Is it bad if you start having problems before a trip even begins?

Jay pulled up to my house a little past noon loaded with barbecue pork burritos for dinner and optimism for dessert. We packed up quickly and sped away from Fairbanks on a nice big highway. That nice big highway delivered us to a nice little paved road heading deep into the mountains. Then that nice little paved road turned into a nice little dirt road. Then that nice little dirt road turned into a narrow little dirt road. Then that narrow little dirt road got all eaten up and swallowed by a mean little river. So much for dessert.

I got a little concerned, I don’t think Jay did. We stood in the road and brainstormed options. Drive to McCarthy and fly back to Nabesna to start? Walk the extra mileage to our planned start? Hike over to the Jack Creek and start our float early? We decided to scout the river and see if it might be floatable. I slipped off my flip-flops and pulled on running shoes before heading into the woods. As we wove between relic flood channels, I looked down and saw we were walking on porphyritic volcanic rocks. I don’t know a lot about rocks, but I know I like them. And I know these were really cool rocks, and somehow seeing them made me realize this was going to be a great trip, and nothing would knock us down.

Jack Creek was flooding, full of the same runoff that had eaten the road. But that gave us plenty of water for our little packrafts. We walked back to the truck, parked it in the shrubs, and headed back to the river to inflate our boats and start the trip 10 river miles early. As 10pm approached, the little inconvenience ended up being a great gift. Minutes after starting the float, two mature Great Gray Owls dropped from the trees and buzzed across the river mere feet in front of me. The light deepened. The clouds parted and pink tinged yellow rays of light painted the mountainside. Sandpipers, Ducks, Warblers and Sparrows flew in and out of the river channel, in many instances guiding a clutch of chicks. The water got fast and splashy. On one blind corner, we eddied out to peek around a tangle of driftwood. It looked questionable and it was late. Looking across the river, we saw some flat gravel bars tucked into the willow beckoning us to ferry over and set up camp.

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A 100 mile Bike/Run/Ski endurance race in the White Mountains Recreation Area, Interior Alaska

packrafting and skiing a classic Interior Alaska route on the edge of seasons