Alaska Three: Up the River

The view from our cabin up the river. Photo taken Saturday, July 24, 2021

 I'm back from my adventure up the river and it was amazing!  What a breathtaking experience!  Chris gave me the deluxe tour and though the weather was not up to his standards, it didn't rain on us, and the sun broke through often enough for us to see what we wanted to see. It was truly remarkable.  Chris says going up the river is his absolute favorite thing to do here and I can see why.

Loading up the boat

The view from the boat launch

So what is "up the river"? you may ask.  I wondered too, as Chris and Carissa often referenced it.  Up the river means traveling by boat over from Mitkof Island where the town of Petersburg is located to the Alaskan mainland and then journeying up the Stikine River and it's tributaries. There are innumerable sloughs and creeks you can explore to your hearts content. Travel far enough and you'll arrive at the Canadian border (and if you're not paying attention you'll zip right into Canada without even realizing it). Surrounding you is the majestic wilds of the Stikine-LeConte Wilderness, a protected area that is part of the Tongass National Forest.  A journey up the river means picturesque landscapes, towering mountains, a glacier, hot springs, the possiblity of sighting a bald eagle, a bear, or a moose.

A bald eagle standing guard as we enter the Stikine. I never did see any bears but after hearing some of the hairy stories of bear encounters out here, I'm quite fine with that.

Chris, his oldest son Aidan, and I left for our journey up the Stikine River Sabbath afternoon, our goal being to catch the high tide up the river, which was around 2:40 PM.  The trip was mostly without incident. The only challenge we had was when we came upon a tree that had fallen completely across the passage we were taking to enter the Stikine. There are several passages in to the river and we had taken the one Chris felt was the best. And it would have been except for this unexpected obstacle. It was now too late to go back and try one of the other passages, with high tide having passed, so there was nothing for it but to figure a way through. 

Chris decided to risk jumping the log.  He backed the boat up, gave us a running start, and then eased up just at the last moment so that we slid--more or less--over the log rather than banging hard into it.  With a jolt, we cleared the log and were on our way. Chris was worried that he might have damaged his boat, but when we pulled the boat out at the end of our trip, he was able to confirm that if there was any damage it was minor.

One of many random waterfalls to be found in the Stikine-LeConte Wilderness

After that adventure, we continued our way up the Stikine.  The only signs of humanity were the occasional cabin placed by the forestry service and an isolated "float house" here and there.  (These are floating cabins that people build to stay in.  You can't build anything on the wilderness itself, but the river is fair game).

Eventually, we arrived at the cabin where we'd be staying for the next three days: Shakes Slough Cabin Number 2.

Shakes Slough Cabin No 2, our home for the next two nights.

We unloaded our gear, got situated and then headed back out on the river. First we went up to Alpine Creek, where Aiden wanted to see if any fish were running.  There were none, so then we went to the Hot Tubs.  These are exactly what they sound like--two hot tubs--one inside a shelter, the other open air--that are fed by a nearby hot spring.  The indoor tub didn't have the cold water hose connected (you need both, since the you can't turn down the heat on a hot spring) and the outdoor tub was already occupied (the tubs are about the size of a typical hot tub so unless you want to be super-close with strangers, it's nicer if you have the tub to yourself).  So we decided to come back the next day.  We returned to our cabin, Chris cooked up a delicious chili dinner and we whiled away the evening chatting and reminiscing. 

My only complaint was the mosquitos, which are legendary in Alaska. It was really hard to be still outside for any length of time without being swarmed.  However, even they turned out not to be too bad. We slathered on the "bug dope" as they call it, and that helped. Not too many managed to get into the cabin itself (and those that did we happily slaughtered) and there were places (such as the sandbar where we had supper the second night) where the bugs weren't too bad. 

Our first day up the river had been quiet, but thoroughly enjoyable--with a little bit of log jumping thrown in for good measure. I was excited for what the next day would bring.

The tourist on the river. While the weather was pretty decent, with highs in the fifties I think, and Chris was comfortable in a t-shirt and a jacket, this visitor from the Lower 48 got chilled quickly especially out on the river when the boat was moving. I was bundled up with a hoodie, a jacket (or two), rain pants, rain coat, rubber gloves, and life vest, plus a hat. (I later added a bandana under the hat as well as my ears were still getting chilled. On the last day I donned a pair of the ear muffs Chris wore to protect his ears from the noise of the boat engine and those worked best of all to keep my ears warm).