7-5-2020 Gulkana River

Today is the day, hopefully all the gear will fit in Jamie’s truck. There’s always an excitement getting the trip started, thinking about what we might have forgotten and reviewing the food plan in my mind because there are many moving parts to this trip from the guy’s getting here from the “Lower-48” to making sure we all have the right fishing gear. It’s sunny today and the views from the Glenn Highway are spectacular. The Matanuska Glacier is a sparkling wedge of ice sitting up against the mountain side. I have made arrangements for Becca from New Skies Rafting to be our shuttle driver and we would meet her after lunch at the Sourdough Camp ground. So we stopped in Glennallen Alaska to have lunch at The Caribou Grill, it was busy as it is one of the only full service restaurants in the area, the food was good and filling. We roll in to Sourdough Campground and assess the river while we wait for Becca to show up. The Sourdough Camp ground is also busy as it is a place to put in for power boats and a place to take out if you are in a raft. Becca shows up and we all squeeze in the the truck for the 28 mile drive up to Paxson Lake where we will unload and have Becca to drive Jamie’s truck back to Sourdough Campground where (5 days later) after the float we will get out. We arrive at Paxson Lake Campground and start the unloading process hoping the rafts will take the load plus us down the lake to the Outlet of the Gulkana River. Its been blustery and raining off and on just to make things a little more difficult. The last time we did this we had a giant Cataraft that was easy to maneuver, this time we have two much smaller rafts and not so easy to maneuver. The wind is not in our favor and the 4 miles we have to paddle is earned with every stroke. We see small power boats going up and down to the outlet of the lake, our hopes were to flag one down and hitch a ride, no such luck. The scenery of course is still beautiful but, because of how long its taking us to get to the Gulkana River I’m some what concerned about how far down the river we can get before setting up camp. There are a number of campers ahead of us and of course they will get the best spots. The river is high and the boulders are hard to miss, we feel like we are in a pinball machine. After paddling down the lake I’m exhausted but no time to give up now. We pull the raft to shore with rushing water every where, I step out to steady the raft but found the river was to strong and down I go. We all have chest waders on that can become a sea anchor when filled and my filled in seconds. The water was numbing and I could see my fate with no rescue involved, then out of now where Jamie grabs the back of my collar and saves my ass. Jamie is a retired Airborne Ranger and has been in many situations where decisions have to made quickly, this time was no different, thank you Jamie! During this emergency effort the raft breaks lose and heads down the river with Jamie & Kenny, I’m still in recovery standing on the bank of the river, you can not walk down this river so in to the bush’s I go finding bear trails that meander down the river to where I can reunite again with the raft. We need to get down farther before we camp so the last day on the river won’t be hurried. I remember a great camping spot from 15 years ago and hope we can get there in time. Well, we make it but another camper has secured the site, there is an island across from it that we take for the night.