Friday, Aug 24th – Clearing skies greeted us in the morning….and along with it renewed enthusiasm for this trip. I am not sure how we would have felt had the rain continued.
Coastal Alaska is wet and rainy. The closer that you get to the coast, the greater the chances for rain. We knew that this trip could be one, wet and soggy day after the other. Blue sky in the morning was enough to make me a believer in the power of wish rocks. ;- )
We had made it through three nights, which is our usual limit. We knew that this trip, at 5 nights, would push our comfort level a bit. It felt good to get going this morning and feel like we had made it over the ‘hump’ and had shifted into a different gear. A good breakfast and a cup of coffee didn’t hurt, either ……
Under blue sky and surrounded by beautiful scenery, we continued downriver.
Fred and I swapped it up and rode with Dale. Dale’s brother, Reeve, rode with us. We enjoyed the company of these brothers as they got a bit reacquainted with each other. We really have enjoyed everyone on this trip, and these bright, talented and enthusiastic young people reminded us of our own kids. I must admit, we did a bit of story telling and bragging about our kids, as well.
We spotted our first seals on the Copper River. I really did not expect to see seals, but they come up the river following the salmon. We would see many more seals over the next few days. The eagles were also following the salmon.
I managed to take a picture of the backside of this eagle as he flew off. Look at his fully extended talons!
We stopped for lunch at the ruins of an old railroad trestle that crossed a stream flowing into the Copper River. The railroad, built in 1907, followed the Copper River and ran from Cordova to the town of Kennecott and the copper mines there. The bridge had been washed out as the river changed its course.
Lunchtimes were a much more elaborate affair than Fred and I were used to. We would normally just make a sandwich when we were picking up from breakfast, then picnic along the way. It was nice to take such a leisurely break at mid-day.
In the afternoon, we pulled the rafts into a calm eddy by a nice beach, and set up camp.
It was breezy and the beach was a bit exposed, so we pitched our tent behind this sheltering rock.
The setting was surreal……We were camped between two glaciers, Miles glacier and Childs glacier……
The glacial wind was chilly, but it did help to dry out our tents, which had been packed up wet from the rain the night before.
We dug a fire pit and built a nice campfire. We were not lacking in driftwood to burn! While we ‘older people’ enjoyed the fire…..
The younger folks relaxed, played Kube and flew a kite……
The silly cowboy hats were in keeping with the ‘cowboy’ theme for the evening.
The next day we would paddle across Miles Lake and do some ‘glacier watching’…….But this evening I just sat and marveled at the beauty of the setting…….
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