Contributors: Amanda Marie-Amstutz Reynolds

We did it. It took us awhile, but we finally made it to our new home in Alaska.

It took two months, seven days, one rescheduled flight, over 3,000 miles of driving, three audio books, some tiptoeing through closed borders, and 14 days of quarantine, but we are home. What a wonderful feeling it is.

We started out the year of 2020 with exciting prospects and high hopes. Now in June, we still have exciting prospects and high hopes, but it seems like the world has successfully – if haphazardly at best – oscillated between slowly to quickly burning. Several times. Keeping with the nature of our personalities, our little family has been similarly oscillating with the changes in our world and our home lives. Needless to say, it’s very difficult to find peace amid a pandemic, economic shutdown, severe civil unrest, social and societal revolution, and of course the more immediately personal transitions of buying our first home, making our first big move out of the military, starting new phases in new careers, and the logistical nightmare of moving our household to Alaska. In the best of times, just moving our household 3,000 miles would have been stressful. But doing that on top of health and safety concerns at the societal level – including the Canadian border being shut down – was a lot. It still is a lot.

For more on the civilian deployment that we didn’t expect to experience see my previous post here: The Promise of Time

This context and background is important to frame our first experience as a family in the Alaskan wilderness we now have the privilege to call our backyard.

Arctic Grayling

The first time I witnessed grayling in all of their majestic fresh-water glory was in Montana. We were coming back from a trip through Alberta, and decided to take a backpacking trip to Fuse Lake: Friendship & Mosquitoes: Our Trip to Alberta

I have been obsessed with Arctic Grayling ever since. As described to an eager-to-learn co-worker: They are the unicorns of freshwater fish. They. Are. Gorgeous.

When we made the decision to move to Alaska, I was hesitant. I don’t like being cold. I have learned to be comfortable in mild temperatures. I don’t mind getting wet if I have enough/appropriate layers. I don’t drive well in the snow. If I am completely being honest with myself, I am still slightly hesitant about Alaska. It gets cold here. There is and will be snow. What I am not hesitant about is my love for the outdoors and fishing.

In short – I told Wes that if we were to move to Alaska, I better get a fireplace. I also told him that if we moved to Alaska, I wanted to catch a big grayling. I was only sort-of joking about the fireplace. I was dead serious about the grayling.

He delivered.

For me grayling are special because they are beautiful, but also because they are a challenge. They seem to have very small mouths for a salmon species and are notorious for living in deeper colder waters. This can make them hard to find and hard to hook into because of their delicateness.

Our day of fishing had started out with a trek around a very long lake, constantly scanning the water for any sign of fish. We spotted them when we came to about the end of our walk for the day because there was a storm coming over the mountains. Like most lake fish, they were cruising in their lanes and picking what they could find off the surface of the water as mother nature prepared for the rainstorm. Taking turns, we spotted for one another. We strategized on how to catch the fish we were seeing and coached one another on fly placement and when the fish were getting into our proximity.

I hadn’t picked up a fly rod in almost three months. I was rusty. But I was so determined I didn’t think about how rusty I was. I guess I need to do that more often because it was that moment when everything felt right. You get that feeling when you execute a perfect golf swing or a perfect cast and you know you hit your mark.

The fly fluttered to the water like it had a life of its own. Wes shouted down to me to leave it right there. I froze. Alright, now. I twitched the line ever so slightly to make the fly ripple the water. I couldn’t see a damn thing but my fly on the surface. Then I saw the nose of the fish break the water and eat my fly. I waited. I came tight. I felt the weight of the fish and my heart raced. I held my breath for four minutes. Well – I probably didn’t hold my breath the entire time. I’m not a diver. But I don’t remember consciously breathing until the fish was in the net.

In that moment I could think of nothing else. I was in awe of this fish. This image I had been carrying around in my head, was swirling in front of me in our net, and it was real. It was here. We did it.

There are a few moments in our lives where we come to the conscious realization of our accomplishments. Sitting in my waders with this beautiful fish was undoubtably one of mine.

I will never catch another grayling as meaningful as this one. I am completely okay with that.

The Next Chapter

I am very excited to set up a home that is ours and to explore our new big backyard. With all of the opportunities to fish, backpack, camp, raft, and go boating I think we will have plenty to keep us busy this summer. I may even actually learn to tie my own flies this winter. We shall see.

Finally, to everyone who is bound to ask us the question – and to those who have already asked – the answer is no. We have never lived in Alaska before. But we are thrilled for the chance to build this new chapter under the big skies and breathtaking mountains of this beautiful place we now call home. I’m sure we have a lot to learn and experience in the final frontier – but thus is life.

For more information on Arctic Grayling and trails on the Kenai Peninsula visit:

Alaska Department of Fish & Game: https://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=arcticgrayling.main#:~:text=The%20Arctic%20grayling%20(Thymallus%20arcticus,vary%20from%20stream%20to%20stream

My Alaskan Fishing Trip: https://www.myalaskanfishingtrip.com/alaska-fishing-info/page/arctic-grayling

Alaska Fly Fishers: http://www.akflyfishers.net/Arctic-Grayling

Hiking Project: https://www.hikingproject.com/directory/8006872/kenai-peninsula

Alaska.org: https://www.alaska.org/destination/kenai-peninsula/parks-and-trails

History & Culture: Alaska Native Groups
http://alaskaweb.org/native/gps&cults.htm

Disclaimer: None of the above links are sponsors of this post. They are just resources we have found helpful during our research of new places and adventures.