Went down to Black Rapids to do some survey work on the Delta River. My friend Mike from Glenallen met me there (Busted...6/13/10). The river looked pretty high, due to the late breakup this year, so we decided to try the upstream survey first. The channel above Phelan Creek is a lot wider, so the water's less turbulent (fewer standing waves) to navigate. We had to find a new place to launch the boat, since the channel had shifted and filled in the old spot, but then we made it up to the gaging site, completed the survey and returned with no problems. Here's an older photo of the Delta R. upstream (as I cleverly forgot my camera).
The most interesting thing occurred afterwards when we were driving the highway towards Paxson. The headwaters of the Gulkana River were in flood stage and had washed out the bridge to the state's fish hatchery. What was normally a tranquil little stream was a raging river (Mike took these pictures).
The next day, the rivers continued to rise to the point that it wasn't safe to launch the boat, so we surveyed what we could from the shore and moved on; discretion being the better part of valor, we'll get'er done next time.
Here's a link to an article about the washout at the fish hatchery: http://www.newsminer.com/news/local_news/gulkana-hatchery-still-standing-after-river-floods/article_f560fdc0-d7de-11e2-ba16-001a4bcf6878.html
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