We rafted the Chulitna River for 4 days/5 nights with Talkeetna friends. We put in near Broad Pass on the clear waters of the East Fork just after noon on Sunday. Later in the afternoon we stopped briefly at the confluence of the Middle Fork for the fly fishermen to try their lines. Several of us bathed in the pool in front of our first camp site and dried quickly in the warm morning sun on Monday. Not far downstream the silty waters of the West Fork joined the East Fork. We camped at the mouth of Ohio Creek on Monday night. Despite much eating and imbibing that evening, the rafts left heavier the next day with buckets full of colorful rocks. On Tuesday afternoon we ate lunch at a gravel bar and swam in a clear water pool fed by small streams off the hillside. We dubbed the day the hottest of the summer.
We woke to light rain on Wednesday morning and darkening skies. We had camped just above the Fountain River and planned to explore by foot for a while before breaking camp. But the arrival of rain prompted us to break camp and leave quickly, perhaps too quickly as most of us hadn't gaged how cool and wet the day would be. We were a cold bunch as we rafted into a head wind and driving rain. The rain had lessened when we pulled over near the Coffee River and set up a tarp over the kitchen area and a large screened tent. We had called Wednesday the wettest day of the summer because the rain didn't stop after we left camp, but Thursday would prove to be wetter. Thankfully the wind lessened and with the previous day's lesson, we were better prepared. Half the party took out at the bridge near mile 135 of the Parks Highway where a truck had been left at the Princess Lodge. The rest of us continued to float to Talkeetna, where the rain was light and the air warmer.
No comments:
Post a Comment