Valhalla Lodge History
Sitting comfortably at the headwaters of the world famous salmon and rainbow trout streams of Alaska’s Bristol Bay - Iliamna fisheries, Valhalla Lodge has a history woven into the hunting and fishing fabric of Alaska life.
Alaska was a U.S. Territory when the property, where Valhalla Lodge would later be built, was first purchased. The year was 1955.
The site previously belonged to an Anchorage doctor, assigned by the Bureau of Indian Affairs to provide medical services to the nearby native village of Nondalton. Under the federal headquarter site statute, the doctor was allowed to stake and receive title to five acres for business purposes.
The doctor chose a beautiful site, two miles up the lake from the village, and would be given patented title to his landclaim a few years later. Local villagers helped him build a comfortable log cabin there. The doctor was of Norwegian ancestry and had a small wooden boat for fishing. A plaque hung over the bow of the boat with the name “Valhalla” - that being the legendary paradise for Viking warriors.
In 1955, this five acre lakefront parcel was offered for sale through the estate department of an Anchorage bank. The bank president brought this parcel to the attention of pilot/guide Ward Gay, thinking that he might be interested. Indeed he was. A handshake and purchase followed. It was Ward’s foresight that brought the Valhalla property into the family.
Ward Gay first arrived in Alaska in 1935 on a steamship, steerage class. He was to become one of Alaska’s pioneer aviators, guides, and sportsmen. By 1939 Ward had earned his pilot certificate and Alaska Guide License. Over the next forty years, he built an extensive aviation business and guide service, flying throughout Alaska and hunting and fishing from the famous Alaska Peninsula, 400 miles south of Anchorage, to the rugged Wrangell Mountains to the east, and north to and above the Arctic Circle.
The 1955 campsite at Six Mile Lake proved to be an excellent purchase. Its strategic location at the headwaters of Bristol Bay's rich salmon spawning grounds, with surrounding mountains and diverse wildlife, is incomparable. Six Mile Lake and nearby Lake Iliamna are connected directly to Bristol Bay by the mighty Kvichak River. Each year millions of spawning salmon enter the myriad lake and stream systems that feed the Kvichak River, depositing their eggs and leaving rich nutrients to nourish and sustain the richest salmon and trout fishery in the world. This area has become a premier wilderness destination for sportfishing adventurers and for wildlife viewers who come to see the world-famous bears of nearby Katmai National Park.
Ward's son Kirk was just 11 years old when Ward Gay bought the property. Kirk spent the summers working there as a campboy and assistant guide, learning the trade. By the time Kirk Gay was 15, he was guiding clients, and learning to fly, with a dream of building his own sporting lodge some day.
In 1980, Kirk built his lodge at the same family "fish camp" on the shores of Six Mile Lake. All the logs and supplies for the new lodge came to the site via World War II era cargo planes that landed in the wintertime on the frozen lake. Kirk, being partly of Norwegian descent, named his new lodge "Valhalla," and the doctor's old boat plaque now graces the entryway to the lodge. Valhalla was built based on a vision; it remains a welcome refuge and chosen destination for memorable sportfishing adventures.
