8/1/18 "Did you see the bear?" says Bunny. "What?" I say. It's 3:30 a.m., and I just woke up on account of my need to pee. "It was pushing my boat!" says Bunny. "I thought you were moving the boats up higher in case the water came in. But it was a grizzly, shoving my … Continue reading Noatak river paddle day 14: Noatak village

7/31/18 Mileage: 39 356 miles paddled I fall into a deep blackness on my bunk in the ranger cabin until nearly 8 a.m. and wake up groggy and happy with sleep. The river is still huge, today, it still seems slow but still scoots us right along. . A storm arrives midday and the whole … Continue reading Noatak river paddle day 13: oops wrong channel

7/30/17 Mileage: 35 317 miles paddled I get really sucked into Stray City when I should be going to bed and by the time I finally drift off it's after midnight. In the morning I wake, groggy and exhausted, and drink my tea while the bugs hum against the mesh of my tent. What even … Continue reading Noatak river paddle day 12: fish camp

7/29/18 Mileage: 35 282 miles paddled I sleep. I sleep so, so well. The sun sleeps too, in its way; not going down but dimming, greying, growing long enough and low enough behind the ridge that the moon is there, full and silver and hanging, reflected, above the rippling water, when I get up to … Continue reading Noatak river paddle day 11: scooting right along

7/28/18 Mileage: 29 247 miles paddled The salmon are running. The salmon are here so the gulls and terns are eagles and hawks are here, circling above my little green boat sounding the alarm, and the bears are surely here as well. The stage has been set and the first act has come alive. The … Continue reading Noatak river paddle day 10: Howarth’s cabin

7/27/18 Mileage: 30 218 miles paddled Just before drifting off I hear a loud honking near the edge of camp, like my chihuahua when she reverse sneezes. At first I think that Bunny is having some sort of weird dream, but then Bunny pokes her head out of her tent. "Did you hear that?" She … Continue reading Noatak river paddle day 9: full moon

7/26/18 Mileage: 30 188 miles paddled The sun is shining right on my tent and it's too hot to sleep for the longest time. Then finally I fall into a deep sleep and I dream that I'm magically gifted an RV that initially looks like a mess but, once inside, it unfolds into an enchanted … Continue reading Noatak river paddle day 8: Okak

7/25/18 Mileage: 30 158 miles paddled The Noatak has forgiven us for calling it slow. It rains for much of the night but the morning comes clear and painfully blue and the river is calm again, wide and gentle and full of peaceful eddies. The high is 70 degrees today, per the weather forecast from … Continue reading Noatak river paddle day 7: peace

7/24/18 Mileage: 31 128 miles paddled I know we shouldn't have called the Noatak slow. The water rises in the night from the rain and just like that, it's a different river; faster, frothier, more roiling, full of stronger currents and eddies. It's constant work to paddle today- I can't put my paddle down for … Continue reading Noatak river paddle day 6: jinxed