2011 Alaska (3/3): Packrafting on the Gulkana River |
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Places | Alaska. Donnelly Dome, Paxson Lake, Gulkana River |
Time & length | September 2011, 6 days |
Partners | solo trip |
Together with my friend Becky I spent two nights at Paxson Lake and hiked up Donnelly Dome. Then I floated down the Gulkana River to Sourdough Camp in my Packraft.
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At the end of September Becky and I hitchhiked to Paxson Lake, located a few kilometers north of the town of Paxson. As explained earlier I met Becky weeks before in Palmer at my friend’s place, we got along very well and did some hiking together. Now, after I had returned from my Denali trip there wasn’t much time left for bigger adventures, so I decided to go packrafting and made my decision for the Gulkana River which is quite easy to raft and it offers good access as well as some beautiful scenery. Becky joined me to do some hiking before I started rafting, so we hitchhiked over to Paxson Lake and pitched our tents at the Campground which was already closed. Yes, it was late in the season.
On the next day we left our tents behind and hitchhiked further to a hill called Donnelly Dome, somebody told Becky that it would be nice to climb it. Well, it didn’t take us long to get up there, I guess we both expected the hill to be a little more spectacular. Anyway, we had a good lunch and a nice afternoon there and got back to our campsite the same day. Some beavers were waiting.
I tried a few adjustments on my camera and took several pictures. At midnight the lights were gone and with the thermometer showing 11 degrees Celsius below zero we went to bed.
The rafting began with a few stones in the water but it was quite easy to navigate around. In general the Gulkana River is not hard to raft, the rapids aren’t deadly and there are no undercuttings or other major hazards.
In the early afternoon it began to snow. Rafting in the snow was actually quite fun in the beginning but then I got cold and fortunately found an old abandoned gold rush cabin right next to the river. Inside it was very dirty but there was enough room to pitch my little tent – and that’s what I did.
And I missed Alaska. But not for long.