Friday -July 7- day 34 – Fairbanks, High Adventure completed
– written by Victoria
The first day on the Chena River (Wed), we pre-prepared by
setting camp up about 16 miles down river from our starting point. This kept
our boats light as most of our junk was already down river. The boat occupants
were as follows: aluminum canoe- Shane, Amanda, Travis; red canoe- Matthew and
myself; fold-a-boat- Erik and Luke.
We began at 2 pm, ambitiously believing we could cover
sixteen miles of river by 8:00 that night. Things started off as expected,
lots of strainers (fallen trees overhanging the river waiting to knock you from
the boat) and a few log jams that were located on the sides and avoidable.
Animal sightings were numerous, though not always correctly identified (the
"otters" Matt and I saw were in fact beavers). As always on this
trip, there was fishing and a few grayling were caught- none more hilarious
than when Shane's catch released itself from his hand while on camera.
Unfortunately, the rivers tranquility did not last. A sharp
corner with rocks proved fatal to one of the fold-a-boats oars (the fold-a-boat
is an origami row boat handled awkwardly by the inexperienced canoer). The oar
lost half its blade and had to be replaced by a shorter spare canoe oar,
slowing Erik's progress and maneuverability for the rest of the trip. The days
incidents did not end here. For reasons unknown, Matthew and I had the lead of
our little boat train when we came up on a log jam sitting right in the center
of the river. Inexperienced as we are, we were more concerned with whether our
preset camp was to the right fork or left than to the approaching doom of the
jam. We hit the log jam sideways, and the current immediately began trying to
sweep us beneath the logs. Surprisingly, panic did not immediately set in. True
to our natures, Matthew and I both took action, but in completely different
ways. Matthew, seeing that the canoe was rapidly going places he did not want
to be, grabbed his paddle and his fishing pole and climbed out of the canoe onto the logs. I attempted to save the canoe. This was a mistake. The exact order
of events is blurry, but in one moment I was trying to shift the canoe-paddle
in hand, and in the next, I was clinging to a log, missing the paddle, both
shoes, and the canoe. Once seated on the log, I could see the canoe. It was
upside down, about a foot underwater, beneath two logs. It should be mentioned
that our canoe was carrying the bag filled with everyone's dry change of clothes
and rain gear (well I say dry...). Erik and Shane reached us by that point, my
dad having dragged the fold-a-boat out of the jam and Shane having smartly
beached his canoe further upstream. We were guided back across the logs to the
beach where we waited with Amanda and Travis while the fathers tried to un-sink
the canoe. They were eventually successful, and we continued on with our trip,
this time with Shane taking the lead. One of my shoes resurfaced with the
canoe, and I wore it comically for a short while. My paddle and other shoe were
hence forth referred to as "flung" in reference to the book "A Walk In The
Woods".
For the remainder of the trip Matthew used the broken
fold-a-boat oar, and I used the paddle he saved (thanks brother). The rest of
the day was cold and longer than expected. The Chena River is winding, much
more winding than anticipated (the river straightens out here....oh wait,
that's just a topographical line on the map). At 11:20 pm, we reached the
preset camp- it is still light outside and would remain so for the trip's
entirety- it quite literally never got dark or even dim. A clothes line and
fire were created to dry the wet clothing and ourselves, and dinner was made
(though eaten without the necessary utensils, thanks to my packing). After
breakfast, camp was broken, and all the supplies were distributed. Strict
instructions were given concerning log jams: if seen, beach, and we were off on
another 16 mile stretch.
The second day was far less eventful on the river. We saw
more wildlife- beavers, birds, a moose, and a swimming squirrel. The Chena River wound increasingly tightly as we continued and began to level out,
meaning we lost the current and had to paddle more frequently. We passed the
Chena dam around 7:30 pm (passed right under it as the dam was open) and had
gone 12 miles by crow. The decision was made that we would paddle until 8 and
then find a beach to camp on. The paddling was monotonous to the point that
Matthew and I began counting how many strokes of the paddle we could do without
touching the boats sides- 150 for me, 76 for Matt.
Around eight, we came into the Chena Recreational Area and
found a suitable sandy beach. Everyone set to work making camp. To begin
preparing dinner, I screwed a small propane bottle onto our jet-boil (tiny
propane stove) and went to light it. I am not sure what went wrong. Perhaps the
stove wasn't screwed on right, or maybe the valve was open to far, but when it
lit, it lit. A small ball of fire began- on top of the plastic canoe I might
add, because that was the only available table. My father yelled for me to get
it off the (already sold) canoe, and then to clear away from it as he was
afraid I had made a small bomb. I had not, and throwing it in the sand was
sufficient to snuff out the flames. Dinner was eventually made, and we enjoyed
a dry warm camp.
The next morning, a map was consulted and it was decided
that no one was interested in paddling for ten more hours to our intended pick
up point. The mothers were called and we set pick up for the recreation area
just upriver. The rest of the morning (once the boats were dragged upstream)
was spent swimming, making flower crowns, and throwing sand balls at each
other. All in all, it was an excellent high adventure with just enough misery
to make it memorable.
Shane later used Google Earth to map out the ACTUAL miles by
canoe, not as the crow flies….. turns out our “16” miles done on the first day
was closer to 36. Second day “12” miles
was 30. So, 66 miles of canoeing in two days.
 |
| The winding Chena River |
By Travis’ request, we all went out for a Chinese buffet in
town at “AK Buffet”. It was devoured
with intensity. All kids were in a war to see who could consume the most plates
of food. Most of us ran out of belly capacity at 3 plates worth, but then put
down #4 in the name of competition, followed by a run at the hard ice cream
bar. Several folks tried frog legs for
the first time. Shane, meanwhile
experimented with a dish called “Iceland Snail”. Surprisingly, no one hurled in the hours
following.
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