our 1st casualties

this evening our 1st casualties arrived. 3 brothers from las vegas. one is an atty, one a paralegal and one owns a jewelry store. these guys have no idea what the heck is going on. they have never done anything like this, which is fine, (actually the response i got to the ?, what exp do you have with this type of thing was "well, when i was in the boy scouts, we camped in a cave in the snow"...uh...yeh) but at least do your homework before you show up in the bush to float on an untamed river for 10 days. after i spoke with them for about 15 minutes, i realized that they did not bring waders, a gps, and only 1 fishing pole btw the 3 of them. no gps on a trip like this is asking for trouble. there is a reason we give detailed maps with gps locations on them...because the people who don't use them end up like the SOS guys from jersey. because on the aniak river without your gps readings, you will end up in "deliverance", or "the sunken forest". people who end up in deliverance usually stay there for at least 2 days and have to portage the entire time. so...we're calling these guys our 1st casualties. although this seriously won't happen to them...it's still an accident waiting to happen. today rob, his cousins and louie went fishing all afternoon. i mowed and cleaned gear. wasn't given the option of fishing either. upsets me too because everyone that went caught silvers. and nice ones. maybe tomorrow evening i can go. the weather was superb again today. sunny and warm. the group that came out yesterday gave me 2 cigars..i'm on a roll. they are both new to me and they smell great. a helix and a macanudo - hampton. and they gave the biggest tip that we have received from any group so far and they are my age. we were all very impressed with them. wish they could all be so good. nat and i realized today that we only have 7 wks left here. hard to believe and how the time has flown by. i just can't grasp the fact that in 7 wks i will have been here 5 days short of 5 months. time flies. before you know it, it will be the holidays. don't even want to go there..it's august for goodness sakes.