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| the Greyhawk in her new home, notice the mud puddles |
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| soon to be Folk House |
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| Talkeetna free box, clothier of many locals |
We made our short transition to the new site of the Northern Susitna Instutute, formerly a branch church of the enormous Church on the Rock in Wasilla. In terms of religion, Alaskans lean toward atheism or are devout born again Christians. Either approach seems to work for what Alaska dishes out. After setting up, we helped launch Carlisle's boat and headed up the Talkeetna River to try our luck on the remaining Sockeye. When we arrived we were surprised to see the number of charter boats and fishermen. There is concern by the locals over the fishing pressure being put on this small fishery. These fish have traveled from Cook Inlet, up the Susitna River, into the Talkeetna River and now are making their final surge up the very narrow clear Larson Creek in an attempt to reach Larson Lake where they will spawn and die, a trip of 100 or more miles. Although this seems like a long journey, many fish travel much further to reach their spawning ground. Our fishing was somewhat successful with Bucky catching our dinner. We were pleased to find Sockeye in the river at this late date. We did not see any Silvers during our trip up river, so they are yet to arrive.
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| the launch |
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| dinner |
We powered back down river with our backs turned to the wind and rain. Despite our rain gear, we were pretty well drenched.
It's funny how life works. One minute we're enjoying its many pleasures and the next we are feeling far away from family and friends. We received a call from Val that Sutton and a coworker had suffered falls when the staging they were working on collapsed. Sutton was taken to Burlington with a broken pelvis. Yesterday, it seemed that he would need surgery to stabilize his pelvis. Today, in resident rehab seems like an option. The doctor who would perform surgery is on vacation so they have not received a firm decision on what is to happen next. Sutton was transported from Middlebury to Burlington late yesterday afternoon. His coworker is hospitalized two doors down with a lacerated spleen. We are so thankful that it was not more serious. Maybe moving beside the church was a blessing. I'm sure we will learn more details today.