Paddling Life has a great story up about a group of 13 friends who traveled to Alaska in August to explore it’s remote interior region by kayak. The 12 day journey turned into quite an adventure.
The group paddled the Charley River, a major tributary of the Yukon, that runs about 108 miles in length. They took inflatable kayaks on their expedition, which allowed for some flexibility to their approach, and still withstood the Class III waters they encountered along the way.
Just getting to Three Fingers Creek, the site of their put in, and itself a tributary of the Charley, was an adventure in and of itself. It took nine bush flights to reach the start, which added a few more miles to the overall length of the trip, bringing it to a total of 114 miles. Generally the Three Fingers is not runnable, but heavy rains provided plenty of water, even in August.
Along the course of their journey, the kayakers encountered grizzly bears, big horn sheep, and countless other wildlife, and even had to dodge bullets flying over head on one of their last nights on the water. That wasn’t the only dangers though, as they dubbed much of the Charley as “Rock Alley” thanks to the multitude or rock gardens they encountered along the way.
All in all, this sounds like a great paddling adventure, made all the more fun by the fact that it was done by a large group of friends. I’m sure the days were a blast on the river itself, and the nights around the campfire were even more so as they shared tall tales and stories of their epic adventures. What a great way to spend two weeks in the summer.
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