Alone on Alaska's Kenai River | 80 Mile Float to the Ocean

Well, welcome back to the channel, everyone. We have just arrived here in the beautiful town of Cooper's Landing, Alaska, which sits right on the bottom end of Kenai Lake. And over the next four days, my goal is to float all the way to the ocean. But I have to say, I'm a little bit nervous for this trip because we're gonna have several hazardous areas to navigate through, including real whitewater, and we'll be in thick brown bear country the entire time. So with that said, the stakes are high, but the adventure is big, and I'm looking forward to taking you along with me. Without further ado, the only thing left is to hop in the boat and start floating downriver. I just pulled over to readjust the weight situation in my boat. Now, I'm assuming at some point tomorrow, we'll be traveling through Kenai Canyon Rapids, which is labeled as class three to four whitewater. It will be by far the biggest whitewater I've ever ran in my life, and I'm a little nervous for it right now. So my goal today is just to get as comfortable and as confident as I can and mentally prepare to run the big rapids tomorrow. We're coming through our first riffle here, so I think we're officially out of Kenai Lake, and we're beginning our journey down the Kenai River. We're coming into our first good little rapid here. I have to say, all the feelings are there right now. This is a dream come true, to be rowing the Kenai River on a multiple day float. It's just absolutely beautiful country. We have big rugged mountains with snow caps. The clouds are cutting right off the tops right now. This beautiful blue turquoise water, it's truly incredible. Already, I'm seeing salmon jumping all over the place. I probably won't fish a lot on day one here, and to be honest, my main goal on this trip is to just experience the Kenai River, make it to the ocean, and row through some whitewater. There's a massive school of sockeye salmon right here. You can see they're lined up all the way down throughout. They're a firetruck red color, so they probably wouldn't have the best quality meat, and we're gonna leave these alone, but very cool to see natural reproducing salmon. There's an eagle right here perched on top of this tree, and he's mowing a salmon up there. I don't know what's coming up down here, but it looks a little scary. Wow, incredible mountains. I just saw my first brown bear of the trip. I floated past a small cove, and he was in there fishing. I only saw him for a short moment. I couldn't get a shot of him, but they're around. So far, this river is extremely powerful. It's extremely beautiful and very fun to row, but it is pretty scary in some spots, I will say, and I'm not too far from the canyon right now, so I'm trying to decide if I wanna run the canyon tonight and get down near our next lake that we'll have to cross, or if I'm gonna set up camp above the canyon and then do it in the morning. My heart's beating out of my chest right now because I am nervous to run the canyon. I'm gonna think on it. I feel like I'm walking into Jurassic Park right now. You just know that there's grizzlies around, and you have to accept the fact that they're gonna be walking by your tent all night. It actually looks like there's a nice spot to camp right here, and somebody has built a fire pit before, so this is gonna be us tonight. We have white chicken chili. I do plan to do some good cooking on this trip, but I'm gonna try to keep my scents down as much as I can while I'm in thick bear country because that one we saw upriver could be wandering around at any time. I'm gonna float this small bead that represents a salmon egg that would naturally be washed down throughout the river system and see if I can find a nice trout or a fresh coho salmon that's staging with all these sockeye. Here's a little glimpse at what we're up against tomorrow. That's just the nice stuff, I think. First cast. There's a fish. Oh, I just had a, ah, I just had a fish on my first cast. Oh, that's a fish. That's a fish on. That's a fish. Oh, we got a jumper down there, baby, with a eagle flying over us. First fish of the trip here. We'll see what we have, guys. Oh, nice rainbow trout, all right. Beautiful rainbow trout. I'm gonna send him back home. There he goes. I just peeked my head around this next corner, and we have some big water coming up ahead of us. I have to say, I'm pretty nervous right now for tomorrow. I have never rowed class three or four whitewater, and that's what we have in this canyon, and about four miles of it, from what I understand. Between the bears and the whitewater, I don't think I'm gonna get much sleep tonight, but we're gonna do the best we can and make it downstream, because that's the only way to go. Give me that horizon, baby. We're headed to the ocean. There's a side channel to the river right back behind camp here. I was just back there getting some firewood, and across it, I saw a face staring at me, and a black bear was looking right at me, and then he kept wandering through the bush, so there's definitely bears around camp. Time to get in our tent. Well, so far, so good. No bears coming through camp. Thankful for that, and now we're ready for a big day tomorrow, so I'm gonna focus on getting a good night's rest, and we'll see you first thing in the morning. No bears visited me last night, so I'm thankful for that. We're gonna have two hazardous areas to navigate through. One will be Kenai Canyon Rapids, and then the second will be Skeelack Lake, which will be about a 14 to 16 mile open water crossing, and that lake is notorious for building big waves with these erratic mountain winds. My heart's pounding, baby. Here we go, boy. Yeah, baby. Yeah, baby, woo-hoo-hoo! Look at all the sockeye salmon! Looks like we have a big drop with some big waves coming up. Yeah! I might be through it! We have peach cobbler and eggs for breakfast. I'm refueled, feeling good. Our next stop will be Skeelack Lake. I'm just coming down into Skeelack Lake here, and from what I can see, we don't have big waves, so I'm very thankful for that, but it will be quite the challenge to get across this lake. 14 miles of open water is about to begin. It's a pretty special feeling to be here right now. The scenery is absolutely stunning. There are bald eagles everywhere. I can see salmon that are chewed up all along the banks as I floated through, so I'm sure there's a lot of brown bears in this area. I'd love to spend some more time here, but right now, the lake is calm, so I think it's really important that I start to utilize this calm weather and begin my journey across Skeelack Lake here, and then hopefully I can slow down and start to do some more fishing, but this is just an incredible experience. The blisters are coming out, and my arms are feeling it, and as you can see, it looks like we're beginning to leave the mountain range now, but the scenery on Skeelack Lake has just been absolutely beautiful. All different kinds of rock formations, small islands. I saw two bears and just countless eagles. We still have, I think, about nine more miles left to get across Skeelack Lake, so I have my work cut out for me. We're going backcountry bison bowl. I'd really like to do some good cooking tonight, but after these long days, it's really hard to have the energy to cook a big meal, so these freeze-drieds do well sometimes. I'm so dang hungry. It's about 6 p.m. right now, and I can finally see the outflow where the Kenai River continues down to the ocean, and that will be the next chapter of this adventure. That's a fish. Looks like a big sockeye on the twitching jig. Look at that. I'll send her home. Oh, it's a big sockeye again on the twitching jig. I'm trying to catch a silver salmon, but look at this. It's the second one I've caught, and this thing just hammered it. The second one on a twitching jig. Whoever says sockeye salmon don't bite, obviously doesn't know what they're talking about. I see a gravel bar back here with a little open area, so I'm gonna go investigate it and see if we can set up camp there. I don't know about all this. I'm seeing salmon carcasses and I think bear tracks. There are beat-down game trails all throughout here, and there are a ton of salmon skeletons all on the shore, so I don't think I'm gonna set up camp here. Back on the hunt for a camp spot. Let's find something with a little less bear sign. I'm gonna check out this gravel bar here. There's big bear tracks in this hole. Looks like a bear dug a hole to potentially bury a fish or something. There's a massive pile of grist poop right there. Onward, I'm not camping here. So far, I don't see any bear tracks on the bank, and I don't see any chewed-up salmon, so that's good. Let's go up here and check it out. This looks like a beautiful site to camp. Looks like somebody's had a bonfire there. There's even a couple of semi-fresh boot tracks, so I think I'm gonna call this home for the night. It's starting to get late. It's as good of a spot as any. I have to say, I was a little worked up when I first arrived at this spot, just from checking out those few other spots and having an absurd amount of bear sign. I'm just really glad I found a nice campsite. But not only did I find a nice campsite, this is one of the most magical campsites I think I've ever been at. Straight in front of me here, the reflections on the water from the mountains and the clouds, it's changing a different color scheme every 20, 30 seconds. We have a beautiful backdrop of the mountains here. The clouds are riding low on them. There's swans just across the river. There's loons. I've been watching eagles fly by. It's truly beautiful, and I'm very thankful to be here right now. Tomorrow, I'm planning on fishing hard, so I'm gonna get up early, but I'm gonna try to soak in this as much as I can right now. Let's get this fire going for a minute. It's chilly this morning. Need to warm up. Good morning, and welcome back. Look at this beautiful sunrise this morning. The loons are going behind me. Coffee's percolating. There's salmon jumping all over the place. It's gonna be a beautiful day. So excited to fish hard today. Haven't been able to fish much so far on this trip, but I'm gonna hit it hard today, and my goal is to catch one coho salmon to cook up over the campfire tonight. So that's the plan, and that's the goal. All right, here we go. Just a beautiful morning. It's time for maple syrup and coffee. Nice, healthy double splash. Fish. Fish on. I got a silver on, baby. I gotta get back on my anchor, though. Oh, fish on, baby. Fish on. It's a nice fish. Oh, it's a nice fish. Might be a sockeye, but I think it's a decent-looking sockeye. Oh, there we go. Nice. First fish of the morning, baby. It's a nice sockeye. I'm gonna keep this fish, I think. It's a really good-looking sockeye. Well, that did not take long this morning. We have a beautiful sockeye, and this is actually a really good-looking fish, so I think I'm gonna keep this fish for dinner tonight, and to be honest, I'm more excited about eating a nice sockeye than I am a silver. I just wanted one nice salmon to eat at dinner tonight, and he came early in the day, so everything from here is just a bonus. There's a fish. Oh, nice silver. Nice silver, baby. Oh. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, yeah. Oh, my gosh, this fish is going bananas. We're doing the Coho Rodeo. Oh, it's a beautiful fish. Oh, my gosh. Oh. There we go. Coho in the net. Yeah. Hell, yeah. What an absolute beautiful fish. Look at how chrome and fresh that thing is. That's a beautiful Coho salmon right there. I already had my fish to eat this morning, so I'm gonna put this guy back, but that sure was a fun fight. There he goes, back to his home. Fish on, baby. Another fish, another fish. A rowdy pink salmon this time. Fishing's good this morning. It feels good to be catching salmon on the Kenai, baby. Oh, yeah. I almost hit a beaver with my jig. I'm getting fired up. I gotta slow the boat down. Fish, fish on. Fish on. Look at this now. This is a red sockeye. Look how red this sockeye is. This guy is fire truck, fire truck engine. Look at this little rascal. There we go. He's in the hoop. Look at this little beauty. That is a cool looking fish right there. Let's send him home. And there he goes, back to his home. Fish, fish, fish on. Oh, what do we have? What is this fish now? Oh, it's a nice rainbow trout. It's a really nice rainbow trout. Oh, oh, he's in the net. He's in the net, baby. Beautiful rainbow trout. Oh my gosh. This fish is gorgeous. We're on fire this morning. Beautiful Kenai River rainbow trout. Let's send him home. Look at that fish. There he goes, back to his home. What an incredible day. Silvers, sockeye, big rainbows. We're knocking it out of the park this morning. I'm gonna pull over and scout this one. This one looks pretty big coming up down here. Come on in the boat, sockeye brother. Naptown. I just made it through Naptown Rapid, which I believe was the last hazardous section on the stretch of river. So now we just have a long stretch to the ocean. I call this the Kenai Classic. It's really nice to have a real meal. Well, I had a good lunch. Now it's time to keep covering some river. Just hooked a decent fish. Oh, it's a big rainbow. Oh, it's a nice rainbow, baby. This is a nice one. Oh my gosh. There he goes, there he goes, there he goes, there he goes. I want this one. Oh my gosh. Oh, not quite, not quite, not quite. Just about in the hoop. Oh, come on, buddy. This fish is feisty. Oh, come on, bud. Oh, come on. Oh, just can't get him yet. Oh, he's in the net, baby. Oh my gosh, big rainbow. Big rainbow. This fish is insane. What a beautiful rainbow. This guy took me on a ride. Beautiful fish. I'm gonna get him back in the water now. I need to take a minute after that one. That fish was a battle. He did not want to come to the net. I was going through some fast water. I was trying to avoid sweepers turning in circles. Another boat was ripping up river past me, but I got the fish in the net, baby. And we have another stud rainbow today. I saw a silver jump in the side channel and I think I see a lot more in there. So I'm gonna bust out the fly rod and see if I can get some fly action. Oh, something just slammed it on my first cast. Oh, big silver just shot around. Fish, fish. There's a silver, baby. Oh my gosh, this fish is going nuts. What a beautiful silver. Oh my gosh. Now that's some chrome right there. I'm gonna send this guy home, but what a fun fight. Let's get our sockeye cleaned up and we'll get them ready for dinner tonight. Wow, that's a beautiful flay right there. I got my fly rod fish, so I think it's time to head down and go find a campsite. I might camp right here. Well, this looks like a pretty nice spot to camp here for tonight. I don't see any fresh bear sign around, so I'm gonna get camp set up and then we'll cook up our sockeye. The nice thing about a drift boat is you can bring a lot of gear. I brought some firewood just in case I couldn't find any one night. And it's gonna be perfect tonight. It's time to get our fish on here. We're going olive oil, roasted garlic and herb, salt and pepper. That's all it's gonna take. One of my favorite simple fish recipes, tinfoil over the fire with some rice. You can't go wrong. Well, our fish is on here and I am really looking forward to this meal tonight. It is such a treat for me to be able to enjoy a fresh sockeye meal. I was not expecting to catch a sockeye on this trip. And since we've been out West, the sockeye run is pretty much diminished. So I'm gonna enjoy this tonight and we're gonna have a lot of fish. I'm thankful that it's cool tonight though. So I'll be able to preserve that fish overnight in my food barrel and then have a nice river snack tomorrow. Oh my goodness. Look at that. My mouth is watering right now. It looks like it's done all the way through. Let's give it a go. Wow. I'm so thankful for this fish. I'm thankful for this trip. I'm thankful for this day. I'm thankful for all of you who enjoy these adventure videos and help me so I can keep coming out and experiencing these experiences. This is incredible. We have a whole sockeye salmon fillet here. It's disappearing before my eyes. We're headed to the ocean. Give me that horizon. With the maple syrup. Hey guys. Good, are you getting them? No, not yet, huh? Okay. Well so far I'm making great time this morning. I'm just about to pass under the Sterling Highway Bridge which is right in the town of Saldatna. And I believe we have 21 river miles left to the ocean. So I'm gonna keep boogieing. There's a whole bunch of seals here so we must be getting near the ocean. There's a whole bunch of seals up in this cove. I can start to smell the ocean as I get further and further down. It's more tidal influence. And right now the tide is just starting to come in. So we're losing current and it's making it difficult to paddle as it's very windy as well right now. But I think I only have a few miles left so I'm gonna keep trucking. We're just about to pass under the bridge that crosses the lower Kenai River just outside of the town of Kenai itself which sits right on the coast here. Yeah, we're making it baby! The Kenai's not going down without a fight. There's seals all over the place. I'm sure that means there's a lot of fish here too but I just can't stop or else the wind will blow me all the way back up river. I made it down into the brackish water here. The tide's ripping in and the wind's blowing out. There's a lot of moving water and I'm just trying to keep the boat straight into it. Come on, baby. Take her home, baby. We're taking it to the house. I can see the takeout. The seagulls are dive bombing me. Hey, get out of here. Hey. This last mile's the hardest mile yet. We made it baby! 80 miles from Kenai Lake to the ocean. We have completed our adventure. That was a gnarly paddle across this inlay here. I couldn't take my arms off the oars for a split second. It was pretty sketchy for a moment but I made it back safe and we completed our adventure.