We cannot remember exactly when this happened, but Quent was at work one day months before this trip when he was talking to Steve Patton. Steve was feeling discouraged because it looked like they were going to have to cancel a paddling trip down the Stikine River because they didn't have enough people to go. It was probably at that time that Quent asked to borrow a phone and then he called me up and told me about Steve's predicament, and then asked if I would be interested in going on the trip. Without much thought, I said, "Sure!" And then Quent invited some folks from Wrangell. So now Steve had enough people. We began to make plans. We began to practice paddling. When Quent took us out into the ocean in the canoe and there were choppy waves, I thought he was trying to get rid of me. When he said we would have to paddle for at 1-2 hours a time I thought it was asking too much. But we did it anyway, and I'm so glad because it helped us for what was ahead.
In Ketchikan, we planned our meals for the trip. We shopped. We packed. We took the vehicle on the ferry with us and showed up in Wrangell ready to go. But wait, let me back up to about a month or so before the trip when I (Christina) began to have doubts. I think the doubts started coming when we had dinner with Steve and his family and he reminded me that this wasn't the first time they would have a female on a trip like this. And so after that I thought, "Can I, a female, handle this?" I tried to talk myself out of the trip, but then I realized that I had committed to this. I needed to stop worrying. No more dwelling on "what ifs". I told myself to 'buck up and just do it!' And I'm SO glad I talked myself back into this trip because it was simply wonderful!
After a night's stay in Wrangell, we all met at the summer float dock where Breakaway Adventures would be taking us up the river about six hours to Telegraph, British Columbia, where we would then paddle down the Stikine River 160 miles back to Wrangell.
In Ketchikan, we planned our meals for the trip. We shopped. We packed. We took the vehicle on the ferry with us and showed up in Wrangell ready to go. But wait, let me back up to about a month or so before the trip when I (Christina) began to have doubts. I think the doubts started coming when we had dinner with Steve and his family and he reminded me that this wasn't the first time they would have a female on a trip like this. And so after that I thought, "Can I, a female, handle this?" I tried to talk myself out of the trip, but then I realized that I had committed to this. I needed to stop worrying. No more dwelling on "what ifs". I told myself to 'buck up and just do it!' And I'm SO glad I talked myself back into this trip because it was simply wonderful!
After a night's stay in Wrangell, we all met at the summer float dock where Breakaway Adventures would be taking us up the river about six hours to Telegraph, British Columbia, where we would then paddle down the Stikine River 160 miles back to Wrangell.
A group photo, including our jet boat guides, before we took off up the river.
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