Naval M.D. Mark Lund (the author’s brother) with his first king salmon in almost a decade.

Naval M.D. Mark Lund (the author’s brother) with his first king salmon in almost a decade.

Seasonal overload

I’ve never been in one of those phone booths with the $100 bills flying around, but summer time in Alaska feels a lot like it sometimes.

I’ve never been in one of those phone booths with the $100 bills flying around, but summer time in Alaska feels a lot like it sometimes. Or at least seems enough like it to craft a metaphor.

Happy, spastic movements reaching for, but not really grasping, anything until it’s over. Then someone turns off the fan, takes away the bills and I’m directed down the hallway into winter.

One might think that June would be a great time to be an outdoor columnist because there is so much to do — fishing for kings and halibut with ocean rods, fishing for trout with a tiny fly rod, fishing for salmon with a larger fly rod, not to mention hiking, camping and bonfiring. The problem is, there’s too much.

Before I can focus and get my brain around one topic and go from there, something else floats around in my head, then something else.

If I do happen to get in front of my computer, it’s hard to get more than a couple lines down because a week’s worth of moments all demand attention. Do I write about using a big, grumpy sculpin pattern for big cutthroat trout with my fly rod, or catching a king salmon with my brother for the first time in about a decade thanks to his service in the Navy? What about losing a king next to the boat while my brother recorded video on my phone? I could write about any, but not really all, at least not in the same column.

By the time the deadline approaches, I’ve camped, taken a final prowl around the tidal flats shooting black bear with my Canon, chopped firewood, and hiked the new trail up one of my favorite mountains. So many more words for so many moments since that morning on the ocean with my big (but I’m taller) brother.

$100 bills. Flying around. Everywhere. Metaphorically speaking.

Do I write about the other side of documentation — images? Should I whine about losing my GoPro on the shore of the lake while catching those cutthroats? Or what about the countless times I haven’t adjusted the manual settings on my camera and rather than capturing a bear mid-stare, I get a totally black or totally white image because the shutter and aperture are totally wrong for the light? The bigger issue with photography is probably when I have the camera in my pack and I don’t even bother to get it out. The cellphone is so much easier, and though the quality of has improved, they are still a multi-tool and a device specializing in a specific function is often much better. A good camera is meant to take good photos, a cellphone can take good photos. There’s a difference.

iPhone or Canon choice aside, both only do a fair job of capturing the real beauty of being there in person, but there’s nothing wrong with filling device storage with memories and social media with posts. The modern archive is free and digital and super accessible. For what it’s worth, my brother still has a flip phone and it might be the same one from the last time we fished together.

Anyway, back to floating bills and my job.

It feels like such a cop-out to do the, “There’s so much to do in Alaska during the summer, it’s so wonderful and I’m so #blessed.” But it’s true and for someone like myself who has difficulty focusing, it can be a nightmare. But in a good way.

I suppose it’s a matter of discipline. The same discipline that requires me to be burdened with carrying a camera in my hand, requires me to come home from a daily adventure and punch it out in a Word document.

In the same way, if you like to be outside, you have to get outside because summer won’t slow down for any of us.


• Jeff Lund is a writer and teacher based in Ketchikan. This column appears in Outdoors twice a month.


More in News

Michael Penn / Juneau Empire File
The Aurora Borealis glows over the Mendenhall Glacier in 2014.
Aurora Forecast

Forecasts from the University of Alaska Fairbanks’ Geophysical Institute for the week of March. 19

Gov. Mike Dunleavy discusses his proposed budget for the 2024 fiscal year during a press conference at the Alaska State Capitol in December 2022. A lower-than-expected revenue forecast is raising questions about what the state's spending plan will ultimately look like. (Mark Sabbatini / Juneau Empire File)
Lower revenue forecast increases budget woes for state lawmakers

Coming up with a spending plan for next year and beyond will be a complex series of negotiations.

Office Max at the Nugget Mall in the Mendenhall Valley advertised Permanent Fund dividend sales in July 2020. Alaskans have until the end of the month to apply for the PFD. (Peter Segall / Juneau Empire File)
PFD application deadline is next week

Amount in flux as state revenue forecasts lower than expected.

This is a photo of the current site plan of the proposed Capital Civic Center. On Monday night the Assembly authorized $5 million to go toward the project that is expected to cost $75 million. (City and Borough of Juneau)
City OKs $5M toward proposed Capital Civic Center

The money is intended to show the city’s commitment to the project as it seeks federal funding

(Michael Penn / Juneau Empire File)
Police calls for Tuesday, March 21, 2023

This report contains information from law enforcement and public safety agencies.

This September 2015, photo provided by NOAA Fisheries shows an aerial view of adult female Southern Resident killer whale (J16) swimming with her calf (J50). New research suggests that inbreeding may be a key reason that the Pacific Northwest’s endangered population of killer whales has failed to recover despite decades of conservation efforts. The so-called “southern resident” population of orcas stands at 73 whales. That’s just two more than in 1971, after scores of the whales were captured for display in marine theme parks around the world. (NOAA Fisheries / Vancouver Aquarium)
The big problem for endangered orcas? Inbreeding

Southern resident killer whales haven’t regularly interbred with other populations in 30 generations.

Juneau Brass Quintet co-founding member Bill Paulick along with Stephen Young performs “Shepherd’s Hey” to a packed house at the Alaska State Museum on Saturday as part of the quintet’s season-ending performance. Friends of the Alaska State Library, Archives and Museum sponsored the event with proceeds going to the musicians and FoSLAM. (Jonson Kuhn / Juneau Empire)
Top brass turns out for event at State Museum

Free performance puts a capt on a busy season.

Alaska’s state legislators are slated to get the equivalent of 6,720 additional $5 bills in their salary next year via a $33,600 raise to a total of $84,000 due to a veto Monday by Gov. Mike Dunleavy of bill rejecting raises for legislative and executive branch employees. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey, File)
Veto negates rejection of pay hikes for governor, legislators

Dunleavy clears way for 67% hike in legislative pay, 20% in his to take effect in coming months

Most Read