Author Topic: Rabbit Slough #2 August 16, 2020 15k Day - Lotsa' Pics  (Read 6182 times)

deepmud

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Rabbit Slough #2 August 16, 2020 15k Day - Lotsa' Pics
« on: November 10, 2020, 10:11:09 PM »
I should mention - Rabbit Slough - is the name of the defunct/blocked/stagnant side channel that feeds into Palmer Slough - and the name is really for the mudflats/tidal end of the waterway - but everyone calls it Rabbit Slough. We seem to do that a lot - search "Metal Creek eats Jeep" and you see a tributary of the Knik eating a Jeep - Metal Creek is nearby and is a way better name for a Jeep-eating creek I guess..

Anyway - I had such a great time heading downstream before - I came back and went as far as I had time for - again about 3 hours - which, for a 15k day is moving along pretty good since I had to overcome the mild current returning as much as it helped on the way out. I'd love to make this an overnight - but you have to choose good weather - and sometimes it's mosquitos, sometimes it's flies that bug you. This day was HOT - like, high 70's. 80 just kills me :D .  I saw several groups fishing in a few of the deep pools  - and was amazed by an older couple coming upstream  (ok 80 is the new 60 but they were maybe 70's) and NO SHIT they were on a pair of those Costco Jimmy Styx isups ( I have wondered if they were stable enough for beginners )  the two were dressed in classic tourist gear - those zip-off-leg pants/shorts and "adventure" shirts of synthetic materials. They were dry (so the boards must be not too terrible) and smiling and seemed to be doing just fine getting back upstream - hurray for Costco and getting people out on the water :D

Zara came along again - she's good company - never argues where to go and hardly ever talks back - I mean, she'll give me side-eye :D but that's it, usually :D



« Last Edit: November 10, 2020, 10:14:05 PM by deepmud »

deepmud

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Re: Rabbit Slough #2 August 16, 2020 15k Day - Lotsa' Pics
« Reply #1 on: November 10, 2020, 10:22:21 PM »
Zara was sure I was nuts - she got too warm and she was just sittin' :D

Paddling with the current - it's weird - but not much faster than going against it - the drag of the pressure wave against the bottom or in the weeds seems to be the limiter - it's not like I can do 7mph down and 5 up  - it's more like 5.2 down and 4.8 up - or 5.2 if I push hard upstream. Current is like...1mph. Very lazy :D But that's why it's so great. If you get a good rhythm, you can just cook along in the sweet spot of speed/energy input. Lots of dragonflies on the creek - and they were catching fish! I wish I could capture that. There were clouds of teeeny little salmon fry  - almost the alvin/egg sac size - and if they got to close to the surface - a dragon would snatch one up!

Spiders were running across the stream every so often - getting a big web going was the goal. Poor spiders, too many humans taking out the webs - hazardous for the spiders to make, too - I saw a could get grabbed from below by trout - maybe young salmon/fingerlings.


deepmud

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Re: Rabbit Slough #2 August 16, 2020 15k Day - Lotsa' Pics
« Reply #2 on: November 10, 2020, 10:27:39 PM »
This is all super flat mud plain left by the glacier. The dead stick trees are from the 64 Earthquake - this area dropped about 4 feet and the roots got into the salt - or salt into the roots, I guess - anyway - it's beginning to recover - some small trees, not just grass to the horizon. I'll look for a good aerial photo - Bing is better than Google around this area, using some very high rez images from aircraft.


deepmud

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Re: Rabbit Slough #2 August 16, 2020 15k Day - Lotsa' Pics
« Reply #3 on: November 10, 2020, 10:34:45 PM »
got out into the mud flats - just barely - and looking at those Bing maps - I think there are large swamp/lakes accessable with a small portage. This area is where the duck hunters go often - and there are a few old huts left from the pre-"you can't do that" days :D

Parked and walked around a bit to bring feeling back to my feet - I still need to work on the "moves that keep your feet from going numb"   ::)

Zara loves to run around and smell all the good stuff - she's living her best life, no doubt about it.

We got back in and went a bit further - but the fin was NOT the small one and I was digging in trying to get from channel to channel. I figured I'd done enough for one short outing.

deepmud

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Re: Rabbit Slough #2 August 16, 2020 15k Day - Lotsa' Pics
« Reply #4 on: November 10, 2020, 10:41:07 PM »
Birds - lots of birds - and trumpeter swans in flocks of a half dozen or so every so often. Sandhill cranes come over a bit later on in huge flocks - they like the fields in the area to pick over. Palmer was an experiment in the '30s to give away land and try to get more locally-grown food in Alaska - so there are a lot of hay fields/potato fields - some barley I think. Not that the farms are a great success but some make it work.




deepmud

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Re: Rabbit Slough #2 August 16, 2020 15k Day - Lotsa' Pics
« Reply #5 on: November 10, 2020, 10:47:32 PM »
So - paddling against the current. Not terrible - but I thought I was going to catch up to a canoe full of fishermen (and women :D) - they had a trolling motor - how fast could they be? Then I could steal their wake and have a nice ride! I had them pretty close a couple times - but yeah, who can turn down a race? It was John Henry vs the Steam Drill and I was tired! :D 

BUT - The Steam Drill/Trolling Motor :D got hung up in the weeds on the last corner. I still say their 18ft canoe was part of the reason - maybe their battery was drained :D but I caught em about a 1/4 mile from the launch. Ha! Take that! Of course - John Henry beat the Steam Drill but laid down his hammer and died so I'm glad I didn't have to keep pushing lol

Zara says we kicked their butts!  8)
« Last Edit: November 10, 2020, 10:51:54 PM by deepmud »

deepmud

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Re: Rabbit Slough #2 August 16, 2020 15k Day - Lotsa' Pics
« Reply #6 on: November 10, 2020, 10:59:50 PM »
Met a friend I knew at the launch - so a pic of me!

Maps of the previous run and this one for comparison - and the Bing image with real vegetation. I tried to get my KMZ into a Bing or Microsoft map but no-go.

Bing was rotated off-north to make it fit the available screen better

deepmud

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Re: Rabbit Slough #2 August 16, 2020 15k Day - Lotsa' Pics
« Reply #7 on: November 10, 2020, 11:03:44 PM »
Link to Google Album - i killed the image resolution to get this to fit easily on the Zone. I gave up on the panos so you have to get to the Google to look at those - and a couple short vids. I took a lot more of course than even got into the album - gotta' edit down or lose the audience :D

https://photos.app.goo.gl/1LmFzKLj9a9wc7go6

supthecreek

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Re: Rabbit Slough #2 August 16, 2020 15k Day - Lotsa' Pics
« Reply #8 on: November 11, 2020, 05:40:23 PM »
Looks amazing! Love the conditions and solitude  :)

deepmud

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Re: Rabbit Slough #2 August 16, 2020 15k Day - Lotsa' Pics
« Reply #9 on: November 11, 2020, 06:55:17 PM »
Looks amazing! Love the conditions and solitude  :)

Next season - I'm crossing over into the big swamp/lake at the portage juuuust past where I turned back. I better allow a full day paddling - it looks like just the one arm of lake is over a mile. Should be a ton of waterfowl to see. For sure going to need a shallow water fin option.

 


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