Hiking into History on Dutch Harbor, Aleutian Islands, Alaska

 

I really liked how this picture came out. The large circle in the foreground in the mount for a huge Panama gun. It could fire on just about anything that could be seen, out to the horizon in the water. The command bunker behind was where they would do the calculations to figure out where to point the gun. Our hiking group can be seen walking the ridgeline up to the bunker at the top.

We made it all the way to our Aleutian Islands! Dutch Harbor, the home of the 'Deadliest Catch' show, was our destination. It took us 10 days to get here, through a lot of unprotected open ocean traveling. We did have a sturdy boat, the Safari Explorer, which is an expedition style ship. But what we really lucked out with was the weather! It was sunny the whole time. It was calm enough to paddle offshore with whales. We had to put sunscreen out on the back table and remind people about bring sunglasses on activities. I just hope that I didn't use up all the good weather for the rest of the summer. Because the Aleutian Islands are not known for their calm weather. I heard they don't even use wind socks, they just use links of chain.

The biggest population center in the islands is Dutch Harbor. Its attached to Unalaska Island, and is one of the biggest fisheries in America. It also played a big role in the Aleutian campaign of WWII. There are forts and bunkers littered across the island. Once you get out to this part of Alaska, you leave all the big tree forest of Alaska behind. Now there are rocky island, covered in a layer of tundra, ready to be explored. And if you come in August, the tundra might be covered in beautiful colors of wildflowers, like fireweed, monks hood, and lupine.

Today we tried to explore as many of the sights as possible in Dutch Harbor. We started off at the Museum of the Aleutians, which had incredible exhibits. Then we checked out the old Russian Orthodox Church. The first orthodox church built at this sight was in 1809. It was pretty cool inside, but I had even more fun walking around the outside taking pictures. There was an eagle nest across the street and one of the adults landed right ontop of the church's onion dome. Then two foxes popped up from the shoreline to give everyone a real show. They were red foxes, but one of them was a black morph of the red fox. They were a bit wary of us at first, but then they loosened up and started playing with each other. We finished the morning checking out the WWII Visitor Center, which had really nice stories about the often forgotten Aleutian Campaign of WWII. A lot of people don't remember that Japan took over several of the Aleutian Islands, which was the only part of WWII where enemy boots touched American soil.

The WWII Visitor Center got everyone hyped up for our big hike after lunch. We tackled the 330' climb to the top of Bunker Hill, also known as Hill 400. We had a docent from the museum, Thomas, who gave us the rundown of Aleutian history, and WWII history on our way up. We passed bunkers used for ammunition storage, and quonset huts used for barracks on our trek up. Once we got near the top, we started seeing command bunkers and gun mounts. The big Panama style guns must have been huge. There were concentric circles and the gun base still left, which the guns would have spun on and locked into place before firing. They never had to fire on enemy ships, but the anti aircraft guns got some action when the city was attacked by Japanese zero planes.

Its interesting being on a WWII battlefield, so far from where most other battles were fought. I was just in Norway, learning about the blitzkrieg invasion and occupation of that country by Germany. Dutch Harbor feels so far away from that...but got caught up in the same war. A true world war indeed.

My hiking group, high atop Bunker Hill, also known as Hill 400. There is an amazing view over Dutch Harbor and the entrances to the bay, which is why it was such a strategic point during WWII.

A traditional bent hat and a waterproof parka made out of seal guts. This display was in the Museum of the Aleutians in Dutch Harbor.

View from the top of Bunker Hill. I climbed up the control tower bunker at the very peak. Mount Ballyhoo is the peak in the middle of the bay, an iconic peak marking the entrance to Dutch Harbor.

Brad, looking into the bunker on Hill 400.

Hiking past wildflowers on the trail up Bunker Hill.

An early drawing of the Russian Orthodox Church set in Unalaska Island in the Aleutians.

The Russian Orthodox Church in modern day form.

The church has some interesting artifacts. It even has a painting gifted by Catherine the Great.

Heading into the wonderful Museum of the Aleutians in Dutch Harbor.

I thought this was very interesting artwork at the Russian Orthodox Church. It was painted on the inside of a shell.

Brad playing Captain America at the WWII visitor center in Dutch Harbor.

One of our guests climbing high for a beautiful view ontop of Bunker Hill.

It sure is nice to be able to soak in the views from the top of Bunker Hill in peacetime. This place must have been wracked with nerves during WWII. Dutch Harbor was bombed as part of the Japanese attack on the Aleutian Islands.

Closing in on the summit of Bunker Hill.

The WWII visitor center is a great place to put yourself in the time and place of WWII during the Aleutian Campaign. There are so many incredible stories here about pilots being lost in the infamous Aleutian Island fog, battles to retake islands where the Japanese had dug in, and tales of Aleutian native people being relocated to places far away.

The wildflowers are blooming here in Dutch Harbor.

The original sketching of the 'Aleut Girl' by an artist on Capt Cook's 1792 voyage of discovery.

Pointing to a bald eagle, perched ontop of the Russian Orthodox Church in Unalaska.

The Grand Aleutian is where our guests spend the night before I meet them and bring them on the boat.

Guests on our bunker hill hike tackling the final ridge to the very top.

Exploring inside one of the bunkers left after WWII.

This bunker is at Memorial Park on the Unalaska side.

I finished my route talk around 9pm, but we still had daylight to go for an evening hike. I took the guests out for a mile long hike along the spit, close to where we were docked. We saw several bird species, sea otters, and steller sea lions on our walk. I love taking advantage of daylight while we have it! Plus it always feels nice to have a little leg stretcher after dinner.

What a view! This is from the top of Bunker Hill. A large Panama style gun would have been hastily mounted here during the fortification of Dutch Harbor leading up to WWII engagements.

Carol Anne, posing in front of a WWII bunker on our way up bunker hill.

During the air raid of Dutch Harbor, a large vessel called the Northwestern was struck twice by Japanese bombs. It didn't sink immediately, but was later scuttled up in Captains Bay. This is one of the propellers from the Northwestern.

Peter, one of our photography enthusiast onboard this trip, strikes the typical photographer pose.

One of my favorite parts of the Bunker Hill hike is when we come across this exposed section of water pipe. What is so cool is that the pipe is made out of wood, and is wrapped by metal, just like a whisky barrel. Now just imagine miles of this connecting everything around the island.

August is a beautiful time of year to visit Dutch Harbor. The wildflowers had a splash of color to the already emerald green hillsides.

As we were sightseeing around town, we spotted these two playful foxes, just above the shoreline. We watched them, while they watched us. Then, when they felt comfortable, they started playing with each other. They are both red foxes, however one is a rare black morph. Pretty cool!