:ninja: A brutal cold kayaking trip in Alaska ....

[Vernon in Virginia~Formerly Alaska]

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[size=large]Sharon and I on the Kink River in Alaska. The river will freeze over and is on it way of doing it during this trip. Temperature was well below zero. [/size]
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[size=large] This river comes right off of Kink Glacier
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An island in the river.[/size]

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[size=large]Another trip on a little warmer day. [/size]

 

[Magyar]

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[Craig in Alabama]

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[Brian(upstateNY)]

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[Vernon in Virginia~Formerly Alaska]

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[General Ray]

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[Royal]

but never in those conditions. That looks brutal but if dressed for it , not a problem. UNLESS one was to tip over. That has to be cold as it was freezing flowing water.

Interesting pictures. I hope to visit Alaska one day and probably will. Mary is nagging me about it

 

[Brian(upstateNY)]

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[Royal]

that living life was building memories. I wish I had had a good video camera on some of my adventures, as I get older some of the memories dim until someone breaks something loose, like Vernon just did.

I have had a ball Most of my biggest adventures have been since I turned 50

 

[Brian(upstateNY)]

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[Brian(upstateNY)]

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[Jim C (Mich)]

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[Royal]

went through in a marsh, clean to my armpits. I still had a ways to go but caught myself. I worked myself to a near Muskrat hut and got out on it. Trouble is, I had to go through the water again to get out. I yelled to a fellow school skipper and he asked what to do. My ma would wup me if she found out I skipped so help was out.

I told my buddy to build a big fire as fast as he could because I was gonna need it, he did and I did. He got it going and into that dang water I went and swam to the edge of the solid ice. He had a long limb and I got it and got hauled to solid ice. Dang near froze. I snuggled up to that fire, I will tell you.

Mom still found out. They seem to have a second sense or maybe it was my sodden cloths after school

 

[Vernon in Virginia~Formerly Alaska]

[size=large]I held on to the rope and was able to get back to the boat but my long time favorite hat was sucked under the river Ice and lost. I had a complete change of cloths in a water proof bag in the boat, we went to shore, built a nice big fire and I changed. My legs and body were beet red but I warmed up and we continued on. Look no gray hair either. [/size]

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[Vernon in Virginia~Formerly Alaska]

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[Royal]

the alone part is because I can not get anyone else to go with me I always take a change of EVERYTHING, also included is fire starter, lighter, etc. Problem is, I am 71 years old now and that dang water is COLD and could stop the ticker. Of course it does not stop me but it is something to keep in mind.

After that trip I mentioned, I now go to a local livery and ask if anyone had been down recently and if they ran into any blockages. The thing is, that river is not a big river, it is not the main branch of the Ausable but the South Branch and the water levels can change in a few days. The water had been high and it had been very cold. The river freezes from the bank out and when the water was high about two inches of ice accumulated from shore out about 10 ft or so from each bank. Some time in the few days before we went down a tree had fallen down river and blocked the river. The river still flowed though.

The water dropped about 6 inches or so. That caused the ice to break from shore in small chunks, many about the size of a dinner plate to the size of a wash tub. We paddled through them for an hour or so.

When they hit the tree they backed up the river and then froze together making a solid mass across the river. Too thick to paddle through hand too thin to walk on. Now I check

 

[BobinMIZZU]

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[charlie (ky)]

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[Vernon in Virginia~Formerly Alaska]

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[Craig in Alabama]

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