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A Wind-Swept Day in the Aleutians
Ten years ago today we were in the heart of the Aleutian Islands, pushing off from Herbert Island and headed back to Chuginadak. Last night I went back to the voice messages I’d left on National Geographic’s website – we weren’t able yet to send text, photos or video via the satellite phone, only audio – and got a kick out of both the brevity of the messages and the slight tone of fear I could hear. (“Probably our wildest days of adventure were left for the last days of our 25-day trip…. we got out in the middle of a pretty strong current…swamping the boat…it was a good ride. What we expected to be the homestretch was a monstrous wind…Mother Nature was not making that last day easy for us.”)
This morning – home comfortably but soggy in the Catskills, about to spend the long weekend in the Boundary Waters with my friend Will Steger – I’ve gone to the book about our Aleutian Adventure, “Birthplace of the Winds,” to remind myself exactly what we we’d gotten ourselves into.
“When I awoke I had virtually no anxiety about the upcoming – most likely final – crossing. Rested by a good, eight-hour sleep, feeling as good as I had all trip, I was anxious to get going.
“Our first clue should have been aural. From the beach at Herbert the roar coming off the pass was ominous. It isn’t the sound of the wind or waves, but like a locomotive river splitting Chuginadak and Herbert. I’ve never heard a current so loud before. That alone should have warned us this would be a wild day. But by the time the tents are down, we are anxious to get moving. We’ve been camped on Herbert for four nights, and it has been most luxurious. Now we’re ready to get back to base camp, in part for that dry bag of ‘real’ food that waits. Plus, once we are back at Applegate, the trip will have been a true success. All five islands explored, all crossings made safely.
“As soon as we push the boat onto the water, I am overwhelmed by an ominous feeling. The normally kelp-filled cove is wind-churned, foamy. We push out first and try to wait for Sean and Barry, which proves impossible. We are forced to paddle full-strength, right off the bat, just to avoid being sucked out to sea. Beyond, the roar grows louder.”
Suffice to say the day, eight hours later we were still paddling, into an offshore wind blowing from the four-mile long beach on Chuginadak. I remember shouting back to Scott McGuire, suggesting maybe we should hunker down in the kelp – like the seals do, during big storms – but he was afraid it would only grow worse and we’d spend the night on the water.
When we did finally pull the boats up on shore we were cold and cramped, but thrilled. It was our last big paddle of the adventure. I remember my partner Barry Tessman’s words to this day: “It doesn’t get any better than this!”
Tags: Aleutian Islands, Barry Tessman, Birthplace of the Winds, Chuginadak, Herbert Island, National Geographic, Will Steger
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