paddling.Jimstrutz.com  © 2008

Based on two trips, June 8-12, 2005 and June 16-21, 2007

This float typically starts off where the Little Nelchina River drifts under the Glenn Highway, at about mile 135, just a few miles past Eureka Lodge. The road is hilly and winding, so plan on 3 hours driving from Anchorage. As you approach the Little Nelchina, get on the old section of highway that cuts away on the North side of the road. On river right above the bridge there is an access to a state maintained picnic site with a good boat launching area. It has the last pit toilet you will see for several days.

The Little Nelchina starts off as a mostly rainwater fed stream with some silt in it. At normal to low flows this stream is shallow in several sections, and there is likely to be some boat dragging required. If you run this river in early to mid June you are likely to catch substantial snowmelt runoff. This is generally good, as it eliminates the boat dragging, but it also makes the stream faster and harder to maneuver the sharp corners. Several of our oarsmen were weary of the constant need to row hard. There are also plenty of sweepers to avoid. This section isn’t all that difficult, but you do have to maintain constant diligence and a swift response.

After about 5 miles, you run into the main stem of the Nelchina. We camped a little before the confluence the first time and a little after on the second trip. It is a short run of about two hours, but still a long day due to the time taken to load, drive, unload, shuttle vehicles, assemble and load rafts. There are several decent campsites along the way, and we opted for gravel bars. On the first trip I got up about 2 a.m. and took a picture of the setting/rising Sun. It lit up the whole northern sky with pinks & purples.

The Nelchina River is substantially larger and primarily consists of glacier melt, so the water is gray and full of silt. It is about 27 miles from where the Little Nel joins to the lake, and takes pretty much a full day to travel it. Since our first trip was in early June, the glaciers hadn’t started moving much, and the river was very low. On the second trip the water was starting to come up. This provided us with plenty of areas for beach camping in the upper section of the Nelchina, but not the lower Nelchina. The rowing was easy with a current of about 5-6 mph, and wide sweeping corners. There were no rapids to speak of, but there were occasional rocks to avoid. I would not rate it higher than class I at the levels we ran it. At higher water levels this might change, but I suspect it only gets faster. On the first trip we had decided to camp near the end of the Nelchina River, a few miles before it dumps into Tazlina Lake, but had difficulty finding a suitable spot for our six tents. We finally managed to find an acceptable campsite right before lake’s edge on river right. At higher water our spot would not have been dry, but it looked like other areas would have then been available on either side of the river. On the second trip we opted to camp on the lake at the mouth of Mendeltna Creek. This proved to be a far better camp site.

From the map, the Tazlina Lake looks to be about 5 miles wide and 20 miles long. The Nelchina River flows into the lake about 8-9 miles before the start of the Tazlina River, which is at the opposite end of the lake from Tazlina Glacier. Somehow you have to move your boats across those several miles of flat water. Other than rowing, you have a couple of good options. You can do what we did – pack outboards. We had seven boats and two 3.5 hp outboards, so we tied together two trains of boats and raced to the end of the lake. The weather was great and it was a pleasant way to pass the morning. The other option is to sail, which is not as foolish as you might think. Since typical adiabatic winds start falling off the mountain glaciers in the early morning, and continue down river valleys until mid afternoon, you can generally rely on having favorable conditions for sailing, or at least sail assisted rowing. Of course there is no guarantee, so a backup plan might be necessary.

I have sailed rafts before, and if the wind is with you it’s quite easy to set up a simple square rig. Place an oar vertical for the main mast, lash it from the top to sides, front and rear of the raft frame so that it cannot fall over. Optionally, tie another oar across the top of the mast for a square rig. You are going to have to figure out a way to tie this together while you attach sailcloth (think cheap tarp), and then raise it all into place. Straps and rope will be your main tools. Of course you can go upscale and design a sail that you can actually raise and lower with mast in place. You can rig keel boards out of paddles or oar blades, but they should not be necessary with the wind directly at your back. You can also use another oar as a tiller by duct taping it to the back of the boat. There are better tillers, but this does work. A large rowing frame works a lot better for sail rigging than a small one, with catarafts being the easiest to rig. With considerable thought and effort, you can design a cat-sail rig that can actually tack into the wind a bit. I’ve also successfully sailed inflatable kayaks. If you decide to sail, prep the masts the night before while camping near the lake, and get an early start, as this lake will take a while to cross and afternoon winds might not be as favorable.