INTO THE KENAI 215 



timber. Bill had never been farther up the river than 

 the Benjamin Creek cabin, but had been in the country 

 on both sides of it, so he was acquainted with the general 

 lay of the land. We knew that we had to cross the river 

 at the cabin, but we did not know within a mile or two 

 exactly where it was situated. Consequently in diverg- 

 ing to the left and climbing a steep hill, because it was 

 not possible for us to follow the river bed through a deep 

 gorge about five miles above Benjamin Creek, we came a 

 little too far up stream, passing two small lakes which 

 lay on the bench several hundred feet above the river bed. 

 Eventually, however, we made our way down to the 

 roaring stream and located the cabin, which was well 

 concealed in the timber near the opposite bank. The 

 river ran with considerable force over a very stony bed. 

 It was out of the question for us to ford it, and numerous 

 tree stumps on both banks showed that former travelers 

 had cut trees and laid them across the narrow parts as 

 foot logs. Every spring, however, freshets had washed 

 away the slender bridges, and we must construct a new 

 one. It was easy to put a tree across the little channel 

 which separated the northern bank from a patch of rocks 

 in the middle of the stream, but we had more difficulty 

 bridging the main current on the other side. Finally we 

 laid a long, straight spruce tree trunk across a boulder at 

 the narrowest point and by bearing down on the butt 

 managed to push the top across to the opposite bank and 

 wedge the butt firmly between two large rocks. Bill 

 then crossed on this narrow roadway, cut another tree 

 on the bank and we laid it beside the first log. So we 

 reached the cabin, having taken nearly eight hours to do 

 a march that we afterward made in two and one half 

 hours. 



