Let me first say that choosing a location for TGT 2014 was not an easy choice. I looked into destinations all over the west.
I strongly considered renting jeeps and riding the rubicon trail, I investigated surf/boat trip in Alaska but we had too large a group. I also investigated various locations for fishing/surfing Baja & Southern Mexico. I also checked out the Amazon, Chile, Peru (Machu Pichu was high on my list) blah blah blah. This search taught me just how reasonable the packages put out by Waterways really are. But as we are not surfing much anymore and surfing in crowded breaks is not high on the priority list I really tried to zero in on secret surf spots but quickly discovered that they have no amenities and require lots of driving. I had Magdalena Bay set for us all but felt 1 week in a tent on a hurricane path and windy beach may be a bit more than Joe and Bob could bare. Oh and Scorpion Bay houses are available too … perfect point remember? … crowds … we’ve done that. Anyway, as I was determined to include surfing so I wrestled with all options and realized that no matter where we go, with the exception of Baja, a trip for under 2 grand is barely possible. So I did a full 360 and came back to where I started this quest… drumroll please… We are going to Alaska.
We will rent cars in Anchorage and drive to a city called Sterling to the south where we have rented a home. Sterling is on the Kenai River and the home has a dock on the river (Rob). This home will be trip central where we can explore, stop at local pubs, fish and explore this portion of Alaska. Sterling does not appear to be remote so no need for airplanes (Jeff) and there will be liquor stores available (Bob).
We will be specifically fishing for King Salmon and Halibut. Please note that El Salvador proved Joe, Ian and I can fish and I am really hoping that with a guide the rest of you can as well. Guided fishing will be a few days of the trip with the balance open for exploring and whatever else we find. I reserve the right to change it up but the basic schedule is as follows…
- Saturday we fly to Anchorage
- Sunday, rent cars and head to Sterling
- Monday, free
- Tuesday we fish for Salmon/Halibut
- Wednesday we fish for Salmon/Halibut
- Thursday – Kenai Fjords National Park
- Friday we fish the Kenai River for Sockeye and Rainbow
- Saturday/Sunday we head home
The main expenses will be air flight, car rental, house rental and fishing guides/boats. Alaska is expensive so I chose to wing it as we will save a lot of money. Home rental will be approx. $450 each depending on how many of us finally go. Fishing at this point is estimated at $600 for 2 days of guided fishing (I need a final head count before I’ll have final costs as many boats have a 6 passenger max). Flight from LA is approx. $500 and of course this cost will depend on where you fly from. Car rental between 7 of us should be around $150 (I’m guessing). So baseline cost is around $1,700 and $1000-ish if you don’t fish.
Fishing is a big part of the expense so if you are in a tight-butt (Ian) budget you could just fly up and share in food, house, the tons of cheer and the good times BUT you’ll be in Alaska so you really should fish. I’ll refine the trip as the months move ahead as we will fill some off days with other events … still not sure what. Looking for some cliff diving for Ian or Moose tipping for Jof but haven’t figured that out.
FINALLY:
I will send in a separate email what $ I need from everyone as costs are incurred to hold houses and fishing boats. At a minimum you will need a flight to Anchorage EARLY as possible on June 1st 2014 so don’t wait on this part. Again I’ll follow up on $ needs in a separate email soon.
EVERYONE must go! OLSEE? NEUMANN?? Neumann loves to fish!
Welcome to TGT 2014 Alaska, your 2013-14 HM,
Wy
