Boat charter on Adak?

[WIsam]

I've been thinking of going to Adak for Caribou and have a few questions for anyone familiar with the area.

First, we were planning on hunting roughly 10 miles south of the town. Does anyone know of any boat operators who could take someone to the south side and pick them up a week or so later? How much would this cost and how far out does it book up?

Other than taking a boat the only other way to get to the areas that seem most productive is to hike, but a 10 mile haul would be pretty rough coming back out! Still, it might be doable if a good portion of the walking was on a jeep trail in semi decent condition. I noticed Happy valley road has a trail that heads south west and one that heads south east for a few miles before they end. Does anyone know anything about these? Is there any ways to walk 10 miles south that are easier than others? 10 miles is a long ways with a load of meat, but maybe doable if we could find an easy enough route.

[CGSwimmer25]

I am going later on this year and did some research on transportation. There are a few on the island with boats but they charge a good amount for a transport. Alaskanadventuretours does a transport charging $3500 for a five day hunt. As far as four wheelers go, there is a person that rents four wheelers on the island but they are useless if you want to go to the southern end of the island. So basically, if you have extra money to spend there are boats on the island, but if your like me then the island is perfect for hiking!!

[WIsam]

$3500 per person or for a group? Even with a few people it's still a bit pricey.

How many miles are you planning on hiking in? I've never hiked around on Adak before. I know many people say the 5 miles off the Dalton is a death march, but I don't know how the terrain on Adak compares. At least there's no Alders and devil's club to contend with!

[CGSwimmer25]

$3500 per person. We are planning on hiking 3 miles south then 5 miles west to hatchet lake. We are aware that it will be a long hike back to town but we have alloted some extra time for meat transport. The terrain isn't bad at all in my opinion. Adak is mostly rolling hills and the highest peak is on the northern part of the island. When are you planning on going?

[WIsam]

Haven't picked a firm date yet but thinking mid to late August. I might try to get out there in the spring sometime for a Cow hunt. Don't know about that one though. My hunting buddy is always pretty set on antlers. I just like having a full freezer. Either way, I'll be there late Aug or early Sept for sure.

Have you ever been on the island before? If not I'll be sure to let you know how the hike is if and when I do the cow hunt in the spring. I haven't made up my mind if I want to try the Hatchet lake area or the East side yet.

I know you mentioned you've flown over the island before. How often does the island fog in during the summer? Could a guy plan on bringing a spotting scope and sitting on a hill, or is it pretty hit and miss with fog and low Ceilings? Obviously I'm planning on rain, but I'm hoping the Ceilings and visibility stay semi decent.

[CGSwimmer25]

PM sent....

[HornHunter]

better think again

Adak has some of the roughest terrain you will ever encounter, those little humps on the maps are not rolling hills.

There is a transporter on the island you can email me for his name and number, very good guy.

scottabow@aol.com

[CGSwimmer25]

I have seen 75% of the island from the air and in My opinion, the terrain isn't bad. The terrain consists of grass and rocks and there are no huge mountains on the southern part of the island to scale like here in Kodiak. There are dangers such as sink holes, ordinance left over from the military, and packs of rabid man-eating rats. Maybe coming from Colorado Adak's terrain is pretty rough but there are many other parts of Alaska that are alot worse!

[AKDoug]

Is that Byler's outfit?

That's the name of his outfit. Plenty of bad press on Byler and I don't think he is taking hunting clients anymore.

[WIsam]

How is it mile for mile compared to hiking off the haul road for caribou? Is the average 5 mile hike on Adak pretty comparable to a gun hunt off the Dalton?

[HornHunter]

boots on the ground

swimmer--having hunted all three--adak-kodiak and colorado I 'll stick by my original post good luck

[Vince]

How is it mile for mile compared to hiking off the haul road for caribou? Is the average 5 mile hike on Adak pretty comparable to a gun hunt off the Dalton?

Adak as the rest of the islands, are mountain tops sticking out of the water. with volcanic vents, tundra, high winds, rain, snow, at any given moment. unspent WWII ordanance, pit falls, and sink holes that will give you the center of the earth expeiance... the haul road is flat in compairson once you get on other side of atigun..

[WIsam]

No question the Haul road is flatter north of Atigun, but I still hear a lot of guys complain about hauling a load across the soft tundra. Mile for mile it sounds like Adak might be more difficult then?

For those that have been there is the ground at least relatively firm or is it pretty soft like north of Atigun? If it's both sloppy and steep that would be a nasty combination. I would hope at least the higher ground would be semi decent. Are most of the low areas pretty boggey or is the area pretty well drained?

[HornHunter]

terrafirma

the terrain on adak is very firm, except of course around the many lakes and ponds, lots of streams to cross, take a good hiking stick, very valuable for proding the deep grass where the lava tubes are, if you see ferns stay away as they grow out of the tubes, didnt see any rats, ordinace, or people on the south end of the island, you'll have a hard time finding a big bull, but adak is a very special place, take a good fishing pole.

[cusackla]

Adak Shipping

Just wondering how the flts to Adak are. Does NAC or AK Air fly cargo out? Could a person use a zodiac out of Adak or is it a good risk of getting caught in the weather?
When you return, I would love to hear and see an update from those of you that are going.