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Know before you float

Alaska.com

Sweepers and log jams

Sweepers are trees that have fallen flat across the water or bend down with their trunks and branches. It's easy to get caught against a sweeper and suddenly find the boat listing and filling with water. Kayakers with their double paddles may have extra difficulty in getting themselves out if there's not room overhead for the long paddle. Sweepers appear frequently on slow water. Log jams are deposited by high water. Generally, be alert and ready to backpaddle away from the bank and tree problems.

Rocks and canyons

Read your topographical map carefully and check with guidebooks for the locations of rapids. If you have any doubts about the water ahead, get out and look it over before plunging through. Getting stuck against a rock or log jam can sink your boat quickly and leave you with a long hike through difficult country.

Changing water levels

As the day warms up, glaciers and snowfields melt more quickly, causing the river levels to rise. Also, heavy rains upstream may cause the level to rise quickly. Much of Alaska's soil is rocky and steep, so runoff will gather in a hurry. Also, higher water can add a degree of difficulty to a stream, making rapids out of pleasant riffles and pulling logs into the stream. Get the latest report on river conditions from the Alaska River Forecast Center.

Camping

Camp on open gravel bars in most cases. That will provide a safer place for a campfire, let the wind blow away more mosquitoes and give you and the bears a better chance of seeing each other early enough to avoid a nasty encounter.

Maps

In addition to your guidebook and compass, get the best U.S. Geological Survey map you can for the region, preferably 1 inch = 1 mile. Some boaters on older streams that wander across the landscape mark off every bend as they pass it.

Book readers may want to look for expedition guide Karen Jettmar's "Alaska River Guide: Canoeing, Kayaking and Rafting in the Last Frontier," which covers a number of Northern streams.

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