Alaska Part 2 Work

The next day we went out on a jet boat to see where high water may have gotten on the Tsirku River Fan.  To get to the Fan, we had to jet boat across the Chilkat River which was flowing high due to recent rains.  The swift water was thick with silt and one could not see an inch below the surface.  Drift wood, downed trees, shallow gravel bars, and more were hidden just below the surface.  I was frightened at first, but gradually relaxed as Todd showed his navigational skills and safely maneuvered the vessel across the wide and braided river.  We hiked around the dry and vast floodplain, observed bear, wolf, and moose tracks in the mud.

 Next we navigated upstream past the small town of Kluckwan, a Chilkat Indian town.  There were some very old buildings still standing in that town probably from the early 1900's.  Otherwise, the newer buildings were mere shacks or trailer homes in disrepair.   The tribe is constructing a new lodge at the south end of town, it is huge and not far from the river's edge.  Some folks were fishing with gill nets, attempting to capture some of the migrating salmon in the muddy braided river.

After the boat ride, we drove up to Clear Creek and Salmon Rivers.  Hiked about looking for unusual changes in hydrology.  We observed chum salmon spawning, more bear tracks, and I became reacquainted with Devil's Club (ouch).  We drove a little further up the road and rested along side the Tsirku River.  Upstream was mountainous wilderness, in front of us was more swift braided waters. Ah, Alaska.

The next day, Todd and I went to monitor a study site.  Here the water was running high and muddy.  It also was a high bear activity spot, and I began to figure out, every place is high bear potential.  We gauged the stream flow and Todd measured what piezometers were left.  A few of them we pushed over by hungry bears.  I learned to look before sitting down in the grass as it was more difficult to find a spot with out salmon guts or carcass than with.  Messy bears.

A few days later, Todd had his container house delivered to Herman Creek and performed his first pump test of the wells.  It was a 24 hour process and in a high bear and salmon area.  So, Don and I drove up just before dark, brought a hot dinner (chanterelle pasta!), and escorted Todd on his pump tests.  Don carried the gun and did most of the "hey Bear!" shouting.  One bear was seen, moving away from us.  Amazing how a place can change from day light to night dark.  Besides dead salmon on the streambanks and an occasional foot print, you would not know there are bears here, except at night.