It rained a fair bit over the course of that night, but even so, the upper Kechika had dropped.
Significantly.
Like better than a foot.
But with extra fuel onboard we decided to make a play at getting a fair ways upstream to look at a different view of "our" mountains.
And away we went.
The skinny water was even skinnier, and I was right happy the Man behind the wheel was one of the best in the country!!
We arrived at our chosen destination with only hitting bottom a couple of times. Quite the accomplishment itself!
There we set up the spotters, and had a good look at the hills we wished to pick apart:
In short order we discovered numerous goats, but none that came anywhere close to The Monster.
There were a handful of ewes' again, no lambs, and a few short rams. The Big Boy had vanished...
I wandered the sand bar a bit with one of the Ladz, where we saw tracks of wolf, wolverine, grizzly, elk, moose and caribou.
Quite the place this Serengeti of The North!!
Knowing our Buddy in camp might be getting twitchy, we set off downriver at a blistering rate.
At one corner, the water was too skinny to allow passage any more.
But our Jet Jock rammed it over the gravel as best he could, and tried to get it to bite back into the current.
Unfortunately that trick did not work, and we ended up slamming into the massive rock wall at better than 30 miles per. (Actually have this on video once I get to them. It's Painful!) The two up front collided hard with the windshield, and I was rag doll tossed into the back of one of their seats, splitting the inside of my bottom lip from side to side. Ouch!
Ah Man, You totaled my boat were the first words i heard.
Spitting blood, I immediately looked to ensure the stern was still above water. Yep. OK then.
Damage assessment time. The bow took a good one. Decent dent. More alarming, the blow split the upper bow deck open along the center seam, and cracked the leading bow edge right down to the Teflon plate!! Gently pushing her back into the water, we determined that she wasn't taking enough of that on to be a show-stopper, so we set off for base camp once again.
This time no stopping us, and we rolled in fine.
The Damage Pix:
Our Buddy was damn happy to see us! He was just starting to worry about us, and had made arrangements for another rig to come look for us if we didn't show by the next day.
He astounded us by tales of bugling elk (apparently they heavy into it the eve we left) moose calling, and wolves at the doorstep in the dark every night.
Firm character that lad, he was ready to take them all on if required.
No bears showed, and the feed of moose we had that night would make a Roman blush!!
The next day we decided to break camp and start our wander out.
No-one knew how long this would take, and we've never floated / idled out of there before...
So, we loaded all up, swept the camp clean, and set out on the next chapter of this foray...
And there it ends for today folks.
I collected a few more pictures on the way out, and there is an interesting encounter or two to relay as well.
But for now, the coho in my smoker require attention, and after this much scripting, I find myself awful thirsty for a good rum...
I run a inflatable now 22inch tubes yam. jet its easy I jump out with waders as walk along side it running and pushing it . I go further up than ever and 40HP goes where 1100 does not . OH yea on the way down drift nice .
Quit the adventure so far. Was curious as to if you guys were helmets to hhelp prevent injury on the rocks, no of a few guys that have lost teeth hitting the windshield
we nevcer wore helmets but we were also in rivers that never had a shortage or major drop in water.
Iron Noggin rules the hunting world Hahahahaha-- great pix -- gotta be pro class photo's 4 sure -->
Jel -- in Kammy Land -- more, we want more -- that rack was pretty even -- Whoa! Nice one --
Last edited by Jelvis; 10-07-2018 at 05:22 PM.
Reason: IRON RULES
Re: A Kechika River Adventure
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