We got up on Sunday morning - July 17 - with a plan to head to Salcha and put the boat in. We would go down the river as far as we wanted to, find a nice sandy beach where we could grill up a hamburger for lunch and do some fishing.
We packed up food from the house then headed to Fred Meyers to pick up a few other things we needed. And to fill up with gas. We were only going to take an extra 5 gallons of gas on this trip as we knew we wouldn't be going that far up the river.
We got to Salcha River and they put the boat in while I registered us at the fee station. $10 to use the ramp and $5 for a truck with no trailer to park. Then we all jumped in the boat and headed downstream.
Jill and ST on the boat. ST thought she was pretty big since she had a life jacket just like her sisters.
Blaine and the 2 older girls on the front of the boat.
It was a beautiful day. A little cool on the water but not too bad. We went up river about 23 miles or so and found a nice sandy beach to stop at. So we all got off the boat and carried everything to where we wanted to set up the grill.
Jill made a nice Van Haren sign in the sand so we could take a group shot. However in order for us all to be in the picture, we would have to be able to set up a tripod on dry land.
So, she chose another spot and made this cool Alaska out of rocks and drift wood.
JW grilled up hamburgers and we all got some food. He had forgotten the paper plates but lucky for us, in the bottom of our ancient camping cooking pot set, there are 6 copper colored metal plates. So we were good.
Valerie sharing some rice chips with ST.
After we all ate, we went back to the boat to get fishing rods and tackle to try our hand at fishing. Valerie, JW and JM all decided to fish from the back of the boat.
Meanwhile, Blaine took MS over to a different part of the river to fish. They hadn't fished long when MS caught a nice Arctic Grayling.
We headed further up river about 25 miles from the ramp. At this point, they decided to drop anchor and drop a line to see if there were any fish. They dropped anchor but it didn't stick so the boat was slowly drifting down stream - basically they were drift river fishing.
Unfortunately due to the excess weight on the boat and the fact that it wasn't on plane, the boat drifted into a gravel bar and came to a stop. JW, Blaine and Jill all got out of the boat into the water to push the boat off the gravel bar. A boat came by and then turned around and came back by to make a wave in the water to help dislodge the boat. But they then went on their way kind of like "not my problem".
They finally got the boat off the gravel bar and JW started it up. There was a clog in the jet so Blaine got on the stomp grate to clear it out. A rock had gotten in and the stomp grate wasn't spitting it out. So JW decided we would need to just head on back down stream to the ramp - unless we found some good place to stop and try to get it out.
We were only traveling about 8 miles an hour and we had gone 25 miles before turning around so it was going to be a long slow trip back. We got stuck on another gravel bar and again all of the adults (except me) got out to push the boat off the bar. The granddaughters were getting a little frightened but I kept telling them all would be okay and someday they would laugh about the adventure.
Again we were traveling slowly down river when all of a sudden though, the boat came to a complete stop. We were still about 23 miles from the ramp. JW tried again and again to start the engine but it just kept yelling at him with this loud screeching sound it makes.
The boat was heading into the bank so we grabbed out the push oar and Valerie took charge of that. She pushed along the bottom of the river and kind of steered it that way to maneuver us on down the river.
She was doing a great job and the boat was going in the intended direction which was a good thing.
A young eagle watching us from up in the tree.
While she was steering the boat, JW and Blaine were at the back of the boat checking the engine. They found that something was hung up and were able to break it free. Once they did that, the engine started. Woo hoo. We still were over 20 miles from the ramp and it was now about 6:30 PM. At least we didn't have to worry about it getting dark before we got back but knew it was going to be a long slow trip.
We still had the problem with whatever was stuck in the jet so when Blaine saw a very shallow spot in the river, he decided he should dive under the boat and try to clear it out. The water was cold and it took him quite a few tries but he did succeed and got the rock out of the jet. Happy days. JW started up the engine and hit the throttle - the boat roared to life and he soon was driving down stream at over 30 mph.
We arrived back at the boat ramp about 7:30.
Loaded up the boat and headed for home which was over an hour away. We got home safely, ate a late dinner and went to bed.
Another day of vacation was gone too soon. It had been a day full of fun, adventure and one nice arctic grayling was going home with us for MS to eat.
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