Wednesday, 6 May 2015
triathlon
To complete the triathlon, on Saturday we hiked the 16-mile Stiles Creek Trail -- nice enough, but best left to the 4-wheelers. Sunday we headed to Nenana.
The ride back was pleasant -- nice weather, little traffic, some good downhills -- and my knees handled the 60 miles with surprisingly little complaint given my complete lack of training.
We feasted at Lulus, then changed clothes and got in the boat. Its the fourth time Ive done the 50-mile float to Nenana. Once I did it in 9 hours; another time, we took three days. It can be an easy float, but its big water, with whirlpools and fast current and hard eddy lines, and I approach it with cautious respect. Around 8 at night, after an afternoon of patchy rain, the wind started to howl, kicking up waves as it blew upstream. The mid-July breeze turned an otherwise relaxed float into a wilderness trip. We pulled over, added layers, made a hot dinner. We were maybe 10 miles from the highway, 20 miles from the nearest village. After an hour or two from Fairbanks, wed seen no boats.
Recharged, we tried again, and later stretches of water proved less susceptible to the wind. We followed lee shores, took side channels when they appeared. Banks I remembered from three years before were radically reshaped by erosion. Birch with green leaves still on leaned at all angles from crumbing shores. Beaver had mowed down rows of thick cottonwoods.
I was surprised, I guess, by the number of active camps. We never saw people, but did see a handful of boats tied up, wall tents, even some teepees. On a rainy night, its still a wild place. Near Nenana, it was nice to see a big smokehouse going up, and a new fish wheel in the river with its spruce poles still golden yellow.
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