Back in 2019, Karen and I spent three nights at this remote lodge located within Lake Clark National Park in the Katmai region of Alaska. Access is by float plane, and the lodge offers lake and stream fishing, hiking, kayaking and bear watching. It is typically open June through September. It is located on Crescent Lake which is about 9 miles long, 2-4 miles wide and about 150″ deep. The lake is a turquoise-blue, caused by glacial “flour” embedded in the glacial ice.
The five acre parcel was acquired in 1960 by a family from Homer, who built a small log cabin on the property (still there). In 1980 the BLM established Lake Clark NP surrounding the 5 acre property and enclosing a huge territory. A new owner in 1984 built more cabins and operating the property as a fishing destination. In 1999 Wayne and Jeannie Holm acquired it, did a major renovation and opened it as Redoubt Mountain Lodge.
So for Karen’s 80th birthday, I offered to take her back to Redoubt. She quickly accepted, not surprising giver her love of fishing. So we booked the lodge for four nights in August of this year.
Getting There
We arrived at Trail Ridge Air about 7 one morning on the Hood Canal in Anchorage and met several of our travel companions (whom we did not know yet). After a short wait they loaded us in a six person De Havilland Beaver and off we went. This and the following blogs will cover the trip in, the lodge, fishing, bear watching and the trip back, all done in four days.
The Trip In
Flying in to the lodge takes about 1 1/4 hours, and the route typically goes along the Kenai for a ways, across Cook Inlet and then on to the Katmai Peninsula, ultimately up the valleys, into the Alaska Range and down onto Crescent Lake.We did see a pair of beluga whales in Cook Inlet; sorry no pictures!
The Lodge
Fishing
Initially we fly fished in the outgoing river while in waders; we caught a few sockeye stragglers and one keeper. We also shed just outside the lake and caught a few Dolly Vardens – no keepers but fun to catch. The second day we helicoptered down towards the coast and fished in a small stream for silver salmon. Karen and I both caught our limit of three in less than an hour. The rest of the days we returned to “the bathtub” to see if the silver were running – but too soon.
The Carefree Photographer 