Alaska River Guide: Canoeing, Kayaking, and Rafting in the Last Frontier

by Karen Jettmar

Overview

The rich tapestry of Alaska is threaded together by 365,000 miles of waterways, from cascading mountain streams to meandering valley rivers, from the meltwaters of glaciers to broad rivers that empty into the sea. This guide profiles a wide variety of rivers from all over Alaska, concentrating on trips for intermediate boaters, and including a few major expeditions for the experienced river-runner. A section on gear outlines what to take into the backcountry.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780897327978
Publisher:	Menasha Ridge Press
Publication date:	11/13/2011
Series:	Canoe & Kayak Series
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	328
File size:	20 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Karen Jettmar is a river guide, freelance writer, and photographer whose work has been published in magazines including National Geographic, Sports Illustrated, and Time. She has organized expeditions by canoe, kayak, raft, backpack, and skis in remote reaches of Alaska and Canada for more than 25 years.

Read an Excerpt

COLVILLE RIVER

The Colville is the largest river draining the Arctic Slope of the Brooks Range and is one of the most remote rivers in Alaska. It flows east out of the western end of the Brooks Range, then bends north to Harrison Bay on the Beaufort Sea 428 miles later, draining an area of 24,000 square miles.

For about 300 miles, the river traverses treeless arctic foothills and ridges. The lower river meanders over the treeless arctic coastal plain, a vast expanse of wet tundra, winding streams, and thousands of lakes, imparting a stunning sense of wide-open space. High cliffs along the river provide excellent habitat for raptors, and the Colville is one of the most productive peregrine falcon areas in Alaska. The lower Colville (the delta) continues to be a traditional fishing area for residents of Nuiqsut and Umiat.

The Colville area was originally inhabited by inland Nunamiut Eskimos, who lived in the Brooks Range along the upper reaches of the river and some of its tributaries, and Kuukpikmiut Eskimos, who inhabited the lower Colville. These groups hunted seal along the coast in spring or early summer and spent fall and winter either fishing or up in the mountains hunting.

Between 1850 and 1890, sweeping changes were triggered by the whaling industry. The Nunamiut unwittingly hastened the depletion of caribou as a food source by shooting caribou for the whalers. With subsistence resources dwindling, and alcohol and disease making destructive inroads, many people abandoned their migratory patterns and moved into coastal settlements. When commercial whaling faded, fur trapping, particularly for arctic fox, became an important economic activity for the Natives, and the federal government instituted reindeer herding to replace dwindling caribou populations. Trading posts sprang up all along the coast. With the discovery of oil in Prudhoe Bay in 1967, and the subsequent passing of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, 27 Inupiat families left Barrow to lay claim to their ancestral hunting and fishing lands. Where the Colville River delta spreads out before flowing into the sea, they founded the settlement of Nuiqsut in 1973. Now encroaching industrialization on the North Slope threatens their traditional way of life.

Alpine oilfield lies just 8 miles from Nuiqsut. Developed in the late 1990s, and touted as state-of-the-art oilfield technology, its original footprint was to cover just 100 acres. A growing network of satellite fields expands the footprint exponentially, however, with the likelihood that Alpine will serve as the gateway for future oil development throughout the region.

The National Petroleum Reserve–Alaska, which encompasses the Colville River, is managed by the Bureau of Land Management. In the early 1920s, oil-stained sandstone was found in the foothills of the Brooks Range and along the arctic coast, and geologic, seismic, and drilling work was carried out between 1944 and 1953. The abandoned machinery, oil drums, and other detritus that littered the tundra around Umiat for decades seem nearly insignificant when compared to the massive industrial development under way on the Colville River Delta.

RATING: Class I–II. Upper 60 miles, in vicinity of Thunder and Storm Creeks, is Class I–II; all the rest is fast Class I. It is not a difficult river, but due to its extreme remoteness, only experienced wilderness travelers should make the run.

CAUTIONS: Upriver winds.

TRIP LENGTH: 375 miles between Thunder Creek and Nuiqsut; allow 19–20 days. About 250 miles between Kiligwa River and Umiat; allow 14–15 days.

SEASON: June–mid-August.

WATERCRAFT: Raft; canoe or kayak, preferably folding variety due to difficulty in transport of hard-shell boats. Use of a raft below Umiat is not advisable, due to upriver winds and tidal influence.

ACCESS: In—Scheduled airline to Deadhorse (Prudhoe Bay), Kotzebue, or Bettles. Scheduled airline to Deadhorse (Prudhoe Bay), Kotzebue, Nuiqsut, Bettles, or Coldfoot. It is possible to drive the Trans-Alaska Pipeline Haul Road (Dalton Highway) to Coldfoot, or even as far north as Happy Valley, and arrange for charter bush flights out of there. Charter wheelplane to gravel bars in vicinity of Thunder River or Kiligwa River. Floatplane charter to headwater lakes. Out—Take out at Umiat or continue on to Nuiqsut.

LAND MANAGER: National Petroleum Reserve (Bureau of Land Management, Fairbanks); private; state. (See Land Managers section at back of book for address and phone information.)

MAPS: Misheguk Mountain D-2, D-3; Utukok River A-1, A-2; Lookout Ridge A-4, A-5; Howard Pass D-1, D-2, D-3, D-4, D-5; Ikpikpuk River A-1, A-2, A-3, A-4, A-5; Killik River D-2, D-5; Umiat A-5, B-3, B-4, B-5, C-3, D-3; Harrison Bay A-2, A-3, B-1, B-2.

FISH: The Colville and its tributaries support a remarkable diversity of fish, considering its far north location. Twenty species may be found here, including arctic char, chum and pink salmon, lake trout, and arctic grayling. Fish are most prevalent in the mainstem and mouths of the Colville’s tributaries.

WILDLIFE: Caribou, grizzly bear, wolf, peregrine falcon, gyrfalcon, rough-legged hawk, golden eagle, yellow-billed loon.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments     viii
A Legacy of Wild Rivers     2
The Special Challenges of Alaska     5
Whitewater Classification     8
Topographic Maps     10
Choosing the Right Boat     12
Gearing Up     16
Clothing     16
Life Jackets     18
Dry Suits and Wet Suits     18
Basic Gear for Expedition River Trips     19
Safety     24
Solo Travel     25
Cold Water     26
Aufeis and Calving Glaciers     26
Weather     26
Hypothermia     27
River Flow     27
River Conditions     28
Giardiasis     29
Alaska's Bugs     30
Filing a Float Plan     30
Traveling with Children     32
Respecting the Land and Its Inhabitants     35
Group Size     35
Bears and Other Wild Animals     35
Dogs     38
Human Waste     38
Campsites     39
Fires     39
Garbage and Cleanup     40
Hunting and Fishing     40
Wilderness Uses     41
Cultural and Natural Resources     41
Private Property     42
Native Village Life     42
Keeping Alaska's Rivers Flowing Free     44
Alaska's Rivers     43
Arctic Slope     48
Colville River     50
Ivishak River     53
Killik River     56
Northwest Alaska     58
Ambler River     60
Aniuk River     62
Kobuk River     64
Koyuk River     68
Noatak River     71
Selawik River     75
Squirrel River     77
Unalakleet River     80
Yukon Region     84
Alatna River     86
Anvik River     90
Beaver Creek     92
Birch Creek     95
Black River     97
Charley River and Yukon River     100
Chatanika River     103
Chena River     105
Delta Clearwater River     108
Delta River     111
Fortymile River     114
John River     118
Middle Fork Koyukuk River     120
North Fork Koyukuk River      122
Melozitna River     124
Nenana River     126
Nowitna River     130
Porcupine River     132
Sheenjek River     135
Tinayguk River     138
Wild River     140
Southwest Alaska     142
Alagnak River and Nonvianuk River     144
American Creek     147
Andreafsky River and East Fork Andreafsky River     149
Aniakchak River     151
Chilikadrotna River     154
Copper River (Iliamna Lake)     157
Goodnews River     159
Holitna River     161
Kanektok River     163
Kantishna River and Moose Creek     165
Kisaralik River     167
Kuskokwim River     170
South Fork Kuskokwim River     172
Mulchatna River     174
Newhalen River     177
Nushagak River     179
Nuyakuk River     181
Savonoski River     183
Stony River     187
Tlikakila River     189
Togiak River     191
Wood River Lakes System     193
Southcentral Alaska     196
Alexander Creek      198
Bremner River     200
Campbell Creek     203
Chitina River     206
Chulitna River     209
Copper River (Wrangell Mountains)     213
Eagle River     217
Gulkana River, Main Fork, Middle Fork, and West Fork     220
Kenai River     225
Kennicott River and Nizina River     229
Knik River     232
Kroto Creek, Moose Creek, and Deshka River     234
Lake Creek     237
Little Nelchina River, Nelchina River, and Tazlina River     239
Little Susitna River     241
Matanuska River     244
Nabesna River     247
Portage Creek     249
Upper Susitna River     251
Lower Susitna River     254
Swanson River Canoe System     256
Talachulitna Creek and Talachulitna River     259
Talkeetna River     262
Tokositna River     265
Tyone River     267
Willow Creek and Little Willow Creek     269
Southeast Alaska     272
Chilkat River     274
Mendenhall River     276
Situk River     278
Stikine      280
Tatshenshini-Alsek River     284
Glossary     290
Rivers Grouped   Level of Difficulty     293
National Wild and Scenic Rivers and State Recreation Rivers     295
Land Managers     297
Town Services     301
Conservation Groups     305
Related Reading     292
Index     295