Imagine a beautiful log lodge with 5 star accommodations, hot tub, massage room, standing rack of lamb for dinner and a fleet of meticulously maintained float planes standing by to fly you and your group to a different river system each morning - where only the very best is good enough for their guests and money is no object..

If this is the kind of Alaskan adventure you are looking for, check out Dan Michels' Crystal Creek Lodge (www.crystalcreeklodge.com). I have stayed with Dan several times over the years and have always come away from the experience completely impressed.

A week at Crystal Creek will cost anywhere from $4600 to stay and fish the Naknek River for the week, or about $7000 for the full blown fly out package, but I guarantee you that it will be the trip of a lifetime.

Here at Naknek River Camp, we took a little different direction - we decided that Alaska needed an affordable choice. We offer a beautiful riverfront camp featuring 7 comfortable cabins located within Katmai National Park, just 7 or 8 miles upriver from Crystal Creek, also on the world famous Naknek River. We have quick access to both the Naknek River and also the 40 mile long Naknek Lake.

We have a large deep-V welded aluminum power boat with a fast 4-stroke outboard to access the many great rivers that feed into Naknek Lake, including the Brooks River, where many of the famous brown bear photos have been taken.

Of course, no other lodge at any price can say that they have the world famous upper Naknek River right out of their front door. We are just a couple of long casts away from some of the best rainbow fishing available anywhere in the world.

You will have to give up a few luxuries, of course, but we do our best to make our guests comfortable. We hope that when you leave, you will feel like you have spent a week with family. My wife Phyllis and my daughter Tana will do their best to keep you stuffed full of the best foods wild Alaska has to offer, like wild salmon and halibut, mixed in with a few favorites from our dinner table in Michigan like smothered pork chops and Dijon chicken. Breakfast will be full of hearty foods like scrambled eggs, pancakes, sausage and bacon. You won't have to give up hot showers or running water, and you'll even be able to charge your camera batteries in your cabin. No Masseuse on staff, but I might be able to get one of my kids to walk on your back.

We have over 20 years of experience hosting fly fisherman on the Pere Marquette River in Michigan, so we understand what it takes to put together a great fishing trip and we guarantee that we will make sure that your trip to Alaska will be a cherished memory.

But once in a lifetime? At the very small prices that we are charging, we think you might very well want to make this trip every year!