If we did not know differently it would seem that we are on a lake. The surrounding scenery is anything but disappointing. A lot of folks take out at Noatak, but we are glad to be paddling this part of the river. Thinking we might be done with bear encounters I was not happy when we saw a bear on the shore last night. Thankfully he stayed on his side. Our goal today was to make miles that would put us in good position for our paddle into Kotzebue tomorrow. The weather forecast sounds good and as the evening approaches the winds are calming. We find an island and observe the tidal line. It looks good and even though there are bear and moose tracks, we decide to stay. We bake up some bread and when we see the Danish men we invite them in. They quickly ate the pan of bread. We told them of the weather forecast and they said that they were going to go to the mouth and cross in the morning. The worst mosquitoes of the trip sent us to the tent early, but not before we watched as several rainbows appear in the sky. We are looking forward to our crossing of Kotzebue Sound.
Miles traveled 27
