The Adventure:

Fall is here in Alaska, and that means more rain, dead salmon, and smoldering wildfires. While those are all true statements, it also means colorful leaves, snow in the mountains, a sense of change, and opportunity for new adventures. Now, the former not sound appealing, but despite all of those elements, today ended up being a dynamic day of paddling and enjoying the beauty of Alaska along the Kenai River and Skilak Lake. In fact, these are the days after which I feel most fulfilled. Days full of new adventure, learning, and laughter with friends.

I don’t packraft all that often, but I’m starting to learn more about my systems and what works. Today, we started out calmly passing drift boats and people fishing, paddled through the canyon, and ended up walking our boats along the shore of Skilak Lake (see video to understand the full experience of walking our boats) before hiking out the Hidden Creek Trail to Skilak Lake Road. Along the way we encountered dead fish everywhere and smoldering and active fire. While passing through one section of the river, Julie commented that it smelled like poop on fire. I agreed, saying that I almost thought it was my ostomy leaking, but realized that it wasn’t the same smell that I’m used to when my ostomy leaks. I can also usually tell if my ostomy is leaking because I feel it. I was confident saying it wasn’t me. I didn’t think much else of the comment as we continued on our way. Now, we spent just under 4 hours on the river and about 2 hours driving home. And it wasn’t until I arrived home that I realized my ostomy had leaked. I shouldn’t have been so cocky that the dead fish/fire smell wasn’t me (although it really wasn’t). I lucked out this time though! It was only a small leak that had dried quickly, and there was nothing on my clothes. A quick change, and it was as if nothing even happened.

Lessons Learned:

1. Reflecting on the leak, I wanted to uncover the cause in order to decrease the likelihood of this happening again in the future. I imagine I may not be so lucky in the future. What I concluded is that I typically wear the Maxi size Coloplast Sensura bags. Because I’m constantly on the move, I eat a lot of food, and therefore have a lot of output, so the Maxi bags seem to work best. However, I currently have a ton of extra Midi size bags, so I decided to wear those this week before ordering more Maxi size bags. Last night, I showered and changed my wafer and bag so that I would have fresh start today and decrease my likelihood of leaks. I wore a Midi size bag to bed and it ballooned overnight multiple times, probably weakening the seal of the wafer. In the morning, I swapped out the Midi bag for my very last Maxi bag (I really need to order more now). While paddling, I wore leggings, pants, and a drysuit. I never stopped to empty my ostomy throughout the day. My conclusion is that the combination of the weak wafer seal and not emptying my bag caused the bag to leak. And with all of my layers, I never smelled anything when my ostomy leaked. The lesson is to stick with Maxi bags when I know I’ll be out adventuring and to practice emptying my bag while wearing a drysuit so that my bag doesn’t fill too much under all my layers.

2. Dead salmon and fires smell completely different than leaking ileostomy poop.

3. Alaska is beautiful even when mother nature is trying to blow you around like a kite.