Twin Hills is a Yup’ik village on the left bank of the Togiak River at the head of Togiak Bay, about 130 miles (209 km) south-east of Bethel and 64 miles (103 km) west of Dillingham, Alaska. In 1880 Ivan Petrof recorded two villages about seven miles (11 km) apart at the head of Togiak Bay: Togiagamute on the eastern shore and Togiak Station on the western shore. Togiak Station was the site of an important trading post operated by Johnny Owens, a local trader and prospector. Togiagamute was abandoned when most residents moved to Togiak Station; the village site now houses Togiak Fisheries, operated by North Pacific Seafoods. Togiak Bay is known for extremely high tidal surges created by intensive storms in the Bering Sea, which can flood the low-lying wetlands with up to 12 feet (3.7 m) of water. In 1965 families from Togiak established Twin Hills to avoid recurring floods.

The Togiak River drains a watershed of 1,279,512 acres (517,800 ha) and flows 58 miles (93 km) generally south-southwest through the Togiak National Wildlife Refuge to Bristol Bay. The watershed is bounded by the Wood River Mountains to the east and the Ahklun Mountains to the west, and consists of several major tributaries including the Gechiak, Pungokepuk, Nayorurun, Kemuk and Ongivinuk rivers, plus nine lakes within the refuge wilderness boundary. The watershed provides spawning habitat for Chinook salmon, which support sport, commercial and subsistence fisheries and are considered an important cultural resource for the Yup’ik people. Chinook salmon abundance has been below average and steadily declining across Alaska since 2007, resulting in management restrictions on harvest across all fishing groups to protect river escapements.

In the 1980s a severe storm with high winds flooded the coastal wetlands at the mouth of the Togiak River and drove a second-world-war-era navy ship far into the floodplain. When the waters receded, the ship became grounded in the Togiak National Wildlife Refuge and was abandoned. It was originally built for the navy in 1945 by Commercial Iron Works in Portland, Oregon, as LSSL-108 and used in the Pacific theater to support amphibious landings. The vessel has a flat bottom and skegs on either side of twin propellers that allowed the ships to beach safely. Surviving ships returned to America after the war; some were restored for the Korean War. In 1952 LSSL-108 was transferred to the Republic of Korea Navy and renamed Kang Hwa Man. In the 1970s it was purchased, brought to Seattle, converted to a fishing vessel named Gull, then bought by Togiak Fisheries as a freezer ship. Read more here and here. Explore more of Twin Hills and Togiak Bay here: