paddling.Jimstrutz.com © 2008
The current generally flows fastest down river right through the flats, and you want to finish this section near river right if the water is high. What looks like deep water on river left is not and has caused me considerable grief.
At about mile 100 the river narrows for Baird Canyon and picks up speed. There are good camping areas on river left just after the start of the canyon. The river then widens briefly with most of the current on river left, but you must move to river right before it narrows again. This is important and not as easy as it looks, as the merging current tends to push you river left as the river reforms for Abercrombie Rapids. So start moving river right early and swiftly. You can see the rapids coming up by noting the disappearing horizon line that approaches.
At low water there are no real rapids at Abercrombie, but at high water it is at least a Class III, with the waves reaching ten feet or more. I read one report of boaters encountering a flash flood as they approached these rapids and they estimated waves of 20 feet height. A natural dam had given way up stream, draining a lake into the river, with the resulting flood coinciding with their arrival at the rapids. There is a good account of the story in the book Cheating Death by Larry Kanuit.
It is usually fun and even safe to run right down the wave train near river left, but at higher water this might prove to be too exciting. The rapids are more commonly avoided by staying river right, although at very high water there may be an absolutely huge hole on the far right side, followed shortly thereafter by an even larger eddy that can be very difficult to exit. The conservative line in high water seems to be just right of center, but the surface current will continue to drag your boat towards the left side, so be prepared to fight it. Usually you will want to take out on river right to scout these rapids before running them, but be careful of the frequent bear visits to this convenient and popular fishing area. Last time I was here a young grizzly refused to yield any place for anchorage, and we had to run the rapids without scouting. Get your flare guns ready.
As you exit the rapids, move river left and stay left as you enter Miles Lake. It's about seven miles directly across, but unless the water is quite high the sandbars in the middle section will be an island blocking your path. The easiest and fastest way to the other side is found by sticking to the left side of the lake. There is a fairly strong current there and this also allows you to get a closer view to Miles Glacier, which calves directly into the lake.
For most of the summer, there are icebergs floating in the space between the glacier and the start of the shallows towards the middle of the lake. Try to stay to the left of this iceberg fence as long as possible in order to keep your boat in the fastest current. You want to end up on the left side of the lake just before the bridge.
Alternately, you can stay on the right side of the lake and pull out on the north end of the bridge. But I understand that camping is better on the left side. Either way, the next time I do this river I’m bringing an outboard motor for the lake, and perhaps Bremner Flats if the wind kicks up.
The lake narrows near its southwest corner and reforms as a river and runs under the Million Dollar Bridge. The bridge was built in 1910 for the narrow gage railroad that went from Cordova to the Kennicott copper mine. There is quite a story about its construction, and its near collapse during the 1964 earthquake. You can read about it from the signs near the bridge. This bridge was repaired in 2005.
Just before the bridge, on river left, is a slow moving eddy with a sandy bank and good camping above. If you walk around here you can see this is a small area of sand dunes with a few tractor trails. You can take a short walk up to the road and access the bridge. On the other side of the road from the dunes is a real, honest to goodness, US Government campground, with clean pit toilets and everything, including a 50 mile dirt road to Cordova. At the far end of the campground, overlooking the river, there are a couple of covered viewing stands. Across the ¼ mile wide river is the 600 foot high, calving face of Childs Glacier. This glacier runs directly into the river’s path, forcing the water to take a hard left. The river, in turn, forces the glacier to shed large sheets of ice into the water. It is a continual battle between two gigantic forces, each unwilling to yield to the other. The calving is most active during warm weather in July and August. This is probably the best view of active ice calving you can get anywhere, and the noise is amazing. The thunderous sound can be heard for many miles upriver.
The waves from the glacier calving can be extremely violent as they crash onto the opposite bank. While running past this, you need to keep away from the left bank. In the middle of the river the waves will just be smooth rollers. If you see one coming, head directly into it, not away from it. If the salmon are running these waves will often blast fish onto the bank and strand them on the rocks. It seems that both the bears and the campers know about this, and in the past there have been some confrontations about particular “ownership rights.”
At about mile 100 the river narrows for Baird Canyon and picks up speed. There are good camping areas on river left just after the start of the canyon. The river then widens briefly with most of the current on river left, but you must move to river right before it narrows again. This is important and not as easy as it looks, as the merging current tends to push you river left as the river reforms for Abercrombie Rapids. So start moving river right early and swiftly. You can see the rapids coming up by noting the disappearing horizon line that approaches.
At low water there are no real rapids at Abercrombie, but at high water it is at least a Class III, with the waves reaching ten feet or more. I read one report of boaters encountering a flash flood as they approached these rapids and they estimated waves of 20 feet height. A natural dam had given way up stream, draining a lake into the river, with the resulting flood coinciding with their arrival at the rapids. There is a good account of the story in the book Cheating Death by Larry Kanuit.
It is usually fun and even safe to run right down the wave train near river left, but at higher water this might prove to be too exciting. The rapids are more commonly avoided by staying river right, although at very high water there may be an absolutely huge hole on the far right side, followed shortly thereafter by an even larger eddy that can be very difficult to exit. The conservative line in high water seems to be just right of center, but the surface current will continue to drag your boat towards the left side, so be prepared to fight it. Usually you will want to take out on river right to scout these rapids before running them, but be careful of the frequent bear visits to this convenient and popular fishing area. Last time I was here a young grizzly refused to yield any place for anchorage, and we had to run the rapids without scouting. Get your flare guns ready.
As you exit the rapids, move river left and stay left as you enter Miles Lake. It's about seven miles directly across, but unless the water is quite high the sandbars in the middle section will be an island blocking your path. The easiest and fastest way to the other side is found by sticking to the left side of the lake. There is a fairly strong current there and this also allows you to get a closer view to Miles Glacier, which calves directly into the lake.
For most of the summer, there are icebergs floating in the space between the glacier and the start of the shallows towards the middle of the lake. Try to stay to the left of this iceberg fence as long as possible in order to keep your boat in the fastest current. You want to end up on the left side of the lake just before the bridge.
Alternately, you can stay on the right side of the lake and pull out on the north end of the bridge. But I understand that camping is better on the left side. Either way, the next time I do this river I’m bringing an outboard motor for the lake, and perhaps Bremner Flats if the wind kicks up.
The lake narrows near its southwest corner and reforms as a river and runs under the Million Dollar Bridge. The bridge was built in 1910 for the narrow gage railroad that went from Cordova to the Kennicott copper mine. There is quite a story about its construction, and its near collapse during the 1964 earthquake. You can read about it from the signs near the bridge. This bridge was repaired in 2005.
Just before the bridge, on river left, is a slow moving eddy with a sandy bank and good camping above. If you walk around here you can see this is a small area of sand dunes with a few tractor trails. You can take a short walk up to the road and access the bridge. On the other side of the road from the dunes is a real, honest to goodness, US Government campground, with clean pit toilets and everything, including a 50 mile dirt road to Cordova. At the far end of the campground, overlooking the river, there are a couple of covered viewing stands. Across the ¼ mile wide river is the 600 foot high, calving face of Childs Glacier. This glacier runs directly into the river’s path, forcing the water to take a hard left. The river, in turn, forces the glacier to shed large sheets of ice into the water. It is a continual battle between two gigantic forces, each unwilling to yield to the other. The calving is most active during warm weather in July and August. This is probably the best view of active ice calving you can get anywhere, and the noise is amazing. The thunderous sound can be heard for many miles upriver.
The waves from the glacier calving can be extremely violent as they crash onto the opposite bank. While running past this, you need to keep away from the left bank. In the middle of the river the waves will just be smooth rollers. If you see one coming, head directly into it, not away from it. If the salmon are running these waves will often blast fish onto the bank and strand them on the rocks. It seems that both the bears and the campers know about this, and in the past there have been some confrontations about particular “ownership rights.”
Dozens of waterfalls
Bears at Abercrombie
Childs Glacier calving
