As is so often the case, a 10am collection became “you’re
going in 40 minutes”. And sure enough we were loading Middle Camp bags and
supplies into the boats and away shortly after breakfast.
For a number of reasons I have always had to take the
helicopter to get to and from Middle but the boat ride is truly spectacular.
There was much concern from the team at lower as we headed upstream rather
laden with goods.
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| Middle Camp yesterday |
The sun was shining all day yesterday and with the
majesty of the deep blue water reflecting the sky, ice blue walls that line the
banks and a punctuation of shingle beaches, it was awe inspiring. We saw divers,
goldeneye duck and eagles as we travelled up with expert navigation.
We arrived “home” to be greeted by some old friends and
new faces. Everyone seems to be here already and as always they have been hard
at work. Yesterday we unwrapped and cleaned all the kitchen equipment as well
as stocked the store room with dry goods.
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| Generator Pool |
Holly seems to have a new spice rack and Jana has a very
serious draining rack. The main cabin is in fine fettle and with the fridges
cleaned, I will be stocking them today.
The ice is pretty heavily piled round the island with
quite steep walls along Generator. It is hard to get down to the water’s edge
but as the water temperature increases so does the frequency of chunks and
shards falling into the river.
The air temperature this morning is 10 degrees C and
water is 3 degrees. Whilst I can’t be sure how I will get to the river; I will
be swinging a heavy sink Skagit and T-tip with a big but not too heavy fly. The
water, despite being melt water, is quite coloured and the speed of flow is
brisk. The Skagit will allow me to slow things down as well as dodge the ice
flowing down river.
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| Looking down stream to Party Pool |
For all our clients arriving tomorrow, I suggest plenty
of thicker layers and thermal hats and gloves. It’s a long day fishing and
whilst in the sun it is lovely, it is cold by any standards.
At Lower, as here, there are reports of more ice coming
down and a rising coloured river. A lot will change between this morning and
tomorrow afternoon with more and more ice leaving the banks and if the sun
remains strong, a further rise in water will follow.
Both the team at Lower and at Middle are looking forward
to welcoming the incoming guests and we wish everyone safe travels. There will be no blog tomorrow and the next post will be on Sunday when our first guests will be on the river.
