Good Sam Trip Planner

A weekend spent floating the Delta River is a weekend well spent

The fault has created a waterfall that can’t be run in a boat. A well-marked, half-mile portage trail detours around the falls over two sections separated by a pond left behind in an old river channel. After the portage, there is a one-mile section of shallow, rocky Class II-III rapids. After, the river slows and braids its way through gravel shoals that end just below Phelan Creek at 212.5 Mile Richardson Highway. The trip is about 29 miles. I had wanted to run the Delta River for some time. It was the only one of the 25 National Wild and Scenic River in Alaska that can be run from road to road that I hadn’t yet floated — the Gulkana and Fortymile rivers and Birch Creek also include sections that can be completed starting and ending on the road system. (Beaver Creek could be completed starting on Nome Creek off the Steese Highway and finishing up on the Yukon River at the Dalton Highway bridge, but the 360-mile trip is not a practical float for this working paddler.) Leaving town Friday afternoon after a half day’s work, Jason Lauesen, Pat Tilsworth and I headed to the take-out to leave a vehicle. Phelan Creek has created a large delta with many channels as it joins the Delta River. The take-out is marked with large sign facing the river, up on the rip-rapped bank where the Delta runs along the Richardson Highway after being joined by Phelan. The sign was easier to find from the river than from the highway. We took off under a sunny blue sky after driving through heavy rain most of the way from Fairbanks. The lakes were calm, carrying the call of loons and the conversations of fishermen across the flat water. A headwind here would have caused us to camp early, but the calm evening made for a beautiful, eight-mile paddle through the lower lakes. Shallow gravel shoals separate the lakes, but they had enough water for us to pass easily. At lower water levels later in the season, the shoals might require lining. Fishermen were working the outlets of the larger lake from canoes. They reported the fishing was OK but the grayling were small. We made note of suitable campsites through the lakes, thinking of future trips when we might get a later start or face winds. Campsites are few, with the lack of gravel bars to stop on. Grassy spots mark where previous campers have opened up the alder and willow thickets. Creating new campsites is discouraged in the National Wild and Scenic River corridors.

Slanted Dreams

We woke up the other morning feeling like we were sliding out of the bed.  Something was wrong with the jacks.  We walked outside and saw the RV leaning to the left.  We went back inside and the Pilot adjusted the jacks again so we were level.

I then used a very advanced method to check and see if we actually were level.  I grabbed one of Bella’s balls, set it in the center of the kitchen and let it go. 

I forgot how fast Bella is at retrieving balls.  I sat her in the living room and told her to stay and repeated the process with the ball.  It rolled to the left.  I told the Pilot that we needed to adjust the level just a bit more.  That done, we proceeded to get that day’s work done.

By mid- day we noticed we were slanting again.  That’s when the Pilot called an RV repair shop.  It seems that we won’t be able to get the RV in until this Wednesday.  I then realized that meant that we probably won’t have a place to live while it’s in the shop.  I groaned as I thought about packing for a hotel again.  Please…not so soon.

Being new to this RV adventure, we are working our way through all the pros and cons.  Fortunately, the pros are outweighing the cons by far.  This is the first problem that we’ve had so far.  We’d already planned on taking the RV in to get a problem fixed that was found on inspection just before buying.

Since we’ve been living in the RV for over a month now, we know what things we want changed and what will work as is.  Last week we replaced the sofa with a reclining loveseat.  We are in heaven with that.

As you can see, the loveseat fits quite nicely in Bella’s doghouse!

I have to tell you that we measured every which way, and then again, to make sure that it would fit in the space allotted.  It does and we’re pleased.  Thanks to a recommendation from our friends, Sal & Patty Gambino, we also bought a new mattress and have been sleeping so much better.  We’re big believers in a good night’s sleep.

We realized as soon as we set them up that our desktops were waaay too big for our living area.  We bought another 17” laptop for me that matches the one the Pilot has.  Transferring the data from the desktop to the laptop was a long process with a call to Quick Books for some help.  I still have some fine tuning to do on mine.