Camping Upriver

 I'd asked Ross if he ever had the chance to go on an adventure if I could tag along. One came up, so I hopped on a plane for a three day weekend.

Ross got his boat fixed up. Bought it years ago from my old principal in Kasigluk. We had our camping gear, and I was very fortunate that Ross took on the food, as we ate VERY well!

 Bethel boat harbor.

 We loaded up the gear and headed up the Kuskokwim. Rain was in the forecast, but had held off that morning.

 We continued up the Kuskokwim, winding in and out of sloughs, passing fish camps along the way.

 What I hadn't expected to see was how drastic the erosion process was along the banks. Chunks of shore were sliding down, as well as the numerous trees. My understanding is that along these banks mastodon tusks and other fossils can be found.

 We started to head up the Kasigluk River which had nothing to do with the village of Kasigluk.

 Then the river became quite windy and Ross was taking some pretty tight turns. I had to prop my feet up against the front so I wouldn't fly through the windshield. He was standing up so he could figure out where the channel was. We were beginning to hit the gravel bars.

 Moose hunters out for the weekend.

 Another moose hunting party.

 We took another turn and entered the Little Kasigluk River. This one was very shallow and we needed speed to get through some of the gravel spots. Poor prop, it was getting a workout.

 Ross said this is it! His favorite spot where he has taken all his family. Took almost three hours to get here.

 At first, no bugs! Then, Deet for the mosquitoes. Those were taken care of. Nothing could chase or scare away the No-See-Ums.....ugh. This doesn't look bad, eventually, we were covered.

 Great spot to watch for wildlife, but no wind, so bugs galore. Across the water there was open space. Moose sighting possibilities, and beaver. Many beaver lodges, huge ones, in the area.

 Pretty nifty fire starter. The flint/steel throwing sparks combo. I want one, not the kind like Lewis and Clark had. I have two of those....they don't work (for me)!

 Is it dinner time yet??

Yes, says Ross. Chicken fajitas and all the trimmings....

Any bears close by???

Maybe....

great....

 Moonrise.

Bacon, pancakes, syrup-yum.

Bears like that stuff too.

Any bears around here?

Maybe.....

great......

 So, best part of this trip was the fishing. Most of the gear was in the boat and we headed down river just a ways to where the fishing was to be 'good'.

Well, in four casts, I caught four different species of fish. And, after a few more casts, caught a fifth species.

 First cast brought in this Rainbow Trout. We were able to return it quickly after the photo was taken.

  Next cast brought in this Dolly Varden. It had swallowed the hook and was too damaged to survive a release. So, it became a meal.

The spots were a cross between an orange and vibrant pink.

 Next cast, same hole, a Grayling. It had these beautiful blue spots and a large sail for a fin.

 The fourth cast brought in a Whitefish.


After a few more casts, I caught this Silver Salmon on its way to spawn.

 By this time we were soaked through. We decided it was time to head in.

 Yum, dinner.

 Pork chops with fried onions and cabbage in basalmic vinegar. It tasted SO good! So, again we had the bear conversation (cooking in the tent???). In the 25 plus years he'd been coming out to this site, he'd only seen evidence of a bear once in this area. So, no, no bears to be concerned about.

I still didn't sleep very well.....

 Walking home? Nope, we hit a gravel bar. Though shallow, the water was racing by. At one point I thought it would flow over the transom. Eventually, we started to move out into the channel and get going again.

 Ross figured it was time to change out the old prop with the new. Quite a difference it made going home!



We hit some pretty big water once we got to the Kuskokwim River. Had me a little concerned as the rollers were quite high and we had to trough some of them to catch the smaller sloughs out of the wind.....

We did make it in to Bethel, and about an hour later I was able to catch a flight back out to the village. We packed a lot into that weekend. Thank you, Ross!