day "34" (really a summary of the 3 days spent canoeing the Chena River)

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. 

day 33 - Fairbanks + High Adventure Camp

Wednesday July 5– Day 33 of trip –  Fairbanks – written by Lilly

The boys have taken the children and gone to the woods, to be with the bear, the wolf and 21 hours of daylight.

The ladies’ day off during this time has been momentarily interrupted by the other men on this trip, namely Bruce and Big Red (the vehicles people). Both vehicles have developed some “features” that need to be looked at to complete this odyssey. It is to be expected that vehicles of this age (1999 Van and 2004 Truck) would develop some ticks after putting on 4000 miles over not so smooth roads, pulling trailers. We are blessed and thankful for the safety this far…we continue to pray for the Lord to send mechanic angels to look after us the rest of the way. We will be getting the “boys” worked on over the next day.

Deanna and I were able to see the Fairbanks Farmer’s Market while Erik and Shane were outfitting everything and corralling the 5 children. Really, they put Victoria in charge and obeyed.J The Farmer’s Market was delightful! Love finding real Alaska made goodies…not things with Alaska printed on a label right next to “made in China”. Friends and family expect some real Alaskan treats.

We helped apply extra sun screen and drop off supplies, children, dads, and boats along the road way for the Chena River float. After dropping off the family, Deanna and I decided to go the rest of the way up to Chena Hot Springs Resort. Not having brought our suits, we were able to “rent” free suits….ones left behind (but cleaned!). A few minutes of digging found appropriate coverage. We enjoyed a toasty dip and lots of quiet time. The masseuse (not Sven, sadly) was booked up for the afternoon. However, baby ducks were abundant and we enjoyed the relaxation. Back in Fairbanks we found a great local restaurant to end the day with Halibut Chowder.

Baby Ducks Lilly and Deanna saw at Chena Hot Springs

The Hot Springs pool at Chena Hot Springs

Day 32 - drive to Fairbanks + rant

Tuesday July 4– Day 32 of trip – drive to Fairbanks

Drove the last 205 miles up to Fairbanks, which is Alaska’s 2^nd largest town by population at about 200k folks.  Saw two moose on the way in, and really expected to see more. Fairbanks is our northernmost destination, and ironically, the only place that we’ve run the camper AC since leaving TX. 

One observation on travel corridors up here, is that in addition to the two lane blacktops connecting each road, there will be a pair of 4 wheeler tracks on the side of the road…… ON BOTH SIDES of the road. Apparently, taking your 4 wheeler or dirt bike to town is so common that they need to have dedicated lanes to allow for efficient travel in each direction. Alas, it works.  I saw several 4 wheelers and one dude on a dirt bike utilizing these trails today, and was again, jealous of the locals.  Riding a KTM 450 to the office would be just fine by me. J

In short order, Erik and Shane went to “scout” the Chena River, which runs right behind Riverview Campground, which is where we’re staying. 

This river is the planned location for our “High Adventure” trip with the kids, and everyone (save the mothers, who…… ironically aren’t going) has been very much looking forward to it. Kids have been speculating and planning for months, and us dads have been looking forward to it too.  So the truth is, to me this High Adventure event is absolutely what this larger (AK) trip is about. Getting out of your comfort zone, entering into some measured volume of “unknown” and dealing with it, whatever “it” is. Cause you know what life is?  Life is one big assed High Adventure trip of unknown duration.  You never know when aunt Lulu is going to die, or when you’re going to blow out a knee playing football, or you lose your job, or have a flat tire, or your spreadsheet will crash, or you don’t have food in the pantry for dinner, or whatever. The key here is, Stuff (life) Happens, and you have to respond. You need to be somewhat prepared for the array of possibilities, and when something goes wrong, you have to deal with it. If at all possible, you ought to try and make it a good time when it does. Well, Erik and I are both big believers in “High Adventure”.  As kids, we were both given more responsibility than we probably should have been, and to a large extent, I believe that’s what’s made us think we could go on this AK journey. Sane people don’t do this. Smart people don’t do this. Just those wacko “High Adventure” types. Well…. Sign me up, Jack, cause I don’t want my headstone to read “here lies Shane… a man of no surprises”.  One item to be clear on, though, is that we planned, prepared, budgeted and didn’t attack until we believed we could make it happen with success. We didn’t decide to go in April.  We decided to go in 2009.  We just didn’t leave til 8 years later….      

Rant over, or at least suspended……..

Back to the Chena….. The river flows at a medium pace, with good, but not over the top flow.  Doesn’t look dangerous, doesn’t look boring, either. The river runs (mostly) along a stretch of highway, so it’s easy to get back to civilization, should something unexpected (ie swamping….. take place).  We have two canoes and one “portaboat” (check this out on youtube or google “port-a-boat”…… it’s a boat that folds down into about 4” of space) to carry the 7 of us.  That puts Shane, Amanda, and Travis in one canoe, Erik and Luke in the portaboat, and Matt and Victoria in the other canoe.

As a real bonus, we discovered that there is a “hot springs” type location just about 6 miles up the road from the dropoff point, so once Deanna and Lilly see us off, they can go up the road a bit and get a massage from a guy named Sven in his Alaska-Tarzan outfit.

Back at camp, an extended planning session was held to figure out a meal plan, packing list, review of expectations, etc. Comical to hear some of the questions from newbie canoers…… “What about showers?  What about charging the Ipad?”, etc.  Hah!!

While the men planned the river rafting trip, the ladies and Luke headed to “North Pole, AK”, which is just down the road to a place called “Santa Claus House”.  Among other things to see there, was a sign board with local weather info.  The record high, ever, on July 4^th in North Pole, was 90 degrees.  Today the sun came up at 3:21am and went down at 12:29am. That’s right, 21 hours and 8 minutes for length of day. How ‘bout THEM apples?  Less than 3 hours of darkness.  And really, it feels like less.  Ironically, I brought half a dozen flashlights, and two “light ropes” to help keep the campsite illuminated at night. Indeed, I suspect if my campsite neighbors saw me setting up those light ropes and plugging them in, I’d be tarred and feathered before Matlock got wrapped up. J

day 31 - drive to Tok

Monday July 3– Day 31 of trip – drive to Tok + two border crossings

                Written by Travis (the son)

Today we drove to Tok.  I know I was super lucky and got the exciting day.  We left at 7 am.  We drove to the first border crossing.  It was about 50 miles up the road.  We pulled up, and a Canadian border patrol lady walked up to us.  She basically said say no to the following questions.  After less than 5 minutes we were off.  A new record time for border crossings (Our previous border crossings took us-2hrs, 30min, 5min).  The 2hrs was from 2 years ago.  My silence was appreciated.  I had learned from “BEAR SPRAY AND FIREWORKS, DAD!” We first crossed into BC.  Then we drove into the Yukon Territory (where my dad peed).   The drive was boring except for every 5-10 miles my dad would say “This area screams bear country” for about 250 miles of the trip.  But we did see one bear.  He was a black bear that was colored brown.  I know the name and color switched is weird.  The roads were horrible.  Ups and downs.  The road was very bendy.  The permafrost (frozen dirt) would melt in some places so the road would sink. Then we crossed back to ‘Mercia.  The crossing process was the same.  When we got to Tok we went to 3 Bears (Alaskan grocery store) that my dad shipped his guns to.  There he found stretchy woman’s pants he got for mom.  Once we got to our campsite, we cooked dinner for us and the Monsons. Their ferry came in at 11:00 am, so we were 4 hours ahead of them and had plenty of time to cook dinner for them.

After leaving Haines, we traveled to the Yukon Territory- a new province for us all!

A bear we saw on our drive to Tok

day 30 - Haines

Sunday July 2– Day 30 of trip –Haines

Cooked bacon, eggs and toast for breakfast. Eggsalent. J

Travis and I headed to the harbor today and fished right off the pier on the advice of a local camper named Joe from Missouri.  Cause….. the best Alaska fishing advice comes from Missourians, right?  J

It worked!  Travis was on fish immediately, catching our first of our limit of Dolly Varden (8 total).  Joe says they are delicious. Of course, I didn’t have a camera with me, so no pictures, but they were a ton of fun to catch, and we didn’t have to stand in the water for hours on end like all the salmon fishing we’ve been doing.  This was welcomed by both of us!  AK water is as cold as you'd suspect it might be.

Travis fishing on the docks in Haines

Once all fish were filleted and lunch eaten, we headed up AK highway 7 for some sightseeing. We made it to Mosquito Lake, which I’d actually heard of back in TX.  The “lake” is only about 3 acres, but it's beautiful. Unfortunately, it was appropriately named, and I got eaten up trying to catch a cutthroat trout. 

After that, we headed south to Chilkat State Park, just southeast of Haines.  It has a fantastic bay view, which also includes two glaciers and associated waterfalls.  Deanna got great pictures of these, to no one's surprise….

Glacier in Chilkat State Park

Glacier at Chilkat State Park

Grilled pork chops for dinner. Tomorrow we make a long drive, including two border crossings on the way up to the “big” piece of Alaska. No doubt, Travis will confess to additional crimes at Canadian Customs….

Erik and family stayed another two nights in Juneau and will be arriving by ferry in the morning. They went fishing today in the bay where I caught that pink salmon two nights ago, using the portaboat and canoe for better access.  Erik reported (via text) that Matt caught a big salmon, and they also caught a couple more flounder.

All these saltwater fish are completely spoiling me on the catfish we catch and eat back home.  We’re eating fish for dinner every other night and have way more in inventory than we need, despite having shipped 52# home already!  

day 29 - ferry to Haines

Saturday July 1– Day 29 of trip – ferry from Juneau to Haines (also midpoint in our 57 day trip)

Woke early for the 8am ferry to Haines. Check in was at 6a, so we got there at 5:30, requiring a 4:45 rollout by the family, which was not entirely welcomed by anyone whose name didn’t rhyme with Pain.

The “Fairweather” ferry boat today wasn’t near as swanky as the Metanuska we’d ridden before, but it got the job done. I had clam chowder for breakfast, just cause it was an option.  

My transmission problem (poor shifts between first and second) hasn’t gotten any better, so I started troubleshooting it in Haines.  Unfortunately, Haines is a town of about 1300 residents, so not the ideal place to work on a transmission…. I headed to the local car parts shop and bought some tools to adjust the front band on the tranny.  Travis helped me and while it “appears” better, I won’t know for sure til we make the haul up to Tok on the 3^rd.  (fingers crossed)

After that, we headed up to Chilkoot River/Lake and Lutak Inlet, where we’d been told to fish for Dolly Varden and salmon.  Whole family went so Deanna could sightsee.  The wind was up and the tide was coming in. The hike into the fishing area took us past 7 (we counted) piles of bear poop, but fortunately, we never met the poop piles owners. J  Unfortunately, we didn’t get any bites, either. Saw more bald eagles, of course, and finally headed home for a dinner of pan fried halibut, which is just fantastic.  All you really need to do is heat some oil, sprinkle on some Tony Chacheres on those fillets and fry for a couple minutes. The meat tastes like, and has the texture of scallops.  Fantabulous. Very little leftovers, and we cooked a bunch of it. 

Also, for those of you keeping score at home…. 18 years is the max life expectancy you should hope for on 5mm neoprene waders sold at Bass Pro Shops under the Redhead name.  Way back when…. Art Hughes talked me into taking up fly fishing.  On that day, in the spring of 1999 he (lied and) convinced me that fly fishing was the best thing ever.  He took me to BPS and coached me through the dropping of $300 on misc gear, virtually none of which is any use other than fly fishing.  One rare item breaking that rule was the neoprene waders, that I have, a few times since, taken duck hunting (another form of outdoors misery).  On those occasional uses, the stitching at the seams would allow a few drops of water through. No longer is that true….. at this stage, my waders are merely a filter, keeping large particulate out, but providing a steady flow of water into said waders.  No surprise, peak flow is achieved in the very last place you’d like to have it…. “the netherparts”, as Shon would call it. You really have to love eating salmon to have your netherparts bathed continuously in 33F water for hours on end. Alas, I’ll do it all again in a few days.  

Day 28 of trip – Juneau

Friday June 30– Day 28 of trip – Juneau

The ladies and Luke enjoyed a leisurely start to the day in camp.  Late in the morning they went to a local thrift store in search of treasures and then went to town to ride the Mt. Roberts Tramway.  This is an aerial tramway that rises 1800ft from the docks below, and it provides some amazing views of Juneau and the Gastineau Channel.  Once off the tramway they visited the Nature Center and saw Lady Baltimore (a bald eagle that was found by a hiker after being shot, and her injuries prevent her from going back into the wild, so she serves as an educational bird on site).  They also watched a film on Tlingit history and then enjoyed a live performance by the Alaska String Band. (They are an amazing family band who are from Juneau.) After this they took a short hike to Father Brown’s Cross before riding back down to town in the tramway.  The weather was overcast, and it sprinkled intermittently, but the views were still beautiful.  After coming back into town, they visited a few more shops before driving back to camp.

Lady Baltimore

Father Brown's Cross

Four cruise ships at dock- on July 4th they'll have their limit of 7

Men woke early and headed to the Auke Bay Harbor to try and catch herring (baitfish). After about an hour of walking the boat stalls looking for schools of herring (which are normally stupid-easy to find), I asked a grizzled old man where the herring were and he told us that a pod of 5 whales had come into the harbor about a week ago, and spent 5 days cleaning up all the baitfish.  To make matters worse, a ship had been set afire last weekend and burned up in the harbor, eventually sinking and creating a bit of a hazmat issue. All in all, not good for baitfish. So, we headed to the DIPAC fishery on the bay. 

DIPAC is the Douglas Island Pink and Chum fish hatchery and pier.  We fished there for a couple hours, and missed a couple fish. A local caught a “dog” or “chum” salmon that was fairly dark (meat turns white and doesn’t taste as good) and gave it to us.  Eventually, we got cold enough to leave so we headed to the local sporting goods store for advice, tackle, and to warm up a bit. 

Following the sporting goods store, we headed out to Douglas Island to fish a spot called “fish creek pond” but didn’t get bit there either. Did see lots of eagles up close, feeding on salmon other folks had cleaned earlier in the day.

Then we headed to a spot Erik had identified two days prior. It’s called Lana Beach, and had really good access.  The salmon were in there fairly thick but a decent ways off shore.  Erik and I changed into our waders and got as deep as we could and casted as far as our reels would allow. In short order, I hooked about an 8# pink salmon (the stuff you get in cans).  Travis helped me net it!   We fished for about an hour longer, and hooked at least 1 more fish, but didn’t get any more in the net.  The tide was quickly on the rise, and actually swamped Erik’s “fishing box”, which is a milk jug crate with all his gear attached to it. 

We later heard that a black bear entered the Cracker Barrel in Juneau (during business hours) today. It was run out of the store by an employee waiving their hands and yelling at the bear.  This doesn't happen back home.