Jake Beaudoin walking into a timeless surfing scene, Yakutat, Alaska.

As you probably figured out, this is the third post reporting on a 7 day surfing trip to Yakutat, Alaska. Part 2 was the story for Sept 28th. Something happened between that day and October 1st. Or, what I mean is nothing happened, with the camera that is. I know there was plenty of surfing, and along with it plenty of rain– so the photographer left his camera in the tent and caught up on some surf.  This was good, because on the first morning in October we were excited to see our first and only sunrise for the week. The six days of waiting for a glimpse of the mountains and a chance at some classic Yakutat surf photos finally paid off. No complaints though, waiting out the rain clouds is not bad when it means surfing for 6hrs a day, and when the pay off looks like this.

So, we started this day off with a hike to our regular spot – Pt Carrew. The waves were decent and glassy with a stunning backdrop of the Saint Elias Range. Later in the day we bumped into some visiting California shredders in Yakuat with the good folks from Alaska Brewing and the Coastal Code program. Growing up and learning to surf in Alaska exclusively I honestly was pretty impressed. I didn’t realize shoulder high beach break had so much potential.  To finish the day off there was a very sweet surf session at Snappers. I showed up a bit late with the camera, but judging by the grins on the boys’ faces it was pretty good.

Keith Bell and Dan Stafford starting their day off right with a sunrise surf at Pt Carrew, Yakutat, Alaska.

Glassy morning surf at Pt Carrew with the Saint Elias Range backdrop, Yakutat, Alaska.

Jake Beaudoin surfing Pt Carrew, Yakutat, Alaska.

Clear skies, sunshine, snow covered mountains, and the call of some lonely surf, Yakutat, Alaska.

A lull in the surf, but the scenery was going off- 12,000ft glacier encrusted faces.

California surfer Chris Del Moro doing his thing beneath Mt St Elias, Yakutat, Alaska.

Chris Del Moro surfing Yakutat, Alaska.

Matt Kinney displaying his 'This is surf stoke' billboard after a dreamy session at Snappers, Yakutat, Alaska.

surf session photo from october 27th 2008 in Alaska

The 27th, Monday, brought some surprisingly nice chest high waves to Kachemak Bay. The photo above was a quick snap before I ran down the beach with a surfboard, leaving the camera in the car for this session. The photo doesn’t really do the waves justice. First of all, I was too impatient to wait for a good set, and the best waves where actually around the corner on a little sand bar. For about 30 minutes the little swell stood up against a light offshore on the sand bar making some beautiful, hollow chest high waves. Then the tide rose too high and they went soft. Some of the guys stayed right there on the point (see above photo) and got some nice, pretty long rides while another friend and I were out prospecting around the corner.

Monday was the first day the water started to feel a bit like winter. Up till now we were enjoying warm fall water, but with several straight days of below freezing air temps it’s clearly over. No complaints though, the sun was out and the breeze was offshore. I’m still happy wearing 2mm gloves and am yet to leave the beach feeling hypothermic this season.

The forecast is not looking very promising, so perhaps I’ll sort through a few of the other surf sessions we’ve had in the last couple weeks as I wait for the next swell.

Fall morning with glassy waves at point Carew in Yakutat, Alaska.

During a week long surf trip to Yakutat this fall we had one partly sunny morning. Not the best waves that morning, but certainly some outstanding scenery!

Nothing happening for waves in Kachemak Bay (Homer) Alaska today.