We launched our canoe just off the Parks Hwy on the Little Susitna River. Prior to starting the paddle, I drove the car 15 miles north to Tanaina Lake and biked back. That way we would have the car at the finish of the paddle trip.

Heading downriver. Most of the river was like this, flat water and very nice paddling. The river snaked a lot, which kept it interesting.

A nice shot of the river. We did see a few people fishing in motor boats while on the river, but it was still a very nice 'wilderness' experience.

We saw a few eagles sitting near the river, probably watching the salmon we could see swimming underneath us.

He didn't seem too bothered by us, but he never took his eyes off us.

The entire length of the river we were concerned about figuring out our location, so that we would not miss the portage to Skeetna Lake. Turns out we didn't really need to worry.

The first portage to Skeetna Lake was a half mile and it was a very miserable half-mile. We did not put on bug spray, and the mosquitoes were horrendous. Once we reached the lake we had too follow a small channel like this to reach the actual lake.

Skeetna Lake was very nice. We saw two loons (here is the first one) and at least four beavers.

Another loon shot. It wasn't until we were in the middle of the lake that we could relax without being eaten alive by bugs. We spent this part of the trip with our rain gear on and our hoods pulled very tight - it wasn't raining, it was just to protect

After 14 miles on the river, then 3.5 miles across 5 lakes and portages, we reached our cabin, Lynx Lake cabin #3. Our cabin overlooked this lake, Baines Lake.

View from the cabin.

Our cabin. We were pleasantly surprised to discover that our cabin was actually mosquito proof. We slept very well.

The next day we headed around the Lynx Lakes Loop to the Tanaina Trailhead. We crossed 7 lakes. In this picture you can see one other group of paddlers, we saw three other groups on the loop today.

We tried portaging a couple of different ways, but we eventually decided that the easiest way was to put on our packs and have me carry the canoe.

Its not the weight of the canoe that is the problem, its your arms that get tired from holding them up.