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Knik Arm Kayak Trip
by Tim Kelley
This is a
kayak trip I've wanted to do for ... oh, 20 years! I finally got
around to doing it. The trip: put in at the Knik River bridge on
the Glenn Highway at high tide. And then paddle the outgoing tide
to the Port of Anchorage. |
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| My GPS kayak route is in
yellow. The GPS said this trip was 31.7 miles long. It
took me 6 hours and 15 minutes to paddle this distance. That's
about all the time I had ... from high tide it was 6:40 until the tide
turned. And you don't want to be trying to paddle against an
incoming 30 foot tide! |
The tide is
high. Getting ready to head out. The Knik River Bridge
over the Knik River is seen in the background. |
Ready to go. The
yellow thing on the front is a paddle float. If you capsize your
kayak, you can slide this over one end of the paddle and use it as an
outrigger to get back into the kayak. A bilge pump (inside the
cockpit) is then used to get the water out. |
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| Off into the wild blue,
uh ... make that glacial gray, yonder. |
The first point of
interest is the Eklutna bluffs. |
Right past this point
local Eklutna Native Alaskans had a subsistence fish camp set up to net
and process salmon. |
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| The Western Chugach
Mountains tower to the east. Here Bold Peak is in the center,
Bashful Peak is on the right. |
Very smooth water most of
the way. This shot is looking south towards the bluff before Eagle
River. |
Taking a break on a tidal
marsh. The water at the edge of the grass is deeper than my
paddle. It's a large cutbank that will soon be showing as the tide
goes out. Looking north you can see the Eklutna bluffs I paddled
past. |
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| I was VERY glad to make
it to this point, which is around the point from the Chugiak Firing
Range! For a mile or two I paddled next to a cutbank to stay out
of the line of fire of the rifle range. It sounded like a war
going on. And
the rifle range points TOWARDS THE WATER !! If you paddle this
route make sure the tide is DOWN enough so your head is below the top of
the cutbank! |
Past the firing range the
surroundings improved. This area is timeless - NO development, NO
people, NO boats. There would be a good places to camp here if you
did this trip over two tides. |
The banks leading up to
the Eagle River were neat. But you wouldn't want to be bushwacking
and walk off the top of them! |
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| A picture of the tidal
rip near Eagle River.
The tidal fastest currents I
hit were here. My GPS said I was paddling at 10.1 mph for a bit.
Elmendorf AFB is in the distance.
Far to the west it sounded
like Niagra Falls. The sound was from outgoing tidewaters pouring
off gravel bars. |
Stopping by Elmendorf
AFB. Looking back north at the bluffs above the Eagle River. |
This raft, filled with
instruments was anchored near where the proposed bridge to Pt. MacKenzie
will be. The wood chip loading dock is in the background.
Lots of shallow water here.
You can be 1/2 mile offshore, and only in 1 foot of water. |
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| Heading toward the port.
I slowed down so my wake wouldn't swamp the container ship that was
being loaded.
Actually - it was VERY slow going here. There is a huge back-eddy
near the port, water flows north from the docks quite a ways
when the tide ebbs out! It was tough bucking the flow.
No time for pictures! |
Finally - the Anchorage
small boat harbor at LOW, LOW tide! Just a 50 yard slog remaining,
while pulling the kayak, through knee deep, goey muck.
I was glad to make the trip
in the outgoing tide time window. I was wondering if I would make
it for a while. Overall - glad I did it. Worthy trip. |
Thanks to my wife for dropping me off and picking my muddy butt up! |
