Apologies for the delayed posting! We spent 2 nights at Spike Camp rather than 1, and then I allowed reading to be greater than sleeping, which is more important than journaling, which is less time consuming than writing blog posts.

Thursday 23 June 2016, week 5: Buldir Island, 21:00

Situated on the northwest end of Buldir Island lies a camp that’s been home to dozens of field biologists for summers dating back to the late 1980s. Sitting about 60 yards inland at the base of a steep ridge, the camp looks out upon North Marsh and the Bering Sea beyond.

As you walk up from the beach toward camp on the freshly mown** trail, the first piece of camp you’ll meet is our propane and kerosene cache. You’ll probably also notice the radio antenna set-up (a line strung between 2 poles) near the main camp. By this point you will have also encountered the first well worn planks of our trail.

Another 20 yards or so beyond there you’ll hit the outskirts of our compound as your feet venture upon our fine boardwalk. To the right is a narrower trail that leads to a camp fixture: the outhouse. It’s a pretty standard long-drop but a little fancier since it’s outfitted with an emergency plunger and rusty can of beach trash Japanese air freshener.

Upon climbing the 5 steps of our deck, you’ll find yourself facing the green main cabin, home of the kitchen, dining room, living room, drying area, office, library, lab, workshop, and gear storage. Of course, these are all the same room of the rather spacious one room cabin, which is very well equipped with a range and full oven, real countertops (as opposed to plywood), 2 dish racks, a dining table and benches, many shelves, a kerosene heater with ample clothespins/line/hangers above, a work laptop, a MF/HF marine radio, and solar panel data center + inverter. 6 windows provide plenty of light in Alaska’s summer, but the solar panel is connected to a couple of small fluorescent light fixtures.

Situated outside, against the east wall of this cabin, stands the produce bin. Inside this shelter you’ll find cabbage, various types of squash, sweet potatoes, potatoes, onions, carrots, apples, oranges, lemons, and limes hanging in nets. Since this produce journeyed from who-knows-where to Alaska, sat on a shelf in a store, and then traveled 12 days on the deck of the Tiglax before reaching Buldir, it’s not necessarily the most perfect produce, but it’s the freshest we have available.

Next to the produce bin you’ll find a large (50 gal?) water tank connected to a funnel and hose that supply our drinking water, the source of which is rainwater from the roof. Along the north wall of the main cabin you’ll find a second water catchment tank, our 10L Katadyn water filter, and our line of coolers containing cheese, tortillas, bread, bagels, yogurt, and butter.

Across the boardwalk from this selection you’ll find yourself facing a white weatherport, a thick canvas-walled structure bolted to a plywood floor and built around a frame. Inside it lies our pantry: boxes and boxes of nonperishable foods sitting on driftwood shelving units. We keep the staple kitchen supplies in the cabin and supplement by grabbing whatever we need for certain meals. I hid all the chocolate at the far end in a box labeled “past and present danger” in the hopes of keeping temptation out of sight.

The last large structure in the compound is the bunkhouse, our sleeping quarters. Inside it stand 3 sets of bunks built into 3 corners of the cabin; the 4th holds shelves and a rack for hanging raingear, float coats, and waders. A kerosene heater sometimes gets turned on before bed to warm up the cool cabin. Each bunk comes outfitted with a small reading light, shelves, and hooks. It’s like a summer camp cabin with clothes and personal items visible all around. The kiwi Christmas ornament that travels in my backpack decorates my little nook.

The newest addition to camp is our absolutely beautiful shower shed. Made of plywood walls standing around a wooden pallet floor, our shower has 2 windows looking south and east + a sunroof. Yes, it is a thing to behold thanks to Kevin’s vision and hard work. Inside the shower we have small shelves for toiletries, netting to hold a towel and clothes, a buoy bench, and a solar shower bag.

From camp one small boardwalk leads down to the creek flowing through North Marsh, another trail leads through the marsh as an alternative walkway to the cobble beach, and the main trail becomes a narrow thing that continues south toward the island’s interior.

For McKenzie, Kevin and me, the compound is quite the expansive home. 2016 is the first year in awhile that Buldir is hosting only FWS employees; for years, various graduate students have had their own crews of 3+ conducting research and sharing our camp facilities. While having other folks around would have its pros and cons, the 3 of us are content to have the whole island just to ourselves.

Alaska Maritime’s own Jeff Williams says it well when he provides entertainment after evening radio check-ins:

“Welcome to “News of the Weird,” those strange but true stories that make you glad that you’re in a remote cabin away from everyone and all that maddening crowd… by yourself here.”

Here on Buldir is a pretty good place to be.

** “Mown” should be taken to mean I trimmed all the vegetation in a 3 foot swath using garden shears over the course of 2 mornings and an evening.