Where Does All That Water Go?

Last weekend a series of minus tides began and that was our cue to inspect and re-set our set-net anchors if necessary. We were fortunate enough that out of the eight anchors that hold our lines in place for the summer, only one had to be driven. The river ice was kind and didn’t freeze to the eyes of our anchors, pulling them out of the mud. It did, however, shovel a lot of the loose mud off of the clay that forms the basin of our part of Bristol Bay. This makes walking out to our outer site with anchor, driving rod, sledgehammer, and temporary buoy much easier and less mucky. It made taking some pictures on the beautiful evening that we had a reality that did not include ruining my phone by caking it with mud.

The flat and vast setting gives me a similar sense that a mountain top perspective inspires. In Bristol Bay the sky is so big and when you are far from shore when the tide has sucked itself to the other side of the world, you really have a sense of where you stand in the universe that is somehow reassuring. It feels lonesome and full at the same time. The pictures I am sharing do not fully capture what I am trying to relate, but I think you will get the idea.

Oh Bristol Bay, the feelings you evoke…

Mel