Chatanika River II

Was up at 7am wednesday morning. Didn't sleep too much first night out, normal for me, especially after a hard days ride. I was a little sore and tired so i figured i'd lay low for the day. Collect a lot firewood, rest, and eat. I also wanted to check out some of the valley and see what else was around. After breakfast i collected a bunch of firewood til lunch time, ate lunch and then took a walk down one of the other trails thru the valley. After my stroll i made it back to camp and layed down for a nap. After my nap i was planning on starting up a fire for the rest of the afternoon into the evening, going to bed early, getting up early breaking camp and heading back up to Murphy Dome. About an hour into my nap i heard some snowmachines go right by my camp on the trail then across the river. So i got dressed and got out of my tent to see what was going on. I saw a couple snowmachines stopped at one of the cabins across the river. I milled around for a few minutes, went to the bathroom then was going to head across the river to meet whoever was there. By the time i was going to head over there i saw a couple guys get on their machines and head down the river. After that i decided to make a fire and chill out for the rest of the evening. This is where things get interesting. After hanging around the fire for a few hours i looked across the river and saw smoke coming out of the stacks of one of the cabins. I figured that someone was coming back to the cabin eventually. Around 7pm i heard snow machines off in the distance and they were getting closer. I kept an eye on the cabin across the river then one of the snowmachines pulled up and i went over, i could make out a person wearing Carhart overalls with a handgun strapped to his waist. I went to introduce myself. As i approached someone saw me and was making their way toward me, Ralf? Holy cow it was Ralf! And he said what are you doing here? I said i was staying in a tent across the river and he said not anymore, pointed at his cabin and said your staying here now. This was just unreal, i had no idea he was going to be down here. And to find his cabin was a shot in the dark! Then Travis pulled up on his snowmachine. He knew i was going to be out here but didn't expect to see me down there. So they fed me dinner and i met one of his "neighbors" from down the river, also with a 6 gun strapped to his waist. Man it's like the wild west out here! We talked into the evening then i grabbed my sleeping bag and crashed in his cabin for the night. Today i have few more videos of the area and some pics of Rlafs hostel and cabin, cabin on the left and hostel on the right. And some pics of the inside of his cabin. It is 2 story building but i didn't get a photos of the second level, it has 2 rooms and a huge water tank and on demand water heater for running water. More of Ralfs property and area to come.