Razor clams at Clam Gulch

Clam Gulch was buzzing with activity in the shadow of the volcano, Mt Iliamna. While we clammed, fisherman pulled their setnets.

Many anemones lined the rocks as we searched the sand for the tell tale dimple leading to Bucky drawing his gun.

the dimple

With experience, comes wisdom. This proved to be true for Bucky when digging razor clams. Razor clams only live on a few beaches in North America, four or five of these beaches are in Alaska. The clams are very sought after. In the past, we had rented a clam shovel for digging. The shovel proved to be designed for frustration and breaking clams. The law states that you must take any clams you break while digging. Thus, the shovel not only destroyed the clam meat by breaking into the clam's body, but left a bad feeling as we placed many mutilated bodies in our pail. Someone on the beach in 2008, lent us a "gun". Once Bucky held the gun and experienced gunning for clams, there was no question that he needed to be armed. We bought our clam gun and drove to Clam Gulch on the Kenai Peninsula after checking dates for the minus tides. Minus tides occur somewhat rarely and it is only with these extreme tides that the razor clams present themselves for digging. We are now on our third day of clamming and the gun has done its job. At this point, we have harvested and cleaned over two hundred clams. Cleaning these clams is time consuming requiring concentration and most of all, beer. Bucky is presently drying the clear icicle that pops out of the belly of the clam during the cleaning process. We're not sure what the clam uses this clear projectile for, but I think some of you may receive these as the Doria Christmas gift for 2010.

Bucky used the gun for 7 hours and than took Ibuprofen every 4 hours. We're still assessing as to if it was worth the pain.

With the minus tide, sea life was exposed.

Fisher found the 5,000 mile trip well worthwhile when she was able to run freely on the beach in Homer. In Vermont, she can never be off the leash so we thrilled at watching her run full out over the sand. Oh, the freedom Alaska provides ! We sat on the beach in Talkeetna with Hunter, Foraker and Denali out of the clouds.