Up The River, June 23/24

We headed down to the ranger office early for a working trip up the Stikine. Bob planned a quick touch up of the cabins located along the main branch of the river. These cabins all fall within the Stikine/LaConte wilderness area so the use of power tools is prohibited, even for USFS work crews. All of the work is done with hand tools- trees are cut with long bladed cross-cut saws, screws are driven with hand held screw drivers, and brush is cut with the old swing blade grass cutters.

We left at low tide thinking that the sandbars would be visible and that the main channel would be easier to find.
In addition, it was a minus 4ft low tide, a very low water level. So low, in fact, that we loaded the 20ft Boston Whaler at the city dock with a crane as the gangway that leads to the USFS slip was too steep to carry our heavy gear down safely.

In addition to leaving during low tide, Bob was using a GPS to navigate the flats. It was amazing too see the sandbars that Jack and I had been pulling our canoe over just days before now standing so high above the water line.

It was a beautiful sunny day with a light breeze and we were flying along over the smooth water when the entire boat smashed into the first sandbar. It was quite an impact and the engine made a horrible sound as it threw sand, mud, and water into the air. Even though we were following a GPS route that had been set by another crew boat the day prior, the Stikine had moved enough material to change the course of the main channel overnight.

Being unable to move heavy boat from the sand, we were forced to wait for the tide to return.

After about two hours, we were able to push the boat from the bar and continue on our way. Jack and I had been warned about the bugs before leaving but I've never seen mosquito swarms like this. Though "sky darkening" would be an overstatement, "biblical proportions" would not. Jack and I volunteered to man the swing blades and to cut brush from the trails around each cabin. It was a very warm day so we both wore short sleeve shirts - a mistake that we would did not repeat later in the day. Even though we covered ourselves in Deep Woods OFF!, I managed to accumulate a record breaking number of bites. Jack was much less prized by the blood sucking swarm and was bitten only twice. My arms make it look like I'm suffering from smallpox.

At the cabins later in the day, Jack wore a jacket and I wore a mosquito netting zip up - everyone wore a head net and the crew wore long sleeved shirts. Some of the crew also duct taped their sleeves closed over gloves.
We worked at the Mt Flemmer (near the Canadian border) and Chief Shakes cabins for the remainder of the day.

Jack and I stayed in one of the two Shakes cabins and the three crew members stayed at the USFS administrative cabin located about four miles downriver. The original plan was to have all of us stay at the admin cabin - Bob, Jack, and I would have slept in tents outside as the structure Is very small. Given the bugs and the bears, I suggested staying at the second cabin and Bob agreed.

Several of you asked about the tent that Jack and I used in the Garnet Ledge cabin. Since we were canoeing, I always carry a tent in case of an emergency ( capsizing, rough water, wind, etc) that would necessitate a night in the woods. Most of the cabins are fairly mosquito proof, but some have hundreds inside. Since we had it, we used it for a bite free night. I had been warned to bring one on this trip as the cabin we were staying in is known for the mosquitoes.

Our night at Shakes was incredibly relaxing. There was a thunderstorm, a very rare occurrence in SE Alaska, and an incredible sunset. The view from the Chief Shakes cabin is one if the best on the river. The slough at the front of the cabin has an amazing backdrop of four snow capped peaks with lush green alder covered slopes at their base.

The crew picked us up early the next morning. We worked the morning repairing a stream-fed water line at the Chief Shakes hot springs. The hot springs consist of a short section of boardwalk that leads to two wooden barrel hot tubs, a small dressing (or undressing) stall, and an outhouse. One of the tubs is housed in a screened structure that can be used when the bugs are bad.

At noon, we boated back to the Admin cabin to eat lunch and to pick up the crew's gear. We all piled into the admin cabin and made sandwiches. I have never seen a cabin so full of mosquitoes in my life. At one point, we decided to open the door as the outside was less buggy than the inside. Bob and Glenn told us about their miserable night as they has both had forgotten to bring their mosquito netting shelters for sleeping.

We finished the day at the Twin Lakes and Mt Flemmer cabins before heading back down the river and across the flats to town.

Jack and I showered, stopped at the store, and headed back to camp.