some folks sent me gear that I needed............not all arrived safely

an ENORMOUS amount of work (and advice) went into making sure I had the right technical gear for 14-days with zero ability to connect with the outside world............on top of that it had to be light enough to be flown up the river

my first taste of Alaska............literally

ready to load gear................

first glimpse of the river we would be floating the next 14 days........

nice herd of locals (caribou)....................

first glance of the river's larger falls that required portage of our gear............not fun

wedged in the mountains is the lake that collectively would be our first meeting of the group........some 4,500 miles away from my home

cloud cover dropping, means a quick adios to the plane...............very volatile weather in this area

first of many packing of the gear..........

very interesting creatures these dolly varden............

day one first bear sighting, say that took long. most animals sadly associate humans with guns/hunting so they are never long to hang around............

bear looking for late afternoon snack.................mainly if any king salmon are up river

hard to not enjoy the scenery...........

means of propulsion...........

it was impossible to get Willi off the river fishing, even at 10PM..........

first sunset on the river, about 10:30 PM..................

dorsal fin of an arctic grayling.............they are small, stay within the river system, and can live up to 32 years, and taste pretty damn good

the "painter"..............

wondering eye of a rainbow trout...................

notice the tents at the end of the gravel bar.....................that is where we sent the folks who snore

swinging the fast water for dolly.............

first silver salmon comes to hand below the falls.........

the moss while a bit damp provided a nice cushion over the gravel..........

sous chef extraordinaire...........

this was about 9:30 PM floating around looking for a decent place to camp........

matching the hatch...........after some internal reconnaissance it was determined that fish were on the voles

grayling taking a mouse fly..........

nearly all mud or sand was littered with bear prints............good reminder to fish near the slower guys

make no mistake there were bugs...............

the master (landscape painter Richard Harrington) ...............and his domain

i heard catching 20 inch plus bows on the mouse was all the rage...............

trout can be toothy critters..........

the ever looming evidence of bear activity was everywhere............

digging through the mouse collection...............

soon to be fail........................

arctic grayling dorsal.........