And now for more randomness...

So here is another post that was written some time ago and stumbled upon now that I am trying to get things back up.  This was from one of our adventures in August.  Enjoy!

A Tour of the Rivers.

When we were planning to come here to fort Yukon, we were prepared for the fact that a lot of the diet here consists of fish. And we knew Salmon was a big part of that diet. On Tuesday, August 9^th, the district took all of the new staff at the school for a tour of the town and then for a boat ride up the river.  On the boat ride we were introduced to the Yukon and Porcupine rivers and the amazing power that they have. It is unbelievable how much power it takes these small jon boats to simply keep with the current of the rivers let alone to go up river.

We were taken for a ride around the areas of the river close to town and to a camp at a place called 6 mile. Named so because it is 6 miles up the Porcupine River. This small camp is used by many of the towns in the flats as a summer camp for kids. It is a short hike from the river to the camp. I was told you can get there by land, but I am not sure how, so I will not try. We were introduced to what Rose Hips are and to what High Bush Cranberries look like. Both of these things grow wild around here much in the same way that Raspberries and Blackberries grow in Pennsylvania.

Closer to the end of our river journey we were brought to what is called a “Fish Wheel” This is the way that many local people catch their salmon from the rivers. The fish wheel is a wheel with 4 paddles that is just under 20’ in diameter. This is important because the river is 10’ deep in most places, even just a foot or two from shore. The current of the river turns the wheel and 2 of the paddles are shaped like a scoop with netting in them. As the wheel spins these 2 scoops pick up the fish that are swimming up river against the current and they fall onto 2 boards that are close to the axle of the wheel. These 2 boards are separated so that any young immature fish fall though them and safely back into the river. The larger fish then slide to the end of the wheel where they are deposited into a box where they stay till the owner of the wheel takes them (at least once a day). Most people seem to not run their wheels all the time, but rather only when they are able to go out regularly. This amazing piece of rustic machinery has allowed the people of the area to survive on a diet of the wonderful meat of the Red King Salmon and the Silver Salmon.

We ended our boating trip with a Fish feast where we were treated to both smoked and fresh grilled King Salmon and grilled Silver Salmon. These two fish are very different from each other in the way the meat tastes. Personally I enjoy both of them, but I think Joc prefers the King a little more. Having fresh Salmon for the first time over an open fire was amazing. I thought a lot about the fish dinners we used to have in Pennsylvania and how much you would pay for a good Salmon Steak at a restaurant while we were standing here at a fire eating some of the best fish I have had off of paper plates and plastic forks or even just with our fingers. It was an amazing experience that I hope to repeat again and again.