It all began at 6a.m. Speculation was little, determination was high... so we all met at the Talkeetna Tesoro and off we went, Jule, Jason, James, & I, to Honolulu Creek (which I hadn't done at the time, but several reports confirmed it a "worthy go." We loaded boats on the moose meat trailer, and with a bit of pushing and shoving we managed to get the ATV to the top of Little Honolulu Pass via the Hurricane Gulch bear hunting trail. We unloaded boats (which were weighed down w/ camping gear, extra clothes, cameras, and food. Up we went, dragging our heavy boats and busting through late-season snow until we reached the summit of the pass. Down we went, hiking a bit over a mile in wrong direction. Studying the topo map, we turned back and hiked till 9:30p.m., then set up camp just before the rain began falling.
Rain woke us up at 5a.m. the next morning, but shortly ended as we finished breakfast. Breaking down camp, we began the arduous dragging process of our heavy kayaks through the big valley (stopping to rest and watch Jason's silouette chasing 4 Caribou far off in the distance). Then the work really began, dropping into Honolulu Valley via a steep creek w/ several 10-30 ft waterfalls. We continued our "canyoneering" trip, rapelling boats and humans through the steep, slick gorge... which was much more enjoyable than the alder-beatdown we previously received. FINALLY, at 12:30p.m. we reached the creeks edge. I was exhausted, Jason was probably wishing he had brought more food than just 3 lbs of raw meat... no literally, he brought nothing except raw meat, James was beat down hard, and Jule might be the toughest woman in the world to carry a kayak that far in that difficult of terrain.
Shoving off into the water (pretty low) we floated about 15 minutes and eddied out on river-right just above California Ledge(IV). The creek is split in 2 by a large boulder. The right side (runnable at higher water) had a rock in the landing zone. We opted to run the river-left line off a 4 ft. waterall, barely missing a cave rock sticking out from river left. You definitely want your bow pointed right on this drop! Downstream we ran into several more great drops, one powerful one in particular (Slideways - class IV move) where the creek wraps in a nearly 90 degree elbow to the right and drops off a 4 ft. slide sideways. Below this there were several more great drops, and many funs slides & boulder garden combinations, all in the class III range. About 4ish miles of gravel bar shallow floating ended the river (occasionally interwoven w/ a small rapid) until we reached the take-out at the Honolulu Creek bridge.
It would have been fun to put in at Goat Lake, but hiking a kayak & camping gear that far is more than an adventure in itself! Everything was ran though and we'll be back to go higher (the ATV trail goes closer to Goat Lake, but the snow stopped us from continuing.
I'll get pictures posted soon!!

Thanks to everyone that came out and competed, spectated, and volunteered at the festival this year. Everything turned out great. The wedding of James & Debra went smooth, the mass start race provided some carnage, the weather was perfect, the hotdogs/drinks/raffle were free, and the beer was still fairly cold (and free as well:^) We'll see you all next year on the 1st Saturday of June for the 3rd annual Six Mile Fest. Until then, the Nenana River Festival is set for Saturday, August 15th, so make sure to be out there to support the northern paddling community and we can thank Allan Warren for putting it together. I'll get more info on the Nenana River Festival posted soon. Thanks sponsors for your generous donations. As always, everything was free at the Six Mile Fest, including beer, hot dogs, drinks, competition entry, and even the raffle. This wouldn't be possible without our sponsors, so make sure to support them in the future! Thanks everyone.

Hey everyone,

We had the first Six Mile run on the season with a group of 15 paddlers on Saturday, May 2nd!!!!!!!!!!!!! Beautiful day, 65 degrees, sunshine beating down, and no ice bridges or wood!!!

Here's a list of runs that are open & ice free...

* Six Mile Creek's 2nd Canyon
* Six Mile Creek's 3rd Canyon
* Matanuska Lion's Head run
* Little Susitna River

If you know of something that is open, email me @ kayaker35@Hotmail.com and I'll get it posted w/ wood/ice reports.

See you on the water!

Hey Folks,

Exciting news. It's been talked about for quite some time, but now the initation and developmental process has begun to design and construct an artifical whitewater course in downtown Anchorage on Ship Creek, just above the heavily fished area. The course will more than likely be around 900 feet long and include 7 class II+ to III juicy rapids to practive everything from ferrying, hole punching, surfing, all rodeo moves, rolling, etc in. Benefits to the community will be a safe place to learn to paddle easy to moderately difficult whitewater without undercuts or strainers, a Salmon Learning Walkway complete with bike path, picnic tables, new trees, information displays on & about salmon, and labratory areas for students K-12 & college to conduct experiments and tests. The whitewater park can also be used for Whitewater & Swiftwater Rescue Certification classes, for whitewater paddling and rolling classes, and possibly for a local business to open an inflatable kayak/raft/inner tube tour company at the site to rent out and guide tours to tourists in the summer. The salmon habitat will benefit as well, as major improvments to the erosion and irrigation sediment problems will be put in place. I'm very excited about this project and I hope to get your support in the way of emails of any ideas or comments you have to help make this a reality in the near future. Email kayaker35@Hotmail.com with your thoughts. Thanks guys. As always, just trying to keep the community excited in the world of Alaska paddling!

Check out the www.kck.org website for more info.

Come by and watch my attempt at a public presentation. I will be showing the New Horizon video, talking about a new Ship Creek Canyon access proposal for the military base, and doing a powerpoint presentation including plans of the new and upcoming Ship Creek Artificial Whitewater course in downtown Anchorage. Be at the Lousacc Library at 7p.m. for the show, free of charge. The Alaska Whitewater guidebook will be for sale there, as well as the New Horizon video if I can get enough copies. See you guys there!

Pool Changes as of April 16th in Anchorage for open kayak & kayak polo

Public kayak time will move to East High East: 4/16/09 - 5/28/09 730 - 900 pm $5 rentals available.

*Tuesday @ East High School will be open paddling

*Thursday at East High School will be polo:

*H2Oasis Waterpark Thursdays, $20.00, 730 - 900 pm

For more info, contact Jim Gonski of Alaska Kayak Academy 907-746-6600 www.kayakcenterak.com

Tim,

Alaska Kayak Academy will start open kayaking and beginner kayak lessons at the H2O Oasis Waterpark on Thursday, November 6th at 7:30 pm to 9 pm. $10 admission. $10 boat rental. $15 boat rental and instruction. This continues every Thursday throughout the winter.

Also, they offer winter/summer kayaking instruction & trips, including guided inflatable trips in the class III range.

Click on the "LINKS" page to link to their site.

The boys arriving for the big day. Jason, J.D., Xavier, Timmy, & Obadiah.

Xav running the 1st drop at the put-in (Juneau Falls in the background).

The typical drop (about 1/2 way into the run).

Juneau Creek, one of many, lies at the southern end of Resurrection Trail near Cooper Landing, AK. Juneau Falls (the seemingly main attraction) is a 70 ft. falls (not runnable by even immortals) and happens to be your put-in. Put in directly below Juneau Falls on river-right down a steep game trail (no ropes needed if you're a kayak carrying pro) and shove off into the river to run the 1st 6 ft. riverwide clean ledge. Another 15ft slide is run far river left immediately downstream. From there on out, several fast, bouncy, rocky boulder gardens mixed with a several fast smooth sluices make for a good bit of scouting. There is a fair amount of wood that must be portaged around. About 3/4 the way down the run you will encounter the largest drop on a left-hand bend. Run this drop far river-right up top and try to stay upright on the 20 ft. tall broken ledge (3 tiered). Immediately downstream the crux of the run is encountered. A 4 drop series back to back of solid class V/V+ awaits you. This incredible drop starts w/ a 6 ft. tall slide (run left of center) into a 6 ft. tall off-vertical ledge that can still be boofed. The creek then makes a sharp left bend and drops a 10 ft. ledge (boof right) then take the left half of the river below for the final 8 fter. After this the creek has several more nice drops. So, there's a description. A good bit of wood to portage and a bit bouncy/manky boat abusy in a few spots, but overall, the last half of the run leaves you with fairly fond memories of Juneau Creek.

- pictures coming soon (Timmy J, JD Batove, Obie Jenkins, Xav Engle, & Jason Whitman)

Check out Debbie & James's new website

www.susitnasledandkayak.com

You can buy there kayaks and kayaking gear there and check out more info!

I RECEIVED THIS MESSAGE FROM MARK REGARDING SHIP CREEK... THIS ALREADY TABOO RUN JUST BECAME MORE TABOO:

"While making an attempt to run Ship Creek up Arctic Valley Road on Wednesday this week, I was stopped by Fort Richardson MP. They informed me that the entire Ship Creek if currently off limits to paddling.

The MP was very polite and informative. He said this closure comes from the base commander and is a result of folks running the dam spillway, as it sets off alarms via pressure sensors on the spillway. This dam provides an impoundment for Fort Richardson's drinking water (and is a backup water supply for Anchorage), so there is sensitivity to allowing any access to the impoundment, along with the liability factor of allowing folks to run the spilllway.

Fortunately, a number of ranking military officers are also whitewater boaters, so they are working to reopen the stretch of river from the Arctic Valley put-in to just above the dam. The takeout will be different than now, which is currently the bridge over Snow Hawk Cabin Road. Instead, the take out will start where the dam is now portaged, and will require a hike up the Biathalon Range Road to where it intersects Arctic Valley Road. It is a long uphill hike to Arctic Valley Road from here, but it is on a road. Small price to pay for being able to paddle this stretch.

Anyway, the MP stated that it would help to have paddler support to provide backup for opening this stretch of whitewater(ie. Prove there is a community of boaters that would use this stretch of whitewater).

They also stated people need to get a recreation permit from Fort Richardson before boating this stretch (assuming and hoping they open it up again). This is just like the recreation permit needed to paddle lower Eagle River thru Fort Rich. Very east to get, takes 15 minutes(assuming no line), good for two years, and you get a rec pass and a vehicle pass, and you'll never need to stop at the shack again to get a day pass (while the passes are still current anyway). To get the rec pass at the guard shack, you just need license, veh registration and insurance. They want people to use and recreate on military land, they just want it done in a responsible manner.

I have the MP's contact info, and I plan on calling him and asking what specifically he needs for boater support (a signed petition from us?, etc). Once I find out, I'll repost and let folks know how they can help. In the meantime, do NOT run Ship Creek until this issue is resolved, or else we could jeapordize future access to the stretch of river, and spread the word to other boaters that don't use this forum. Those that have boated this stretch know it is way too valuable a stretch of river to lose (high quality class IV and very close to Anchorage, convenient when gas prices are so high). Also, if you have any interest in helping in this effort, get in touch with me.

Attached are the online river descriptions that will need to be changed for takeout directions.

http://www.americanwhitewater.org/content/River_detail_id_4131_
http://www.eddyflower.com/RunDetail.aspx?RunId=29

And finally, he mentioned the stretch of Ship Creek below the dam and through military base is also off limits, and will likely remain so. He did state that if folks feel this is a stretch of river people would like open, they can ask. However, a private drowned on this stretch 2 years ago, and it has been closed since. Lots off wood in bad places on this stretch, and it goes past two golf courses, there are a couple of dangerous structures on this stretch, etc. I'm not inclinded to fight for this stretch. Once Ship Creek leaves Elmendorf at the Fish Hatchery, it is open to boating again, so the playspot downtown is not affected by this closure.

Mark Corsentino