A Little Bit of Eaglebrook in Alaska

Longtime Eaglebrook School faculty member Jack Shea has a great love of the outdoors. He runs the Eaglebrook Mountain Club, and is always up for a good fishing trip. Jack’s love for Alaska runs very deep, also. He has been traveling to Alaska ever since his sister moved there years ago. Sadly Mary Ellen succumbed to breast cancer in 2006, but Jack still visits the great state. And for the last twelve years or so, Jack has been bringing Eaglebrook students, alumni, trustees, and parents with him.

Jack, along with Ethan Wood ’04, Chris Cook ’04, Scott Cook ’06, and Chris and Scott’s grandfather Bob Duby, spent some time on the Talachulinta River in Alaska in June. The “Tal” is south of the Alaskan Range, across the Bay of Alaska, NW of Anchorage. According to Jack, “this beautiful stream meanders through some of Alaska’s most spectacular scenery, the backdrop for some of the best trout and salmon fishing in the world. This world-class fishery is home to all five species of Pacific Salmon, Rainbow Trout, Dolly Varden, and the Arctic Grayling.” This group had traveled to Alaska together before, in 2004, and Ethan Wood had this to say, “As in 2004 we had fantastic weather, sunny days that lasted well past midnight. There is nothing like the wide-open places to slow life down. The pace is what is exceptional about this kind of trip. It is light all the time so you can pitch tents whenever you want, sleep whenever you can, fish all day and all night, and sit by the river in your camp chair whenever you have caught your fill. There is no circumstance where you can be more alive than when you are on a float trip, it is unconfused and pure.” See photos of their time in Alaska here. Learn more about Eaglebrook’s Mountain Club at www.eaglebrook.org/mountainclub.