Tuesday July 27, Quartz Creek Campground, Kenai Lake, AK

Today has been one of those special days that happen occasionally through our holidays….Keith and Holly drove 2 hours south from Anchorage and took us rafting on the Kenai River, it was a first for me and I didn’t want to get out at the end. Two friends of theirs, Jack and Rich also joined us in their canoes. Keith has an inflatable 14 foot raft which he set up at Cooper Landing, the spot where many rafters set off on the 12 mile trip on the river before the take out at Jim’s Landing. The river goes through a gorge past this spot and can be quite wild.

Ian and I kitted ourselves out in woolen long johns and tops, then waterproof leggings and raincoats…..with our life jackets on top….quite the picture.

It was about 11 when we set off, with Keith on the oars and we sat back and soaked up the scenery. The weather was overcast, and during the first hour we had a few light showers, but then it cleared and by the end the sun was even shining. Initially the river was quite wide after leaving the lake and there was a head wind so Keith had to do quite a bit of rowing, but as it narrowed down the current helped a lot. Ian had a spell on the oars and with Keith’s tuition he managed quite well….didn’t get us wet!

We would pull into little “beaches” for a break, and stopped at a great spot where there was a deck and seating..the perfect place for lunch.

I can hardly start to describe the beauty and serenitty of this place…the turquoise river tumbling along, the snow capped mountains above and the greens of the different trees lining the river….and just the noise of the river. No motors are allowed. There were a number of professional charter companies in rafts taking clients for fishing trips.

We came to the confluence of the Kenai and Russian Rivers, a favourite spot for fishing and the banks were just lined with fishermen…and we saw a number getting caught.

But the highlight was a little further on..we pulled into the side for a rest stop, and the guys spotted something on the bank a little further back from where we had just come, that looked a bit like a bear. Sure enough, we got the bincoculars out and there on the point was a very large grizzly bear surveying the scene….walking around then sitting back down on his butt. It was fabulous to just watch him. And to top it off a bald eagle was flying right in front of us and swooping down picking up fish out of the water with his talons. With my medium lens on the camera I couldn’t really pick things up that well, but just to see it was fantastic. 

We arrived at Jim’s Landing about 4pm. There had been some shuttling of vehicles before we set off so we loaded the deflated raft and gear into Ruakiwi and drove back up the road. They all joined us back at camp for a coffee, beers and food, a great ending to a perfect day……and the sun was shining!!!!