Our First Camphosting Job

We knew we wanted to see Alaska and what better way than to live there all summer for free?! We applied for volunteer positions at multiple locations and with multiple agencies, but in the end we chose to work with Chugach State Park as camphosts at their Eklutna Lake campground. The park has a lot to offer. First of all, who wouldn't want to live here?! (Courtney took this photo of Eklutna Lake from one of the surrounding mountains.)

In our first two days, we had an earthquake (the first for all of us), a missing hiker, and a kayaker drowned. 

Chugach State Park is the third largest state park in the US. It encompasses multiple sites spread out thru Anchorage and the surrounding area. There are three campgrounds, and many maintained trailheads. Eklutna Lake has 58 frontcountry campsites, 9 backcountry campsites, and 4 rental cabins. This is a very popular day use area as well with trails for hiking, biking, horseback riding and ATVs (4 days a week) and of course the lake which is a popular destination for kayaking, fishing and swimming (if you don't mind ice cold water). It's a gorgeous park with crystal blue water and snow on the surrounding mountains all year. With all it has to offer and being so close, yet just far enough away from Anchorage, it's no wonder it's so popular. The campground was completely full almost every weekend and we would sometimes even run out of parking spaces for people just coming up for the day! Fortunately we had applied as a team with friends of ours, Courtney and Deann, so we split the work in half and each couple did their portion. Another volunteer, Kerry, covered our days off and later in the summer, another volunteer, Vicky, joined us. It was nice to have the extra help and the chance to get to know them.

So what exactly did we do at the park? Well, we cleaned toilets, campsites, fire rings, worked the fee booth, helped campers with questions and reminded people about rules of the park, particularly about bear safety. We had bears in our campground pretty much everyday, so it was extremely important that nothing was left out to encourage them to return. One of our campers named this guy "Rob Roy". He made quite a few appearances until the day an officer "spanked" him (shot him with a bean bag bullet to scare him away from the campground). He never returned to our knowledge, but if a bear like this continued coming back, he'd eventually end up posing a threat to people and likely end up being killed. For this reason, the State of Alaska has imposed a $300 fine for leaving food items unattended.

There were a number of emergencies, most of them resulted from kayakers capsizing. Hypothermia happens extremely fast in water as cold as Eklutna Lake. We'd call 911 and help direct the fire department and squad while our ranger pulled kayakers from the water. A life jacket can be the difference between life and death here. Unfortunately we saw the worst, when a kayaker drowned on our second day at the park. There would have been more if it weren't for witnesses notifying us and the quick action of Ranger Keith and all the volunteers.

Asher and Journey love Ranger Keith. We miss him already.

This is the location of one of the Yuditnu rental cabin. Gorgeous, right?!

The Serenity Falls cabin is about 10 miles from the parking lot. You must hike, bike or ride an ATV to get there. It sleeps 12 and can be rented by the bunk or in it's entirety. It has a view of a waterfall, river and glacier!

The logbook was a fun thing to look thru while we were cleaning up the cabin. People from all over have come to spend a night at this amazing cabin far from the crowds.

The cleanup crew. 

The kids were excited to help clean campsites, though their enthusiasm waned as months passed. They were generally happy to at least come along and look for treasure- airsoft balls (which aren't allowed by the way), a coin, or the occasional golf ball. They were always amazed and saddened by the trash people would leave and especially disturbed by people leaving food out that would no doubt encourage bears to keep returning and threaten the safety of our campers (and the bears). There was one day Asher and I found half of a watermelon sliced and thrown into the bushes. He began a five minute rant that went something like this- "Why would they do that? Why would they waste a watermelon? I LOVE watermelon, and they bought it, cut it up and then threw it on the ground! A bear could have found it! I just don't understand." I hear ya Buddy! I will also never forget seeing my little boy come from behind a bush with a pair of women's panties hanging from his trash picker-uper things. Thank goodness for those! You would not believe the things people leave at a campsite! I'll spare you the details.

A great place to spend a summer! 

Overall this was another fantastic workamping experience. We enjoyed the park and the people we met there, the park employees, other volunteers and our campers. Spending time in Alaska is truly life-changing. When you leave, it feels like you've left a part of yourself there. We are already making plans to return to Alaska in a few years to do it all over again!