First Day of Floating - Running the Gates

From the top of the mountain the Aniakchak river did not look so bad.  The walls of the gates were high but the river, itself didn't look bad.  That all changed when we actually got into the river.

The first thing we had to conquer was how to get all our gear on two rafts and still stay a float and control the raft.  We had all our camping gear, and food, and lots and lots of camera gear.  Our little rafts were pack solid.  Since I had never manuevered a raft my boss and the director took one raft and the two of us females were in the front of the second boat and the producer expert raftsman, was rowing. 

Once in the water we had to row to the mouth of the river.  With no current that was rough work for the rowers.  My boss had traveled the river 15 times and would have been condsidered an expert except that a glacial lake had escaped its banks and flooded the river.  It changed the entrance to the river, the rapids were tough where they were suppose to be easy, easy where they use to be rough, and the river had moved and meandered in different ways then my boss remembered.  So our trip down the river was a virgin ride, as nobody had been down here before.

Large rocks blocked the river so that we would have to portage the roughest spot.  We had to unload the boats and carry gear about a 1/2  mile on rolling rock slanted hillside.  Once we had all the gear moved downriver the group had lunch and talked about how to move the boats.  It was decided that it would be unsafe to try to carry the rafts on the uneven rocky shoreline.  If someone tripped it may cause someone else to fall in the swift moving water.  So our two rowers decided that they would take the empty rafts through the rough spinning water.  The rest of us were at various parts of the river with throw bags, which are life saving devises, and were to be ready to stop the raft if needed. 

I waited with all the gear at the stop sight.  It was my job to catch the raft when they reached that area.  It only took a few minutes for the first raft to appear.  By the time they reached me the others from upriver had joined me.  We all grabbed the raft and it was all you could do to pull the raft on shore.  but after managing the first raft they hiked up and repeated the process with the second raft.  Minutes later both rafts were on shore and being reloaded.

Now for the fun.  The plan was to stop 2 miles down river for the night.  The two miles of river were full of twists, rocks, and falls.  It was a blast.  We spun and swirled and twisted our way around the river.  It was a fabulous time for all.  But after the portage of all the gear, we stopped to relax the rest of the day.  The first three miles of the gates were the worst part of the river and all survived.  Now we unloaded the rafts once again and set up camp.  What a great first day of rafting.