Inclement Weather

Day 5

The sun greeted us with a forceful handshake on the morning of the 5^th day. We were all so happy to see it and knew we were getting a treat.

We got on the river continuing to be cautious in the white water and sharp turns. We felt better about our packrafting skills after the day before, even with incident. We quickly covered miles in the swift moving and low water. Finally channels were starting to get deeper for the most part, but many still contained pesky strainers and sweepers.

It was challenging and fun and the sun made everything more enjoyable. Parts of the river were even calm enough we could float together.

The ever changing scenery was gorgeous and the day was glorious.

We floated in good spirits. We had to stop to look for a cabin that we could not find. We searched all over the woods to no avail. After an hour of searching we gave up and floated downriver until we found a lovely gravel bar to sleep on. We set up camp and enjoyed dinner in the sun. We had a productive day with river miles and were ready for bed.

Beautiful day photos!

Day 6

The sun had become shy overnight and found some cloud cover. We got our boats on the river and let the turquoise waters take us along a bluff. I stared up in awe and wondered what nice view awaited the adventurer that went to the top.

Even 40 miles from the headwaters, water channels were still shallow in places. Another narrow channel lead to another packraft flipping. As B popped out of her raft and reached the surface, a loud gasp triggered panic in me. We were able to get B out of the water quickly and get her things to shore. Her paddle was rescued just a bit down river and her water bottle was later rescued. Nothing was lost, and all were okay.

Though without the sun, we would need to worry about B getting cold. I told her to let me know if she felt that way so we could get warm and change. Not much further down the river we stopped to look for a cabin. This one we were actually able to find!

The cabin roof had collapsed in, but at one point it seemed like it would have been a nice place to stay. We took a new GPS coordinate, pictures, and wrote notes about the state of things. Back at our boats we ate a quick lunch, but opted to keep moving so B could stay warm.

Floating further we started to encounter resistance. The wind picked up ferociously. Forward momentum became difficult, even more so than on the Kobuk. In a one man inflatable boat that sat low to the water, I moved forward inch by inch paddling with all my might.

We had to keep going though. There was nowhere to stop and camp where we were. At the first gravel bar I saw I pulled over. I at least needed a break. I pulled my boat up onto the shore and waiting for my counterparts. I looked downriver and saw rain clouds. Maybe we should stop for the evening, I thought. The gravel bar just a bit further downriver looked large enough to keep us safe. Only problem was the decent sized river that flowed between us and it.

Yellow-brown silty water flowed turbulently from the tributary into the Alatna. The mix of the turquoise blue of the Alatna and the yellow-brown silt from the tributary was striking. I decided we were not crossing this tributary. I could not see the bottom because of the silt so I figured the safest way to the gravel bar was to float just 10 more feet. We all got back in our boats and floated to our gravel bar home for the evening.

We pulled our boats on shore and looked for a suitable camping site that was high off the river. Luckily the gravel bar was already quiet high off the river, but if rain was coming in, being as high and far from the river was the best option. We set up our tents as it started to rain.

And then it rained harder. Everything was getting soaked as we finished setting up our tents and throwing things under cover.

We changed into warm, dry clothes and waited for the rain to maybe ease up so we could eat dinner. Not much later we got lucky. I decided to go make dinner as the rain eased up. It was my turn so I got to work as the others lay in their tents, promising to come out for dinner.

I sat on the gravel bar and made dinner. We ate quickly, but the rain came back in. Quickly, we packed up dinner and went back to our tents.

B called my name solemnly as I approached the tent. Oh no, I thought. What could it be? I got in the tent to stay dry. B looked apologetic as we handed me the sat phone. The Alatna was present behind the screen and the phone was soaked from her earlier flip.

A slew of inappropriate words came out of my mouth before I took a deep breath. We tried to get the water out, dry it off, and tried every extra battery we had. But it would not turn on. Our evening check in was not going to happen.

It continued to rain. We turned on our air-to-ground radio for the night, but I knew foul weather would not let anyone to fly to check in on us. I stayed half awake all night listening, but there was nothing but rain and radio silence.