aniak river rescue

another very, very long day. seriously haven't sat down for more than 1 hr since 7:30 this morning. ty and i were so busy. our 2 float guys left this morning, and we were supposed to be without clients tonight, however that changed after rob flew some extra gear out to a group on the river. but i'll get to that. ty and i had a lot of gear to clean, get ready for a float group tomorrow, ran many errands, had problems with the truck, etc, etc, etc. the day was non-stop...just when you get in the flow of things, something unexpected happens. bill called this place an insane asylum....too funny and how true!! sometimes all you can do is sit back and laugh. because if you don't, you'll go insane. and on with the story...yesterday when rob was flying, he noticed on the river 2 men and a canoe. the aniak river is not a river you put a canoe on. it's fast, and the water is high...many reasons. anyway, he could tell they were heading toward a log jam but they weren't our guys and really nothing you can do from a plane. these 2 men had emailed rob many months ago getting prices for drop off, etc and decided to go with another company locally. this company literally just drops you off. no maps, no radio, nothing but you and your gear. we provide GPS coordinates, maps, radio, etc...so, when he came back he told us these guys are going to be in trouble. he said he bet that tomorrow (today) when he flew over them they would have SOS scribbled in the dirt. well...they did. twice. their canoe was nowhere near them, nor their gear, shelter, etc. then came the call over the radio from rob to let trooper nelson know their location, etc. rob then flew to one of his camps and loaded up some emergency supplies (matches, lighter, top ramen, pan, av gas, rope, tarp, swiss army knife and water). with these tools, you can survive in the wilderness for days - fyi. back to the story, he flew over and tossed the goods in a dry bag out the plane window. at 5:45, the 2 men, paul and jack arrived here for the night. we had pizza and cookies waiting. they were rescued from alaska state nat'l guard heli and trooper nelson. the men are in their 60's, brothers. one lives in new jersey as a retired prison officer and the other the owner of accidental grant writer.com in buffalo, ny. so, tomorrow at 6am rob is flying ty out to get the canoe (which rob gets to keep as payment) and gather their gear and on their merry way they go. to do more floating, because you know, they are on vacation until the 29th. ha.
and last night, on rob's last gear run, i got to go along to the buckstock pickup location. this is the location where rob picks up floaters on the aniak river. i hadn't been there, and i hadn't really been on the river like that either. it was gorgeous. again an indescribable calmness and beauty. wish more than anything i could float or camp somewhere. but definitely a nice way to end a very busy day! and again tomorrow i get to start the workday at 5:30am! yeehaw!