Wild River Fish
We'd just strap the wheelchairs to the raft to float the river.
On August 12, 2010, eight friends loaded into tiny float planes and flew into Ongivinuk Lake, located in the remote Togiak NationalWildlife Refuge in southwest Alaska. They were out to raft and fish the Ongivinuk River to its confluence with the Togiak River, an adventurous trip to be sure, but not much different that any of the hundreds of trips similar to this which are completed each year. What was different was that, out of the eight participants, two were paraplegics, two were amputees and one was legally blind.
Our 2010 trip followed on the heels of the 2009 trip when we proved that wheelchairs can belong in the backcountry. We flew in to the headwaters of a river that had never been fished because, after landing in the float plane, two portages had to be negotiated before reaching the fishable portion of the river. It was a big bite to chew but the trip was a success and laid the ground work for trips to come.
Report from Wild River Fish-2009
Report from Wild River Fish-2010
Vijay would roll his chair right out in to the river to catch fish.
