Plainfield Man Wins $11,000 Alaska Trip

Chris Hurst was so taken aback seeing the name “Trout Unlimited” on his caller ID, he let the phone call go to voicemail.

It seemed a bit surreal, he said, given that the night before he and his wife had been discussing the odds of being randomly chosen in the contest sponsored by the group and the ExOfficio outdoor clothing company.

“I enter these things all the time, but I never win,” Hurst, a Plainfield resident, said.  

But win he did, and sometime next summer he and wife Stephanie will be heading to Bristol Bay for a three-night stay at the Alaska Sportsman Bear Trail Lodge on the Naknek River. It’s perhaps one of the best places in the world for king salmon fishing, Hurst said, and he hopes to schedule the trip so he can do both that and snag some rainbow trout.

When the couple hit the river to do a little fly fishing, they’ll be decked out head to toe in ExOfficio Bugs Away insect-repellent clothing, right down to their undergarments, he said.

A three-night stay at the lodge is priced at $4,200, according to its Web site, and the total prize – which includes transportation from Seattle to Alaska, lodging, guides and clothing – is valued at $11,000.

The lodge is in such a remote area that the only way to reach it is by plane, Hurst said.

Hurst, 33, a firefighter for Fermilab in Batavia, said he and his wife will likely bring his 9-year-old stepdaughter as well. She can stay with his wife’s aunt and uncle in Anchorage while they’re at the lodge, and then the family will likely extend the trip a bit longer to enjoy Alaska, he said.

It will be the second time he’s been to the state. His trip two years ago was also a family vacation, which was particularly memorable because his stepdaughter “hooked a king salmon,” he said.

Hurst, a self-described “die-hard angler,” said one of the trip’s highlights will be a chance to see Bristol Bay’s natural habitats and fisheries, which may be altered forever if the Pebble Mine is allowed to open a huge open pit gold mine at the bay’s headwaters.

As for his losing streak, maybe this contest win has changed his luck.

“I ran right out and bought some lottery tickets (after learning he’d won the Alaska trip),” he said.

He collected $10 with two tickets and $20 with the ones he purchased with his winnings. Alas, he didn’t become an instant millionaire, but he did break even. “I was happy with that,” he said.