In the morning we did Grayling, in the afternoon we visited in Anvik, and Holy Cross was the next village along the river. It was summer solstice and we decided to run all night to celebrate. By 9 that night we had entered a side channel of the river. At 9:30 the channel split, by 10 it had split again and soon we were in a 20 mile long channel that was no more than 100 feet wide. This area of the river is totally different than the maps show it, new islands have formed and old islands have disappeared, we were off the map but going the right direction though we didn't know where we were. The water was calm and the seeds of the cottonwood trees coated the water turning the surface white where small eddies and wind lines formed. Large flocks of ducks took off as we came down the river, beavers were out and song birds were in the trees. It was like the sloughs in Florida Bay with absolutely no one around, just a magical run on the night of solstice. By 11 we popped out into the main channel of the river and the waters surface was as glassy as ice, soon we passed a rocky point and a fish camp with some people sitting outside. Shouting hello and waving we crossed to the next point and entered the hidden approach to the village of Holy Cross. About a mile outside of town we tucked into a small river mouth for the night. It was 12:15. The sun was still up.
