By Joseph Robertia
Photo by Joseph Robertia, Redoubt Reporter. An iconic structure between Kasilof and Ninilchik, the Clam Shell Lodge in Clam Gulch will soon be closing and the building going up for auction.
Redoubt Reporter
Driving the sparse stretch of Sterling Highway, there doesn’t seem to be much between Kasilof and Ninilchik, just the blinking red star atop of the Clam Shell Lodge to serve as a beacon to weary travelers.
As the area’s only restaurant, motel, bar and liquor store, snowmachiners in the winter making their way down from the Caribou Hills could stop in for a warm meal, while in summer, tourists and fishermen could poke in for a cool drink. But the establishment has been much more than just a food stop or watering hole.
The lodge has also served as a staging area or host for numerous Alaskana events, such as the Hippy Olympics, the Clam Jam and DeadFish summer music festival, the Way Out Women charity snowmachine ride, and a checkpoint for the Tustumena 200 and Clam Gulch Classic sled dog races, not to mention an oasis of social interaction for locals looking to catch up with friends or meet some new ones.
No longer. The watering hole oasis is drying up from financial hardship following owner Guy Baker’s death in a vehicle accident earlier this summer. The Clam Shell is preparing to close up tight for the last time.
“It’s devastating, but this is a huge place with huge bills and I just can’t keep up with it myself,” said Patty Baker, Guy’s widow and the remaining owner.
She said that the previous owners are foreclosing and the establishment will go up for auction at 10 a.m. Sept. 6 at the Kenai Courthouse.
The Bakers took over the lodge about three years ago and immediately and continually began making upgrades.
“We did a lot in the time it was ours,” Patty said. “My husband spent 90 percent of his time here fixing and building. We did a lot of cleaning and maintenance. We redid all the rooms. After all that work, this is totally devastating.”
The lodge is an old building and a large one. Particularly in the winter, the electricity and heating bills would outweigh business, even when business was going well.
“Just keeping this place up to code and heating this place in winter could bankrupt you,” Baker said.
Photos by Joseph Robertia, Redoubt Reporter. Tony Vail, Keran Morrison and Shawna Wolk share laughs in the lounge of the Clam Shell Lodge on the establishment’s last night open.
In addition to losing the business, Baker said that losing all the friends she had made — from serving the regulars to annual summer guests to the employees she’s worked side by side with every day — will be a hard blow.
“The people here are wonderful. I couldn’t ask for a better family,” she said.
Bonnie Gonzales has worked as the bartender at the lodge through multiple owners, including under the Bakers, and she said that they are good people.
“They were wonderful to work for, so I’m bummed, the whole community is. We’ve always considered this our community center, and now we’re losing it,” she said.
Several patrons in the lodge agreed that the establishment was more than business. It was a place for people to come and socialize, and at times get access to modern amenities.
“Locals just don’t come here to eat or drink,” said regular Dana York. “A lot of people come in to take showers, do their laundry, get water to take home. I don’t know where those people will go now. They’ll have to go to Kasilof or Ninilchik, I guess.”
“This place closing will definitely have an effect,” added regular Keran Morrison. “There is no other place in Clam Gulch. This was the hub.”
Clam Gulch local Tony Vail said he has been coming into the lodge regularly for nearly 18 years, and he can’t imagine what it’ll be like not seeing the neon “open” sign glowing.
“It’ll be unusual not to come down here, to tell you the truth,” he said. “This is where all of us locals would come to hang out and catch up with
A map inside the lodge shows by the numerous pins of origin that the establishment had customers from all over the world.
each other, so I’ll probably lose track of a few neighbors. We’ve had some pretty good parties here over the years, too. In the ’90s this place would be standing room only on the weekends, and there was more than one time the owner would have to run me out of here at 5 a.m.”
Vail said he is going to remain optimistic about the future of the establishment.
“I’m hoping someone will come and buy it and open it back up,” he said. “This place has a million-dollar view, there’s good fishing and good clamming right at the doorstep, and there’s plenty of locals who would come and work here and give them business.”
