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Dime
Well-known member
moose eater
Well-known member
Was going to make a midnight run to Chitina last night to meet up with my daughter in the wee hours and take a boat charter down the river into the canyon to dip-net red salmon and kings, but after getting off the phone with a longtime friend in South Central Alaska whom I hadn't heard from for a long time, and my brain falling prey to weariness, knowing that I'd need an all-encompassing list put together that I hadn't done yet, let alone the actual packing of the van or other vehicle, I just didn't have it in me.
My daughter's ride down through the canyon there in the boat was to depart at about 4:45 AM this morning, AkST.
My daughter hasn't been there since she was 14-16 years old, and I was definitely worried about not being able to meet her there. Who might she get dropped off with? Would she potentially be let off alone and have to be doubly aware in all ways?
She reassured me, "I learned from the best", but that comment, while flattering, didn't appease some serious worry in my head and gut.
There are things we do that we do often enough that the activity and concerns that might arise are 'muscle and thought reflex' to some degree. But not doing something for 1-1/2 decades fails that reflex for some.
I asked her what ammunition she had for her pistol she'd brought with a chest holster, and it was human ammunition; like a hydro-shock. Great for dropping a human lacking Kevlar, but out of that particular gun, with a factory load, probably enough to merely piss off a bear unless a lucky shot occurred, which is less likely when under the influence of adrenaline with only a split second to respond. She had bear spray, though, and that's sometimes the better option, really.
I asked her if she'd brought cash to let the fillet guys take care of her catch for her in a shorter time period than her trying to figure it out after a LONG day's fishing that would work her body pretty hard, and having driven all night, with maybe the help of some Provigil. "FUCK!!" I heard over the phone, but she could stop in Glennallen and get cash from an ATM there maybe.
I cautioned her not to wait until she was totally spent from exhaustion to take her Provigil; it's like pain pills, if you let the pain or the tiredness get ahead of you, then half of the benefit of the medication is spent simply trying to regain 'normal', let alone getting to where you -needed- to be..
I cautioned her that being a little wired and staring at the moving water/current without regularly focusing intermittently on a fixed piece of stable ground can produce what I call 'conveyor belt syndrome', where a person's balance and focus is affected by staring too long at the moving object, whether water or an actual conveyor belt; a hazard when equilibrium becomes affected and a person is perched above fast current and starts moving sideways without realizing it.
I asked her if she had both her fishing license AND her dip-net permit. She had them both on her smart phone, she said. "SAY WHAT??!!", I replied, in exasperation. Having your license on your smart phone is cool, but your dip-net permit has to be in hard-copy, in your possession, so that when a day ends or you cease fishing, you can immediately enter your catch based on date and species. Get caught not doing that, having dip-netted fish and no score card on your permit, can result in a hefty fine, possible arrest (though unlikely), loss of your expensive gear, and seizure of your catch, as well as the possible loss of fishing rights, etc.
She had decent scissors with her to clip the tails as is required by Fish & Game with dip-netted salmon. I reminded her that the tails need to be clipped EVERY time she catches and clubs a fish, not saving up a couple and then clipping them. If you're checked and tails aren't clipped... you're busted.
I asked if she had a fillet knife, not just for the fish, but for cutting stringers from your paracord, one per every five red salmon, and one for a king salmon. I also mentioned the knife in re. to cutting the safety rope with which she will tie herself off to a rock or tree, in case she falls in, and to cut a longer piece of paracord to tie the base of her 12-foot handle, in order to brace it against the current, whether a back-eddy or a standard downstream current. "Ooops!"
I didn't ask her about pitons to hammer into the rocks to tie off to if there wasn't a rock or tree to tie either herself or her net to. Nor did I ask about basics like toilet paper, or a lighter to burn and seal the ends of her ropes.
So, it was a night of worry and there's no cell phone connectivity down there. She can afford a satellite phone like I carry, or even a cheaper SPOT satellite beacon and texting system, but she doesn't have either one.
"Learned from the best"? Maybe, but I'm wishing she'd paid better attention to what I was teaching back then. Make lists before any trip, especially into remote or semi-remote areas, and double-check them. Triple check them, even.
So hopefully she gets a smidgeon of telephone connectivity back when she returns to O'brien Creek, and can call and say she's OK, and that nothing horrible happens, and she's not checked for her permit being updated.
She's 30 years old, a professional with major responsibilities, and I still find myself worrying like she's fucking 10 years old at times, despite past friction.
Kids, no matter the age, can drive a person toward valium, I swear to fucking God!!
My daughter's ride down through the canyon there in the boat was to depart at about 4:45 AM this morning, AkST.
My daughter hasn't been there since she was 14-16 years old, and I was definitely worried about not being able to meet her there. Who might she get dropped off with? Would she potentially be let off alone and have to be doubly aware in all ways?
She reassured me, "I learned from the best", but that comment, while flattering, didn't appease some serious worry in my head and gut.
There are things we do that we do often enough that the activity and concerns that might arise are 'muscle and thought reflex' to some degree. But not doing something for 1-1/2 decades fails that reflex for some.
I asked her what ammunition she had for her pistol she'd brought with a chest holster, and it was human ammunition; like a hydro-shock. Great for dropping a human lacking Kevlar, but out of that particular gun, with a factory load, probably enough to merely piss off a bear unless a lucky shot occurred, which is less likely when under the influence of adrenaline with only a split second to respond. She had bear spray, though, and that's sometimes the better option, really.
I asked her if she'd brought cash to let the fillet guys take care of her catch for her in a shorter time period than her trying to figure it out after a LONG day's fishing that would work her body pretty hard, and having driven all night, with maybe the help of some Provigil. "FUCK!!" I heard over the phone, but she could stop in Glennallen and get cash from an ATM there maybe.
I cautioned her not to wait until she was totally spent from exhaustion to take her Provigil; it's like pain pills, if you let the pain or the tiredness get ahead of you, then half of the benefit of the medication is spent simply trying to regain 'normal', let alone getting to where you -needed- to be..
I cautioned her that being a little wired and staring at the moving water/current without regularly focusing intermittently on a fixed piece of stable ground can produce what I call 'conveyor belt syndrome', where a person's balance and focus is affected by staring too long at the moving object, whether water or an actual conveyor belt; a hazard when equilibrium becomes affected and a person is perched above fast current and starts moving sideways without realizing it.
I asked her if she had both her fishing license AND her dip-net permit. She had them both on her smart phone, she said. "SAY WHAT??!!", I replied, in exasperation. Having your license on your smart phone is cool, but your dip-net permit has to be in hard-copy, in your possession, so that when a day ends or you cease fishing, you can immediately enter your catch based on date and species. Get caught not doing that, having dip-netted fish and no score card on your permit, can result in a hefty fine, possible arrest (though unlikely), loss of your expensive gear, and seizure of your catch, as well as the possible loss of fishing rights, etc.
She had decent scissors with her to clip the tails as is required by Fish & Game with dip-netted salmon. I reminded her that the tails need to be clipped EVERY time she catches and clubs a fish, not saving up a couple and then clipping them. If you're checked and tails aren't clipped... you're busted.
I asked if she had a fillet knife, not just for the fish, but for cutting stringers from your paracord, one per every five red salmon, and one for a king salmon. I also mentioned the knife in re. to cutting the safety rope with which she will tie herself off to a rock or tree, in case she falls in, and to cut a longer piece of paracord to tie the base of her 12-foot handle, in order to brace it against the current, whether a back-eddy or a standard downstream current. "Ooops!"
I didn't ask her about pitons to hammer into the rocks to tie off to if there wasn't a rock or tree to tie either herself or her net to. Nor did I ask about basics like toilet paper, or a lighter to burn and seal the ends of her ropes.
So, it was a night of worry and there's no cell phone connectivity down there. She can afford a satellite phone like I carry, or even a cheaper SPOT satellite beacon and texting system, but she doesn't have either one.
"Learned from the best"? Maybe, but I'm wishing she'd paid better attention to what I was teaching back then. Make lists before any trip, especially into remote or semi-remote areas, and double-check them. Triple check them, even.
So hopefully she gets a smidgeon of telephone connectivity back when she returns to O'brien Creek, and can call and say she's OK, and that nothing horrible happens, and she's not checked for her permit being updated.
She's 30 years old, a professional with major responsibilities, and I still find myself worrying like she's fucking 10 years old at times, despite past friction.
Kids, no matter the age, can drive a person toward valium, I swear to fucking God!!
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mudballs
Well-known member
...made me grab earbuds
Ella Spell
Well-known member
oh wow man! that is wild brother
im sure she will be ok and as long as she shooting straight she will have a fighting chance
/tell me its a .40 handgun
that sucks that you cant make it but i hope she has a good time and gets a haul
/but you are right man, im not gutting no fish!
i wish her luck on her adventure man!
Ella Spell
Well-known member
moose eater
Well-known member
She's carrying a po-dunk 9mm, a cartridge I gave up for lack of serious stopping power decades ago, even for in-town carry.
As she was driving through the hills and mountains west of Glennallen I was talking to her, window-shopping online for a decent sidearm for bear that would fit comfortably into her somewhat smaller hands and chest holster, and not have so much recoil as to prevent her from wanting to shoot it enough to become proficient.
I/we decided that a 10mm (like my in-town gun, but newer) or a .454 Casull similar in size and weight to the one I custom built for her mother, were the 2 options I'd recommend, though the 10mm I was looking at for her has a stout grip due to magazine size.
I might or might not head down that way on Sunday and go out early Monday morning, as 61,000 salmon passed the Miles Lake sonar last Sunday, and it takes them 7-9 days (on average, depending on water depth and speed of the current in the river) to get up to between Haley Creek and O'brien Creek.
But I'll be calling her cell phone until I wear the numbers off the pad with the acid in my fingertips.
I contained the thoughts in my head last night, not wanting to hurt her feelings or drive her away again, but... Jesus!
--------------------------------------------
A somewhat local woman from Nome, who played for us during legalization fund-raising efforts here in 2000, and maybe in 2004. A real sweetheart of a person.
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Ella Spell
Well-known member
My love's brother got married in 2022 in his mid-60s.
Second marriage for them both.
This was their first dance.
Outdoors under the stars in September.
Totally amazeballs.
{{ G+T }}
Ribbon in the Sky - Stevie Wonder
Second marriage for them both.
This was their first dance.
Outdoors under the stars in September.
Totally amazeballs.
{{ G+T }}
Ribbon in the Sky - Stevie Wonder
