Devil’s Canyon

We decided to be adventurous today and take a jet boat tour to Devil’s Canyon on the Susitna River.  The 130 mile round trip takes 5 hours.  The jet boat is a diesel powered flat bottom skiff that has three 350 horsepower engines that use jets like a jet ski to push the 40 passenger boat at speeds up to 45 mph.  The two ton boat still only needed about a foot of water to go up stream.

We started the cruise by heading into the Talkeetna River and turning the boat towards Denali for a spectacular view of Denali and the Alaska Mountain Range.  According to the crew, today was some of the best weather they had enjoyed for quite some time.  Our view of Denali only occurs about 10% of the time. Our captain then turned the boat up the Susitna River and we headed upstream to get to Devil’s Canyon.

Denali "floats" above closer mountains

Along the way we stopped to see the Alaska DNR crews out tagging salmon that had been captured using a fish wheel contraption.   It scoops the fish out of the river and then slides it into a live well where the fisheries worker takes it out, clips a fin for identification and some are even implanted with a radio transmitter for tracking.  One of the spots was at a clear stream tributary.  It is fed by springs and not a glacier.  You could sure see the clear water.  Further upstream we stopped at another stream that was supposed to be clear but it had turned very brown.  There was speculation that it was caused by a landslide possibly set off by an earthquake.

When we reached the bottom of Devil’s Canyon we rode through some class 4 and 5 rapids.  The captain stopped us just short of a class 6 rapid.  Took some pictures, but would not take us further.  I guess only two people have been able to traverse the entire Devil’s Canyon in a powerboat.  One of them was his dad and the other was a guide that crashed his boat returning down the rapids.  That was close enough for me.  

The captain very carefully turned the boat around and we headed back.

The trip back was a lot faster going downstream.  Along the way we spotted a mature Bald Eagle resting on a stump.    We stopped and did a small nature walk to a trapper’s cabin.  The guide grabbed her shotgun as we headed off into the woods.  I think it was for bear protection (I hope).

Just before returning to the dock, our captain gave us a thrill ride by doing some spins at speed.  Tammy just about flew off her seat as the “G” forces hit.  I think the captain enjoys that part of the trip almost as much as running the whitewater.

All in all, a very exciting day.