Rumor had it that the Chena was now floatable, so Tom, Ms Marsh, and I headed out to float from 3rd bridge to 1st bridge. The float was wonderful, the Chena was ice free, and fun was had by all.
We put in at 3rd bridge, and we quickly zoomed down river, as the water was running a bit high and fast. There were no log jams, and no sweepers of note.
It was exciting to be back in the packraft.. though the floating was a bit on the “mellow” side without a lot of excitement. Which was perhaps for the best, as the water was pretty cold.
We were a bit concerned about how free the Chena would be of ice, but the only ice we encountered was broken up and floating in a slough.
I did a beached seal imitation on some of the larger pieces..
Most of the float we just bobbed along, as the Chena was amazingly free of any sweepers and other river related excitement.
The float was pretty relaxed but was great for getting me in the mood for summer floating – hopefully some I will get some fun packraft trips in this summer!
Mid winter I picked up a new floating jacket with seals on the wrists and neck and had been wondering how well it would keep out water when I end up swimming – so I took several test swims and it did amazing well, keeping most of the water out. After jumping into the river three times I had a small amount, perhaps 1 to 2 cups, but was mostly dry, so the new top combined with my old float pants is quite a success!
More pictures for the photo inclined:
 |
| First float of the season |
Tags: chena_rec_area, mellow, packrafting, stub