Alaska.com: Alaska's Travel Website

Kayaking: Wonderful water

Kayaks and rafts open up Alaska's liquid adventures

By STEVE EDWARDS
sedwards@adn.com

Published: April 22nd, 2008
Last Modified: April 24th, 2008 at 05:57 PM

Visitors come to Alaska to see Mount McKinley, bears and the midnight sun. If that's all that's on the itinerary, those visitors will miss out.

With more than 30,000 miles of coastline, huge rivers and unspoiled scenery, Alaska is a water wonderland. While many visitors spend a week or so cruising Alaska's waterways aboard a 2,000-passenger ship, that's not the best way to enjoy a watery vacation. You might not even get splashed while on a cruise trip.

Sea kayaking and guided rafting trips are probably the best bet to get an in-your-face water experience that will leave you wanting more.

The state's kayaking hotbeds include Prince William Sound, Kenai Fjords National Park, Kachemak Bay and Southeast. Rafters can enjoy trips all over the state -- from the Kenai Peninsula to Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and from Denali National Park to the Brooks Range.

KAYAKING

Sitting inches above the icy-gray waters of Southcentral's coastal regions might not seem like a vacation highlight for many. Until you try it. Then you might be hooked.

Sea kayaking lets a paddler live at a pace dictated by tides, weather, wildlife and possible campsites. Nudge up close to a floating iceberg, play among jumping salmon and listen for the cry of eagles from shoreline treetops. There are no motors to spoil the experience.

"You can get up close and personal with wildlife and get the feel of the wildness and vastness of Alaska from a kayak," said Kathryn Chandler, office manager at Sunny Cove Sea Kayaking Co. in Seward (www.sunnycove.com). "In just a couple hours, you may experience things you've never seen or done before. It's a wonderful thing."

Even novices quickly find a comfort level in a sea kayak. The double kayaks seat two people and are surprisingly stable and can be maneuvered with a rudder. The learning curve for most people is about five minutes, and it doesn't take an uber-athlete to enjoy the experience.

A number of kayak companies offer guided tours and their itineraries differ, so check out what you want before you book a trip.

Many of the kayak companies offer guided trips of one to several days and also rent kayaks to experienced kayakers.

So where should you wet your paddle? Here are some options:

• Whittier: It is the closest place to Anchorage to sea kayak. Head south on the Seward Highway, pass through the Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel and you're in Whittier. From there, it's just a few minutes until you're on the water enjoying the beauty of Passage Canal, Blackstone Bay or other portions of Prince William Sound.

A three-hour paddle to a kittiwake rookery across Passage Canal from Whittier is about $80 per person. Other options include trips along the canal, to Shotgun Cove and to Blackstone Bay with its glaciers.

• Valdez: Across Prince William Sound from Whittier is Valdez, one of Alaska's most scenic ports. Companies in Valdez offer a variety of trips. Two focus on glaciers.

A Columbia Glacier journey is a 10-hour affair centered on Alaska's second-largest tidewater glacier. The face of Columbia is about 3 miles wide. It has receded significantly the past few years, and the area in front of the glacier is frequently packed with ice.

"Columbia Glacier is simply amazing," said Hedy Sarney, owner of Anadyr Adventures (www.anadyr adventures.com) in Valdez. "This is a historic happening right in front of your eyes. We have pictures from years ago, and you can see how much the glacier has changed -- how it comes forward and goes back.

"And you can paddle among all the ice."

Trips to Columbia, including a water-taxi ride, run about $230.

Shoup Glacier is about 10 miles outside Valdez. Kayakers paddle in a protected lake to the base of the glacier. There are opportunities to get out and hike around. Trips to Shoup are around $180.

• Seward: Resurrection Bay and Kenai Fjords National Park are the highlights of kayaking from this port on the Kenai Peninsula.

Sunny Cove offers a variety of trips including a three-hour paddle near Lowell Point for $65; a $125 all-day paddle along Resurrection Bay to Caines Head State Recreation Area; trips to Fox Island that include a cruise to the national park; and a trip to Aialik Bay in Kenai Fjords National Park.

• Homer: There really isn't any kayaking from Homer, but it is starting spot for excellent kayaking across Kachemak Bay.

The bay is lined with a number of smaller bays that offer seemingly endless paddling opportunities. Tutka Bay is seven miles long and could serve as a full-day paddle all by itself. Other areas across from Homer include Peterson Bay, Kasitsna Bay, China Poot Bay, Jakolof Bay, Sadie Cove, Halibut Cove and Seldovia Bay.

RIVER RAFTING

While kayaking can be a soothing day spent floating along at just about any pace, rafting is dictated by the river -- sometimes it's slow, sometimes it's fast. Expert guides can make the swirling white water of a foaming river fun and safe.

While it's possible to explore some of Alaska's most remote areas via raft, for most Alaska visitors their river trip will be a day, maybe just a couple hours. But those will be memorable hours.

There are three main white-water rafting locations in Southcentral: Denali National Park, Sixmile Creek on the Kenai Peninsula and the Mat-Su area on the Matanuska River.

In addition to location and mild or wild water, rafters have a choice when it comes to the effort they want to expend on a trip. Most companies offer both paddle boats and oar boats.

In paddle boats, participants grab a paddle and respond to the commands of the boat's guide. Everyone is more likely to get wet. In oar rafts, the guests sit back and watch while the guide does the work, directing the boat through the rapids and along the river.

At Denali, most companies offer two-hour to full-day trips on the Nenana River. Two-hour trips are around $80, while four-hour trips are around $110 and eight-hour trips are around $170.

At Hope, about 90 minutes from Anchorage, rafters can experience some of the wildest water in Alaska on Sixmile Creek. Companies offer trips through Class IV rapids or Class IV and Class V rapids. A two-canyon run on the Sixmile is around $90 per person, while a three-canyon run featuring Class V white water is around $140.

On the Matanuska River, trips are $75 to $99 per person.

Special sections editor Steve Edwards can be reached at sedwards@adn.com or at www.alaska.com/alaskology.

Rating the rivers

• CLASS I: Easy. Slow- to fast-moving water with riffles, small waves and few obstructions.

• CLASS II: Novice. Straightforward rapids with wide, clear channels, rocks and medium-size waves.

• CLASS III: Intermediate. Rapids with moderate, irregular waves, a powerful current, large waves and strong eddies.

• CLASS iV: Advanced. Intense, powerful but predictable rapids with unavoidable waves and holes, constricted passages and hazards.

• CLASS V: Expert. Extremely long, obstructed or very violent rapids with drops that may contain large, unavoidable waves and holes or steep, congested chutes. If there are eddies and pools at all, they are small, turbulent and hard to reach.