Here is a slideshow of my snapshots from the ghost town Aleutian Navy base on Adak. Read about the trip here. And about Adak’s pet cemetery here.
Flying in.
Adak.
“Birthplace of the winds”
Quiet cul-de-sacs in the empty subdivisions.
Abandoned houses like this just sit open.
And lonely playgrounds.
Everything here seems to be slowly blowing away
Ann Stevens Elementary. Now closed.
But there were Adakian chickens. (That’s the arm of a Navy-issue office chair in their yard.)
Home of the $20 six pack.
McDonalds. Get you Jurassic Park novelty cup.
Can I buy a vowel? Old community center.
The Blue Bird Cafe, one of two restaurants on the island.
Making donuts at the Blue Bird Cafe
Partner in crime, photographer Nathaniel Wilder.
Beachcombing.
Things you find on the beach in Adak.
Closest I got to one of the island’s 3000 caribou.
Snooped around in here.
Super spy computer. (Yesterday’s MacBook)
Here’s the inside of the old Kulluk Bowl.
Pretty sure no one has worn these bowling shoes since the mid-1990s
Sunbathing. (It hailed two minutes after this.)
The view.
So many broken windows.
So many stunning views through broken windows
1975 called. It’s for you.
The post office.
Nathaniel shooting on a pile of old playground parts
I’m obsessed with old playground equipment
I can’t get enough junk.
Bering Sea Chapel. Historic. Blowing away.
Hymnal in the Bering Sea Chapel
Brett, fisherman, knot expert.
Our friend Elaine, Jill of All Trades.
Our chariot, Elaine’s van. All the doors have this kind of damage from being caught by the wind.
Elaine’s gun collection is pretty sweet.
Broken window view, #2
Selfie in one of a thousand empty single men’s dorm rooms
On the floor, blowing down the halls, old documents. #Dot Matrix
Found this wall painting inside an old recreation center
Long windy hall in an old barracks
Surplus Brillo is everywhere.
The pharmacy aisle. Adak store.
Inside a fall-out shelter
Fall-out john.
Finger Bay.
Net for snaring enemy submarines. On the beach at Finger Bay.
Wind, grass. Aleutians.
Sunset.
Adak.
Bonus spooky video inside an old barracks: [wpvideo OdK653eH]
5 thoughts on “See Alaska: Adak in iPhone snaps”
Interesting place. My aunt was the judge in Unalaska for years and got too go too adak for work… It was too marry military folks.. Married housing was better then singles housing… Then she’d “divorce” them if they were going too be stationed elsewhere… Stuff that was kept under wraps…
Doug, who lives in town (or at least used to), kept the bowling alley open at odd hours at least until 2007, when I bowled a few frames. If the machine didn’t work, he’d trot down there and set the pins himself.
This was awesome (and so sad) to look through. I was stationed there from 1/88 to 6/92. The shot of the old video game totally shocked me!! Although I was full time Navy as an Avionics Technician working in AIMD, I worked part time for the Navy Exchange System maintaining all of the video games and jukeboxes on the island. When I started that job all they had were OLD games such as Pac Man, Ms. Pac Man, Asteroids, Centipede, etc… I finally convinced them to let me spend some money and get some new games on the island. One of the first new games I ordered was the one in your picture!! And the Forest.. Holy Crap!! The trees have actually grown!! LOL.. Thanks again!!
We were stationed there 1990-1994. My wife worked at PSD and I was at PW both NAS and NSGA. This was out best tour ever, and we would probably still be there if the Navy had not pulled up anchor. These pictures sadden me, but i thank you anyway for making them available.
We lived on Adak from 1979-1983 when hubby was in the Navy. Your pictures make me miss being a newlywed on this remote Alaskan island. So many memories there. The loneliness, the friendships, the strangeness of living so far away from the “real” world, making the best of things. Life there was good and we were well taken care of by the Navy. Great times.
The weather was gloomy 98% of the time. Rain and strong winds constantly.When the sun came out in the summer is was like being in a Hawaiian rain forest, so lush and green with beautiful purple and yellow flowers.
I can’t go back – in time or to see how it is a ghost town now. I don’t want to remember it that way. Great photos and thank you for capturing Adak through your lens and self.
Interesting place. My aunt was the judge in Unalaska for years and got too go too adak for work… It was too marry military folks.. Married housing was better then singles housing… Then she’d “divorce” them if they were going too be stationed elsewhere… Stuff that was kept under wraps…
Doug, who lives in town (or at least used to), kept the bowling alley open at odd hours at least until 2007, when I bowled a few frames. If the machine didn’t work, he’d trot down there and set the pins himself.
This was awesome (and so sad) to look through. I was stationed there from 1/88 to 6/92. The shot of the old video game totally shocked me!! Although I was full time Navy as an Avionics Technician working in AIMD, I worked part time for the Navy Exchange System maintaining all of the video games and jukeboxes on the island. When I started that job all they had were OLD games such as Pac Man, Ms. Pac Man, Asteroids, Centipede, etc… I finally convinced them to let me spend some money and get some new games on the island. One of the first new games I ordered was the one in your picture!! And the Forest.. Holy Crap!! The trees have actually grown!! LOL.. Thanks again!!
We were stationed there 1990-1994. My wife worked at PSD and I was at PW both NAS and NSGA. This was out best tour ever, and we would probably still be there if the Navy had not pulled up anchor. These pictures sadden me, but i thank you anyway for making them available.
We lived on Adak from 1979-1983 when hubby was in the Navy. Your pictures make me miss being a newlywed on this remote Alaskan island. So many memories there. The loneliness, the friendships, the strangeness of living so far away from the “real” world, making the best of things. Life there was good and we were well taken care of by the Navy. Great times.
The weather was gloomy 98% of the time. Rain and strong winds constantly.When the sun came out in the summer is was like being in a Hawaiian rain forest, so lush and green with beautiful purple and yellow flowers.
I can’t go back – in time or to see how it is a ghost town now. I don’t want to remember it that way. Great photos and thank you for capturing Adak through your lens and self.