Logistics
The Talkeetna River can be floated most of June through September. Optimal times are probably late June through August. River water levels can be found on the internet at: http://aprfc.arh.noaa.gov/hg_sc_sites.html
Best craft are probably self bailing whitewater rafts & catarafts. Tub floor rafts can also be used. I have used an inflatable kayak and others have used hard shell kayaks. The river has also been negotiated in open canoes by very skilled paddlers, accompanied by safety boats. Steve Mahay has driven a specially prepared jet boat all the way up, but then he did the same on the class VI, Devil’s Canyon section of the Big Susitna too. Of special note however, Steve was unwilling to drive the boat DOWN the river afterwards. He was hoping video sales would be enough to pay for the helicopter lift back to town.
Logistics for running the Talkeetna River are quite simple. From Anchorage, drive north 120 miles to Talkeetna, pay an air taxi service for the shuttle, and load your gear into the plane. Smaller gear bags are better than larger bags, as they are easier to fit in around the boat and other bulky gear. Flight time is about an hour. After the float ends, park your raft and walk the short distance to the airport to retrieve your car.
Figure on two people per flight in a Cessna 185 if you pack reasonably light. This works if you are floating with 2 people per small/medium sized raft or 3-4 in a larger raft. If your boat is large or if you don’t want to pack light, figure on another flight for the extra stuff. From listening to the pilots, I would assume that most people pay for the extra gear flight, but every trip I’ve done makes it tightly in one flight per two people.
Catarafts are heavier, don’t hold as much gear & take longer to take down, stash in the plane and set up on the riverbank, but they also stow better in the smaller places of a light aircraft. To save space and weight, I once landed at Yellowjacket Airstrip with only the basic parts of a Cat frame. We lashed trees together for the extra pieces. Whatever inflatable you decide to use, consider bringing one of those $30 battery powered air blowers. They’re cheap and one set of four D cells will pump up 2 to 3 rafts. You will need to finish them up with a foot or hand pump though.
There are several places that you can fly into on the upper Talkeetna River. Buck’s Airstrip is only 2-3 floating hours to the confluence with Prairie Creek, for about 80 miles of total floating. Yellowjacket Airstrip is about a half day float above Bucks. Some air taxi operators don’t like to fly into Yellowjacket since it has a lot of loose rocks and bumps, and is also quite narrow with overgrown brush on the sides. As it is a bit farther as well, expect to pay more to be dropped off there. More recently however, Bucks Strip has been partialy washed out and few pilots are willing to fly there as well.
The float from Yellowjacket to Bucks is almost all, shallow braided river that some people want to miss anyway. But if this is a caribou hunt as well as a float trip, landing at Yellowjacket is a must, because that’s where you will most likely find them. Late August and into September are the best times for caribou. Earlier than that and you will have to climb a lot of steep hills to get to them.
Another, and perhaps better option, is to land on Murder Lake, just below Stephan Lake, with a float plane, and then negotiate Prairie Creek down to the Talkeetna River. In fact, this may be a hard shell boater’s only option, since in most cases the FAA no longer allows canoes & kayaks strapped to the outside of planes carrying passengers. You can hire a deHavilland Beaver on floats out of Willow Lake that can carry kayaks inside. Expect to pay more for this.
If the salmon are running, take extreme care on Prairie Creek. There are plenty of bears that don’t like to share river space. There were also some obstructions in the Prarie Creek in 2005. There was one place that had only a small opening on the left, that was wide enough for us to drag out boats through, and about 150 yards below this there were two trees together that had fallen completely across the stream. We managed to drag rafts over the top of them on the left side. Prarie Creek is fast, shallow & narrow with plenty of twists & turns to keep a large raft very busy.
River Description & Features
Most of the float on the Talkeetna down to Prairie Creek is braided river. At times it is shallow, and at other times it bunches up with a few short class I or II rapids. Camping areas are generally easy to find. The water is moderately silty, but with a pleasant blue green tint. Weather conditions and seasons will vary the amount of silt. The percentage of silt seems to decline farther down river, until merging with the very silty Sheep River about 20 miles from the end.
After Prairie Creek the river stays more bunched up and there are a few more class II rapids for nearly ten miles. Camping areas are still plentiful, although perhaps not as easily found.
Rather abruptly the valley walls close in on the river and a canyon begins. The rapids start with Entrance Exam, a nearly river wide reversal. There is a narrow sneak route on the left side. Depending on water level and craft type, all of your boat may not fit far enough left and somebody will get wet. Oh, the pity!
To identify this drop before it sneaks up on you, as the river turns to the left, you will see on river right, a large, high, steep bank covered with shrubs and alders. River left will have a large steep sided gravel bar unless the water is very high. Up ahead the water turns sharply right and disappears over the horizon line and into a narrow slot canyon. You want to get out on river right. There are no eddies here but the current is slower near the edge, so slow down, grab an alder tie your boat to it so you can scout the rapids. There are trails in here that lead you to an overlook of Entrance Exam, and by climbing to the top of the high bank you can see Toilet Bowl Rapids below you. If you miss the scouting take out, just remember to stay left as you see the horizon line disappear into the narrow gap that the river has to run through as it turns sharply right.
By staying left, you can easily negotiate Entrance Exam. The water following will be flat but swirling about in a short narrow slot canyon. If the water is high you will need to put some serious effort into keeping your boat from going sideways into a wall. Just keep your bow pointed directly into whatever cliff face the water is pushing you towards. There will usually be a water pillow along those walls that
