8/4
The second day of our trip was a bit overcast in the morning. There were times of sun but by the time we had to cross the the Chisana River it was raining. We knew we would be spending the night in a public use cabin so we let ourselves get pretty wet. It was also the day of two of Brad's Big Ideas - one of which we followed and the other one we wish we followed.
Nearing Cooper Pass (on the horizon):
Looking down from Cooper Pass into Notch Creek:
Brad's first BIG IDEA - boat Notch Creek instead of walking it. Tony and I were skeptical so we kept walking along the river. About 15 minutes later we watched Brad come rocketing down stream with a huge smile on his face. We quickly got our boats out and joined in the fun (note: river levels were pretty high; I think we were lucky - and stoked - to be able to boat Notch Creek and not have to walk the cobbles along its banks).
Brad also got handed the camera at this point...
After Notch Creek we took a horse trail over to the Chisana River:
Brad's SECOND BIG IDEA was to put on drysuits for the crossing of the Chisana River (about 1 mile wide and probably 30-50 channels). He got outvoted. My first step into the river put the water up to my chest (you can imagine where it went to on Tony)!! It turned out to be the deepest crossing, however, we all wish we had listened to Brad's idea. It started raining almost immediately after that first crossing. It was a cold walk (and an unnecessarily cold walk) to Chisana.
Our day ended at a public use cabin in Chisana:
