This is the tiny village of Pile Bay. It had 30 people at it's largest and it's where Jacque (Vantrease) Wilder, LPA's founder, grew up. Her parents homesteaded here before Alaska was one of the 50 states!
Pile Bay was settled in the early 1940's for the specific reason of transporting commercial fishing boats over "the road" between Iliamna Bay on Cook Inlet and Williams Port on Lake Iliamna.
Once the boats are in Lake Iliamna they head to the west end of the lake and down
the Kvijak (Qwe-Jack) River to Bristol Bay where the world's largest wild salmon fishery draws thousands of fishermen each summer.
Once the boats are in Lake Iliamna they head to the west end of the lake and down
the Kvijak (Qwe-Jack) River to Bristol Bay where the world's largest wild salmon fishery draws thousands of fishermen each summer.
The 13 mile drive over the gravel road is filled with rivers, flowers and mountains galore. So beautiful!
Iliamna Bay is where fishermen wait for the tide to rise enough to get their boats into the pull-out bay...
Today there were several boats waiting for Ray Williams and his family to pull them out of the water.
Up to 5 boats a day can be transported over the road to Lake Iliamna.
Transporting the large fishing boats through the mountain pass, along the cliff edges and around the switchbacks is very slow and dangerous work...
Plus, there's several metal bridges just inches wider than the boats requireing incredible driver accuracy.
Picnics, ptarmigan hunting, fishing, and bear sighings are all pretty much daily summer opportunities.
What a place to spend the day!
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