Talkeetna River - Wilderness Canyon Whitewater River e-Guidebook

The Talkeetna River lives up to its reputation as one of the premier remote wilderness river trips in North America. Named The River of Plenty by the native Athabascan Indians because the Talkeetna was an essential food cache for them. The epithet still holds true today as Alaskans and visitors alike gather at its banks for the plethora of wildlife and fish, but Talkeetna is more commonly thought of as The Place Where Three Rivers Meet as the Susitna and Chulitna Rivers converge as well. Starting from its source high up in the Talkeetna Mountains, at its namesake glacier, the river runs fast and cold down into a wide, ice aged carved, u-shaped valley. Multiple clear water creeks flow in between the headwaters and Yellowjacket Creek and render the river a milky emerald green. The glaciated peaks of the range will be visible on the flight, but at the put-in, precipitous lower peaks with diverse geological coloration and thick spruce forests create an amphitheater view. Huge amounts of Pacific salmon, all five varieties, make their way from Cook Inlet up the Susitna River into the Talkeetna to spawn in its crystal clear tributary streams. Countless bald eagles flock to the drainage because of the salmon and are a common sight soaring above the river or perched high in trees. A high concentration of grizzly and black bears also roam the valley and surrounding mountains, feeding intermittently on the differently timed runs of salmon and the numerous varieties of wild berries in the forest and on the tundra carpeted mountain sides. In the 24 mile braided section between Yellowjacket and Prairie Creeks the river bed is wide and the alpine setting predominates, a perfect habitat for caribou to wander.

Prairie Creek is the first of five sizeable tributaries in this 70 mile section of river. A cold and clear freestone stream, Prairie Creek flows down from Murder Lake and supports large runs of salmon, viewable in the shallow waters. Murder Lake is another fly-in option, but because of the strong salmon runs in this low volume creek, bears are numerous and often midstream, so the 8 mile float down from the lake to the confluence should be emphatically avoided except in early June before the Kings or mid September after the Silvers, (expect to portage log jams anytime). Below Prairie Creek the river becomes single channel and the ridge lines slowly start closing in. Anxiety builds as the minutes tick by and each corner is rounded but the renowned granite walls of the Talkeetna Canyon dont come into sight. A couple of class three rapids provide a warm up and then about an hour below Prairie Creek the river turns left and a solid rock wall with a distinct horizon line comes into view, the obvious scouting point for Entrance Exam, Toilet Bowl and Rock Garden.

Eddy out on the right and follow the trail up to the top of the 100 foot high vertical walls to see the most difficult rapids on the river. Entrance Exam is a river-wide hole, reminiscent of Lower Bujagali Falls on the White Nile, and is usually run left to avoid recirculation, and flushes straight into Toilet Bowl, a 90 degree right hand turn off a rock wall with powerful eddy lines. A good line or quick recovery is essential to make the intricate moves around the center stream house rock in Rock Garden as the river rages over some big drops. Fortunately, this most difficult section has about a mile of class II boogie water to recover in if any mishaps occur, though swimming through Rock Garden would be a fairly horrendous venture, albeit safer than swimming in the canyon proper. After a mile the gradient picks back up, rock walls close back in and a continuous 13 mile roller coaster ride ensues. Class IV throughout because of the gradient, scattered rocks and massive holes, the Talkeetna Canyon is truly one of the most fun whitewater experiences to be had but would increase to a Class V puckerfest at high water. Eddies are numerous for a kayak, as are eddy service waves, some world-class, but relatively few exist for a raft and at high water a relief oarsman might be in order. The scenery in the canyon is absolutely breathtaking as well, if your eyes arent glued to the water, with scores of small creeks pouring in and forested banks giving way to fern covered rock walls and rainforest-like vegetation. Bobbysocks, a near river-wide ledge with huge haystacks leading out from it makes staying to the inside of corners absolutely essential. Soon the False Gates are entered, a narrow constriction of rock walls, followed by a couple more rapids then come the Gates, vertical rock walls rising straight out of the water nearly 200 feet distinctly marking the end of the canyon.

Iron Creek comes in on the left shortly after the Gates and then about an hour later Disappointment Creek converges from the right, a gorgeous campsite with tremendous fishing for not only salmon but beautiful Brook and Rainbow Trout as well. Bears are a common sight at Disappointment as well so continued care to keep a clean campsite is requisite. Below Disappointment the river turns back into a braided float and jet boats will be encountered as fishermen and hunters ply the waters on their way to respective camps and cabins. The Sheep River enters somewhat inconspicuously on the left, adding about a third of volume but with the decrease in gradient the extra water does nothing to speed up the float back to Talkeetna. Log jams are prevalent in this 30 mile stretch but channels through are easy to find. 5 hours of floating will lead to the take-out on the beach at the end of Main Street and burgers and beer at the West Rib.