touch with them and you're like, here are the options.

So can you talk a little bit about why it's structured that way around packages and why people need to talk with you personally? To come to Lake Clark Resort. 'cause I really want people to understand how small and remote you are. 

Yeah, no, and even just like it is, it's so. Technical. Yeah, like I worked with a group this past summer who did like this mix of visiting national parks and fishing and the guy works in like software development type stuff.

And after a couple of email exchanges and it, I personally felt like it was really quick, he emailed us saying like. It's very inefficient. Like you like having to email back and forth and like we could probably, like I can help you guys streamline it a little better and in that email, my dad put it real, said it really well.

Like you have to think about We are a very small operation. 

Yeah. Like 

we can only host probably like 40 to 45 people at a time. 

Yeah. 

Think about like the small planes that we use that can only have like. Two to five people plus the pilot. And then you also have to be like looking at people's body weights to make sure that you can fit however many people safely and legally on an airplane and how much fuel you can take so you can go to all these different plate, like it's so technical.

Yeah, like just that alone that. You have to manually do it yourself. There's absolutely like, unless someone can like figure out a crazy software to do, like figure out, okay, what cabins can we put these people in? What tours can we do with like what's already here? 'cause there's certain pilots that can only fly certain planes and like 

right.

For example, like my dad and my uncle are our two most ex like experienced pilots. Sure. Like they've been doing this for like the longest out of everyone on the fleet. Mm-hmm. They're the ones doing some of the more technical flying than like my brother who's been doing this for the past two years. And so like every year these, like my brothers, my cousins, that.

Our pilots, they're getting to experience these things too, but they're not gonna be doing this crazy technical flight that my dad, who's been doing this for like 40 years. 

Yeah. 

Like, and they've been doing this for like, they've been only flying for like five or 10, you know? 

Yeah. 

So it's like so technical that you have to look at to make sure, like what we can do for people.

So it's like on our website you'll see 10 different packages. But I would say that 90% of what we do is custom. Mm-hmm. So people like package number one. For example, it's a Lake Clark and Cat, my National Park combo. Mm-hmm. That's our most popular package for people to do. 'cause they wanna see both parks and it gives them two different tours in both parks and a free day and then travel days.

Yeah. So, but a lot of people are like, I love the idea of a seven day. Package. But I only have four days. What can I do? 

Yeah. 

So then I have to look through all the schedules to see, okay, can we go to Brooks on this day? Okay, Brooks is not available. Can we do something else in like the late Clark region?

So it's just extremely technical. 

Yeah. 

Like you have to do the emails back and forth and sometimes like it's me and my dad who do it. 

Yeah. Yeah. 

And dad's the one who's been doing it for many years. Right. And there's me who's been doing it for three. So there's sometimes where I'm like emailing back, my dad's not here right now, in like two days.

I'll get you an answer when he's actually back and I can talk to him. 

Yeah. Yeah's like 

little, it's, it's a family business, you know? Yeah. It's a family business, but like it's. So technical, like I don't wanna do something that could mess someone's vacation up by just ignorantly saying like, oh yeah, we can do all of this stuff.

And, and it's like, no, you safely can't. So 

yeah, 

it's extremely like, all that to say, it's extremely technical. Yeah. Do what we do. Um, and that's, 

and it's very personalized. 

Oh, 100%. Yeah, like it's small groups. Like you basically have a group size of like two to five Macs. Really? So it's very small groups.

Yeah. Yes. Thank you for explaining that. That's such a great way to help people understand. I, I think what I would tell you listeners is that if you're looking for a quick checkbox, this isn't it. If you're looking for something that like. The internet can plan for you. This is not it, but if you are looking for a super authentic, like more in depth experience, if you're really a park lover and looking for an experience with these parks, this is it.

Right? And, and I think that one of the things that I really believe in and Jay really believes in with this podcast is the importance of. As much as possible, sharing small, local, family owned companies like yours, Salina, that, um, that really give people not only a cool experience of Alaska, but also its people.

That's a really, that's a really huge. Deal. And, another thing I wanted to just mention about what you said that I think for some first time visitors to Alaska is a little, like, what is like the impact of weather, right? So I love that you have a down day in your packet, your, your like most popular package, I assume.

Mm-hmm. That gives you a little flexibility to be like, Ooh, today it doesn't look great for this location, but maybe we can switch up. The days. I know that you do do that sometimes, so. Mm-hmm. Um, and also weights, right?

Sometimes you can fit two people in a plane, sometimes five, like you said. It depends on. How many supplies you're also getting from Anchorage and how much the people weigh and like all of this stuff. So there's just so many moving parts. 

Oh, so many.

Yeah. Yeah. Um, cool. Okay, so can I ask a few other questions that I get a lot and then Thank you. You can tell me your answer. Okay. Will it rain? 

Oh my God,

yes.

Yes, it'll rain. Okay, great. Moving on from that one. 

I tell people bring like raincoat in rain pants. Yeah. You won't regret it. And they're so light, so just bring it. 

Yeah, totally agree. And it'll help protect you from bugs. Oh 

yes. 

Okay. Um, if it rains, will it ruin my trip? 

I know people can't see me, but I'm rolling my eyes.

I know that one is kind of, uh. A silly one. No, no. It will not ruin your trip. But what would you say? 

Oh my gosh. I like you just have to, you have to roll with whatever the weather gives you. Like you can have a beautiful sunny day or you could have a rainy day. Honestly, some of my like favorite days have been the rainy days.

Like it's just like a, not a lot of people go out on those days from like other operations, you know? But it's like. The bears are still out, the mountains are still beautiful. Oh, hey, I get to like, it just brings this whole other dramatic effect even to like your flight that's just like, whoa, this is really cool.

Yeah. So 

no, it doesn't ruin your day. Like it's roll with it and I promise you're gonna have a good day. 

Yeah, great answer. Um, if it's raining, will my flight be canceled? 

Mm. 90% no. 

Occasionally, but yeah. 

Yeah. 

Yeah. 

More than likely. 

Yeah, I think so. Listeners, small plane flights are more impacted by things like fog and winds going in the wrong direction.

Rain by itself is like, no problem. 

Oh, so 

don't worry about it. If it's raining, don't worry about it. Even if it's not raining, but yeah. Yeah. Okay. 

The fog in the rain is what really, you know. Yeah. Is more a hard thing, but when it's just raining, it's just, it's fine. 

Yes. Okay. How come my itinerary doesn't say the exact time that we're going to Brooks Falls?

Hmm. Well, weather is a good point to it. And then also like something that we do is we've started doing, like for example, we have a group that leaves at eight o'clock in the morning or like six o'clock in the morning we take down, and then we come back for like a 10 o'clock group, bring those people down, and then we switch out.

So like they still get the full day there. Just the times they're leaving are different and coming back are different, but. They get the same amount of time there. But 

yeah, 

again, with all the technical stuff, I don't know what groups are gonna be doing what times based on weight and balance and what planes available.

Yeah. 

So it's just like, I, I, I'll, I'll know the day of or like the day before, but 

yes, 

don't I, I can't tell you, um, six months a year out exactly what time that's gonna be, but 

yes. Yes. Um, also like if you're going to Lake Clark Resort, you should just trust that you're gonna have an amazing time. And if you don't know exactly what minute everything is gonna happen, it's gonna be cool.

'cause you're gonna get there and Salina and Glen and the rest of their family, you're gonna just take care of you. So you don't need to worry about it. They're gonna give you an awesome. Experience probably with some changes based on all kinds of things. Mm-hmm. Okay. What if I have dietary restrictions?

Ooh. You know what? That's a really good question because we being so remote, no stores around, we have to fly in all of our food and supplies. We have to know way in advance. So like if you are, for example, vegan, we have plenty of like tofu and like all these other things, like extra veggies to make certain.

Vegan meals that we wouldn't necessarily just have like tofu for example, on hand, you know, so when that's a surprise, it's 

like it doesn't work. 

Oh, it doesn't work well. So think we have had amazing chefs who will like on the fly, fix something up for somebody so fast. And it's like they don't have to, like, that's, yeah, but they wanna take care of the people and that's like so important to them and the guest experience.

But yeah, it's like, let us know. A year in advance. 

Yes. 

That way we can plan. 

Yes. So what you're saying, Salina, is that I can't just kind of walk down the street to seven 11 and get something else? 

Oh, no, no. Well, and think about this too, like even if there is something that like. Say you have your dinner, which if you eat here, I promise you, you're never gonna go starving.

The Porsches are massive. The food is amazing, but like if you want to go get like a late night snack, there's no vending machines. Like the gift shop is closed, like there's nowhere you can go to just go get like a soda or like a candy bar or something like that. It's, 

yeah, 

everything's closed, so 

yes, yes.

Yeah. Love it. Okay. Um, are there gonna be mosquitoes? 

1000%? Yes. It will not. 

Should I panic because they're gonna be mosquitoes? 

Uh, no. 

Oh, okay. Okay. So what should I do to mentally and physically prepare for bugs? 

I love that mentally and physically prepare. Definitely bring the right gear. Like a head net is never bad, and plus they're like so light and you pretty compact nowadays.

Totally. 

Just throw it in your bag 

and they cost like $8. 

Exactly like, 

yeah, 

you, I would rather spend that $8 than wish I had it like on my whole day trip. You know? 

Same. Yes. 

Invest in a good bug spray. Um, research, even like different natural ways to like repel the bugs. Like I saw that vanilla repels mosquitoes.

Really? I don't, that's one I haven't heard. 

I heard that before and it was like right before I went to Brooks camp and I'm like, I don't feel like putting vanilla on me when I'm around the bears. 

Right. 

Because I might 

the best idea 

sound a little too tasty. 

Yeah. You don't wanna smell like fresh baked cookies or 

something.

Oh no, not at all. So, so yeah, that was funny. But um, yeah, just be prepared. It won't ruin the day plus like. You could go viral with a crazy video of all the mosquitoes around you and your little 

totally 

like, take a video and see, see what happens. 

Yeah. Right. Love it. Okay. Um, I also, this is another plug for the rain gear too.

Rain gear is awesome for bug protection. I mean, you don't even need bug spray if you've got rain pants and a rain jacket. Like rubber boots. That 

is true. 

Sweet. Okay. Are there any other questions like this that I should be asking you, Salina, ones that you get that I haven't thought of, 

um, 

or that you didn't share already?

Yeah, so one of the questions that I get asked a lot, and you touched on it with like how big Lake Clark National Park is, a lot of, one of our next two are like. Package one, which is the seven day come visit both parks, we have our package 10, which is just a day visit to Port Als. Worth to see Lake Clark National Park.

And all it is is you fly in for the day, you get to go to the visitor center, you can go hiking your, your time is your own, but then at five 30 you fly back to Anchorage. So you have the opportunity visitor center, go hiking. We have canoes and kayaks they can take out on the lake. But a lot of the questions I get asked initially is like, will I see bears here?

Yeah. 

And like, yes, we're in middle of nowhere in Alaska, we're in the wilderness, but like where you see the bears is like the coastal region of mm-hmm. Lake Clark, which we're not close to. It's still, it's another 45 minute plane ride away. 

Yeah. 

In one of our small planes. So it's like people ask like, oh, and can we, when we're there, can we take a boat to Twin Lakes?

No, you can't take a boat to Twin Lakes from here. You have to like, it's still fly. So just like re like look on a map. Research how big that park is because it's not like you can just go drive air quotes, drive from one thing to the other. 

Yeah, 

it's literally massive. So don't expect, like if you're coming here for a day trip, expect hikes.

Visitor center. The visitor center sign. Don't expect bears. Wildlife viewing like you would see at books. 

Yep. Yeah, that I'm really glad that you talked about that. And listeners, if you've listened to, any of my previous episodes where we talked about late Clark. That's also a completely like the day trip that I did from Anchorage with Rusts where we went to Crescent Lake.

That's a totally different part of the park that that is like all that is also a day trip from Anchorage, but that is a totally different place than, than Port Alsworth. So I really appreciate you talking about that. And I realize if you're hiking there, you still have to pay attention to bear safety.

But like, this is not like a. Specifically a bear viewing area where portAlsworth is? That's what you're saying, right? 

Correct, yes. Okay. And like this year, like I tell people that for ages, and this year was the first year we've actually had bears hanging around town. 

Oh. 

This is a really crazy story and I think you guys will really like hearing this one.

Oh yeah. Um, 

my brother we're 

always up for a bear story. Always. 

My brother had flown this family around for the last few days doing tours in both, uh, lake Clark and Katmai National Park. 

Mm-hmm. 

And, um, it was that family's down day and it was like, um, an older mom and dad and like late twenties, three kids.

Okay. Um, and they were doing their local hike that day. Well, we went to the local food truck for dinner, which is like next to where all the hiking trails. Come and go from, 

mm-hmm. 

So my brother saw the dad and one of the daughters walking back. So he's like, oh, I'm gonna go say hi and ask him like how their hike was.

So he goes over, he's like, hi guys. How was the mountain? How were the falls? And they were just like white-eyed, white faced. They're like, almost died. And I was like, what happened? I guess what happened was they were walking on the trail and a mama bear stood up. Not far away from them. And they were like, and they couldn't see it.

Like they were talking, they were being bear aware. 

Yeah. But 

it was the brush, like you couldn't see it. It stood up. They were like, oh my gosh, okay. Grab the bear. Spray the bear. Like, and that's when they noticed two bear cubs, like behind the mom. 

Oh, that's so 

scary. At first Bluff charged them and they're like slowly backing up.

They're like, Hey, bear hair bear. And the mom, they said it was like a horse going at full speed, but 10 times worse. Like, 

well, yeah, 

charge 'em. They sprayed the bear spray and the mama bear like ran right past them. And then the two little bear cubs just come walking by just all happy, like right past the.

So they ended up backtracking and going a different trail on the way 

back down. Yeah. 

But it was like, it was to the point where we had the park service come in and talk to the people about their story. 'cause it 

was like, yeah, 

that, like I've never, in my 28 years living here, never have heard a story like that of people on the trails.

Wow. Of 

course, the people who are here and like I've hiked these trails my whole life. Right. And it's the people who are here for five days 

Yeah. 

That get this like crazy experience. So thankfully no one was hurt. The bear got some bear spray in its face. That's good. Like that's good. Um, but like things like that happen, but.

Crazy. 

That is totally wild. 

Yeah. 

Wow. I'm really glad they were okay. 

I know, me too. 

So 

I was like, man, you have a good story to go home to tell 

your son. Right? Yeah. So I know this is not the point of that story, but I want you to tell me about this food truck. 

So there, yeah. There's like one quote unquote restaurant to eat in town.

Uhhuh. 

And I don't count our resort as a restaurant like people. 

Well, you can only, you can only eat there if you're staying there, right? 

Um, no. You can make reservations to eat in there. Okay. But it's like, you know, reservations weeks in advance. Right. You can't just like show up and ask for a table. 

Yeah.

But 

like at the food truck, you can go there and. Go get food at any time. They sell burgers, hot dogs, grilled cheese. Um, but like, think $15 for a hamburger that just comes with a bag of chips. Yeah. And like $10 for a 16 ounce milkshake. It's a fun little splurge in the summer. 'cause that's all we have.

Yeah. Um, 

and we don't have anything in the wintertime, so 

Yeah. 

It's, it's a fun little splurge. 

Yes. Oh, I love that. Okay, cool. Um. Alright, so is there anything else? I, I would, I would actually love to just talk a little bit more about what visitors can do in Port Alsworth, because, you know, people often ask me things like, well, what is there to do in a place like King Salmon, for example?

And you're like, well. There's not a ton, like, you know, like, like if you need, if you need like activities or organized tours. 

Mm-hmm. 

You know, but I know in port Alsworth, they're hiking trails, which is pretty remarkable for a remote park. I, I will just say listeners, um, and I know you guys have some boat rentals at Lake Clark Resort, so can you talk a little bit about if someone is in town.

Either on a day trip or somehow they're not staying with you because they're camping maybe. 

Maybe. 

I'm not sure where else they would be anyway. What are some things that a person can just do on their own in port elsewhere? You know, including like if they're staying with you and they're on that down day.

Yeah, for sure. There's one. The resort is just really comfy and cozy in and of itself. Like it's right on the shores of Hardenberg Bay, which is where all of the water traffic is for Port Osworth. So even if you're someone who doesn't wanna hike and just wants to take in the views, like sitting on one of our benches at our picnic tables, like even like on the.

Um, porch of your cabin. You're watching planes coming in and out all day. Boats moving in and out, kids swimming in the glacier water, like it's just beautiful in and of itself. And that's like, you know, it's just chill and beautiful, just like right there. But then if you're staying with us, we also have like canoes and sit-in kayaks that are complimentary to our guests.

If you're not staying with us, it is. Expensive to rent one of those. 

Yeah.

But there's like another company here in Port Alsworth that has a bigger, um, kayak rental that people, even if they're staying with us, they wanna use a, like a full size bigger kayak. So they'll rent from them too. And like what you said too, the, these are some of the only maintained.

Trails in Lake Clark National Park, like right here. Yeah. So there're be, it's a beautiful hike. There's the, it's basically like you go towards Tenian Falls and right past Tenian Falls is Lake contrast. Una. Which flows into Lake Clark. And then if you're adventurous, you can go hike up Tenian Mountain. And that's more of like a all day type of a hike.

Um, the falls and the contrast Tribunal Lake are more of a half day nice. And you can make it a full day if you want to just spread it out. Um, but really you can do it in a half day if you wanted to. And it's just beautiful scenery, like mountains, trees. You get a really. Beautiful view of Lake Clark from the Bluff.

Mm-hmm. 

Um, it's just, it's gorgeous. Um, and then even just exploring the town a little bit. Like it's our family's homestead right where Lake, uh, lake Clark Resort is at. So we have like the gardens that my great-grandparents started when they were homesteading here. So walking 

through, oh, it's really cool.

We do little tours. Yeah. It's really awesome. And like we use those gardens. For like food at the resort, like our salads and like the lettuce in our sandwiches and um, the side veggies for dinner. A lot of that comes from the garden. Yeah. And so it's really neat, like people can go walk through at any time.

And we also do tours of that too, just little walkthrough tours. Um, and. Just, you know, exploring the town. Like a lot of people just wanna go drive around. Like, they're like, Hey, can you show me this place? Like, sure, let me go show you this school. 'cause that's something unique, like middle of nowhere. How is this little, it's not really little air close, little, little red schoolhouse 

here.

Yeah. Where these kids, like, there's 40 something kids that go to the school. Mm-hmm. K through 12. The little post office that's also like combined with the clinic and where the volunteer fire department firetruck is at, and like the community center and things like that too, that people just like to see.

It's just a whole, a small town, but like remote Alaska. So it's just really interesting. 

Yeah, for sure. And you said there's one restaurant in the food in Port Alsworth. 

Yeah. 

Okay. What kind of a restaurant is it? 

It's, well, it's the food truck is really the only quote unquote restaurant. 

Oh, okay. I thought you were saying there was another and I was like, really?

No. Okay. The other one would be our resort. 

Yes. 

But that's reservation only. 

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. You wouldn't wanna just hop off a plane and count on that for dinner? 

Oh, no. 

Yeah. Yeah. Are there any, are there any stores in Port Alsworth. 

The only store is our gift shop. Okay. And it's literally like gift shop, coffee shop.

We try to sell like just basic amenities. Like if someone left their deodorant behind or need a new toothbrush, like something like that for more tourists. But don't go into it expecting like general store. Yeah. Someone tried that out here. One year, but like, think about how expensive, like you buy your groceries.

Alaska groceries are expensive. You're having to ship them out here and like for us it's like 90 cents per pound. 

Yeah. 

And then you're trying to resell it so you can make a profit to buy more. So it's like, 

yeah. It just doesn't make sense. 

It doesn't work. 

Yeah. 

So someone tried it out here, it failed greatly.

Yeah. Yep. 

We'll just buy things themselves. 

Yeah. So if you have. A particular brand of toothpaste that you have to have better 

bring 

it or a certain kind of granola bar that you have to have, you should bring it with you 

a hundred percent, 

yes. Love it. Okay, so Salina, before we move towards wrapping up, and I have a few wrap up.

A couple wrap up questions for, for you. Is there anything else that you feel like people should know about coming to Lake Clark Resort or coming to Port Alsworth or visiting Lake Clark National Park or Cap my national park? 

Yeah. Um, one thing I always encourage and tell people is. Just be flexible.

Yeah. Like 

whenever you're booking, like having that extra day is so important. Yeah. Because what if like this big windstorm comes through and you can't go to Kamai and that was your one day to go. 

Yeah. 

With that free day, that's the day that it's gonna be like better weather, so we're gonna move things around.

So you have the best experience. 

Yep. 

Like you won't regret it. No. Like just paying for that one extra day. 

Yeah. In 

the long run is like. So like it just will change your entire Alaska experience. 

Yeah. 

Like don't expect, like, and I always warn people right off the bat, they're trying to do two parks in three days, like.

You are not giving yourself any room for any delays. Yeah. So just be flexible with it and give yourself time. Don't try and rush the parks. Don't just go for the stamp. Don't just like go for the picture with the sign. Really Just take it all in. 

Yeah, 

because Cap, my Lake Clark, beautiful, beautiful, beautiful parks that are so remote again only can fly into and just take that with like.

From wisdom, from the people that have lived here their whole lives. We're not trying to scam you for your money. It's like you have the best experience ever. 

Yes. 

And that extra money to have a free day. 

Yeah. 

So you can have that flexibility. 

Oh, that is such good advice. Yeah. Such good advice and. You know, it's already visiting these remote parks is al.

It's gonna be expensive no matter what because you're going to remote areas that you have to fly into on a small plane where there's no restaurants and services and you don't wanna do that. And then like try to save just a little bit or a little bit of time. You know, like you said, you might miss part of the whole point of your trip.

So that is such good advice. 

Yeah. 

I'm sure some of our listeners are thinking that I paid you to say that because, and I didn't, I didn't, we didn't even talk about this before. 

No. 

Um, but yeah, 'cause I'm always encouraging people to take a little more time and mm-hmm. You know, be a little, yeah. Love that.

Okay. So. Couple like logistical questions about Lake Clark Resort, um, that kind of can throw people off. One is how far ahead you need to book. Again, we're talking about a small property. Um, so can you talk about like what, when you are open, when people can come, and how far ahead of time you would recommend booking?

Yeah, so where our operating dates are from June one through September 25 of every single year. Mm-hmm. And. The July and August dates, like to Midgut July one through mid-August are one of the, like the, they are the highly sought after times to visit. 

Yeah. 

That's when every, that's when the bears are best at Brooks.

That's when like people are on summer vacation. That's when people are like wanting to come those book out a year or a year and a half in advance. 

Mm-hmm. 

So if you're looking for a 2020. Seven July trip, you know, with us. 

Do it now. You 

should start. Yeah. You should start booking now. 

Yeah. 

Because especially like how much we've grown over the past like three years.

Yeah. 

Those dates are getting more and more booked up like faster and faster. Like people who have visited with us like five years before tried to book something. Like April for July, and it's like we have nothing. 

Yeah. 

Like, like already now for July of 2026, you'd be lucky to find something. Mm-hmm. Like it's very, very full.

Yeah. 

So there's some spots here and there, but likes still, it's certainly full. So you definitely wanna get like, you know, the ball rolling and planning your trips well in advance. 

Yeah. 

Um, and that just, you know, guaranteed. And again, like. Anytime you visit between June and that September 25 date.

Beautiful. Great times. 

Yeah. 

But those like July, mid-August dates that are highly sought after. 

Yeah. 

It's very like they book out a year, a year and a half in advance. Yeah. 

Cool. Thank you. So one other thing, one other logistical thing I wanted to talk about before the very last question about food ha ha is, um, so I have had a lot of.

People who listen to the podcast or my clients get in touch with you, and then they get their quote and their itinerary and they're super excited and then they're like, whoa, I have to pay for this whole thing right now. And they get freaked out by that. And they often ask me like, is that normal? And I'm like, yeah, that is normal.

Um, so I just wanna say for you that like, again, we are talking about a small remote place, lots of moving parts, very. Small number of people that can be there at a time, and so basically you have to commit to them for them to commit to you. Is. What I would tell people, and I will also say that's not you, you gotta have travel insurance for any trip to Alaska, and especially one going to a remote place like the, like, like Clark Resort.

So pay your, decide you wanna go, it's gonna be amazing. Pay your money, get travel insurance. The very same day. That's my advice about that. Do you wanna add anything to that? I don't wanna speak for you, but just speaking from a wider perspective across Alaska, I think that's an important message. 

Yeah, no, you are completely right.

And like in our. Information that we send people to, like if there's ever something we personally have to cancel because of like weather or something un like other related, we'll do a refund for that portion. 

Yep. 

I guess 70% refund. But again, having that free day gives you the flexibility so you can still do the tour and not like lose any of your money from that, you know?

Yep. 

Um, but like even work, like I think last year. Majority of the letters I'd have to send to people to submit to their insurance were because they had to cancel something on their end. Whether that was like a relative had passed, they got sick, there's 

like 

an injury that caused them to not to come and that like not just don't even think about just like the weather and the different logistics that come with traveling in Alaska.

Think about like, yeah. Stuff happens so unexpectedly. Like you're, and you're covered under that, like insurance. Like we can't give you a refund for that, like $18,000 because you got, you know, you got hurt and you can't, like, can't like come on your trip. But having that travel insurance just like backs you up so you can get like whatever the refund is for that.

Yep. 

With your travel insurance. 

Yeah. And it's also, it's so important for any trip in Alaska, even if. You had to cancel everything and you could give up all that money that you spent and you were okay with it. You still need it for medical stuff? 

Oh, 100%. 

Because nobody can afford to get hurt in Alaska. 

No, no.

I mean, people who live in Alaska have like medevac insurance if they're like off the road system and yeah. So that is, you need it too. Visitors. Mm-hmm. 

Yay. 

Okay, so Salina. Normally I ask people what their favorite restaurant is in Port Alsworth, and we've already discussed the two restaurants that are available in Port Als.

Worth the one at Lake Clark Resort and the food truck. So instead, I would love to ask you what your favorite dish is that people can enjoy at Lake Clark Resort. 

Oh my goodness. 

It's probably a really tough question. Sorry. 

It is. 'cause the food is amazing. Um, my personal favorite dish is a chicken dish that we do.

It's a marinated chicken that my dad. Created the marinade for Oh. Um, and it's like, and it, it's grilled and it has mushrooms and bacon on top, and there's a Swiss cheese that's melted on top, served with like Alfredo and veggies. A very, very heavy like dense meal, but oh my goodness. It's amazing. 

I'm coming over.

It sounds amazing. 

It's one of my favorites. 

Yeah, especially if you were like outside all day looking at mountains and stuff. That sounds incredible. 

Oh my goodness. Amazing. 

Sweet. Alright, well Salina, thank you so much for coming on and sharing about Port Alsworth Lake, Clark Resort, the parks. Um, love it.

Thank you so much for being here. 

Yeah, this was fun. Thank you for the opportunity, Jennie, and being able to meet you was really fun too. Yes, 

I know. It was so fun. 





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Jennie Thwing Flaming

Host
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Jay Flaming

Co-host