Has anybody here fished the Kobuk? , or been to the park?

Not the Kobuk, but I have paddled the Alatna River in the Gates Of the Artic. Beautiful country. I am glad to try to answer questions.

dustytrail: "Not the Kobuk, but I have paddled the Alatna River in the Gates Of the Artic. Beautiful country. I am glad to try to answer questions."

Thank you! I’m sure I will have a million questions!

Would you guys mind posting q&a here instead of making it one-on-one? My brother and I are planning a big expedition and canoeing Alaskan rivers like this are possible destinations. I'd love to learn all I can.

Chuckles: "Would you guys mind posting q&a here instead of making it one-on-one? My brother and I are planning a big expedition and canoeing Alaskan rivers like this are possible destinations. I'd love to learn all I can."

I will, just in the early stages of planning.

" I will, just in the early stage of planning."

Don't tell me about early, sonny. :)

My youngest is 11 and our trip will be an 'empty nest' trip, so we've got 7 years to plan.

walllee: "

Chuckles: "Would you guys mind posting q&a here instead of making it one-on-one? My brother and I are planning a big expedition and canoeing Alaskan rivers like this are possible destinations. I'd love to learn all I can."

I will, just in the early stages of planning."

Those sheefish look cool. Are you planning on rafting or canoeing? With Canada possibly out of the running for 2021, I've been eyeing up Alaska. There are so many more options for rafting then canoeing, however.

user0317: "

walllee: "

Chuckles: "Would you guys mind posting q&a here instead of making it one-on-one? My brother and I are planning a big expedition and canoeing Alaskan rivers like this are possible destinations. I'd love to learn all I can. "

I will, just in the early stage of planning."

Those sheefish look cool. Are you planning on rafting or canoeing? With Canada possibly out of the running for 2021, I've been eyeing up Alaska. There are so many more options for rafting then canoeing, however. "

There is a really good guide book on Alaska Rivers. I will dig it out and get you the info. There are tons of canoeable rivers. The problem is getting the canoe there. Especially in the artic rivers. We ended up using inflatable canoes which was a good compromise for us.

Chuckles: " "

I will, just in the early stage of planning."
Don't tell me about early, sonny. :)

My youngest is 11 and our trip will be an 'empty nest' trip, so we've got 7 years to plan. "
My youngest son and I shared a canoe on the Alatna trip. He was 11 at the time. His momma was not real thrilled, but she gave in.

dustytrail:

There is a really good guide book on Alaska Rivers. I will dig it out and get you the info. There are tons of canoeable rivers. The problem is getting the canoe there. Especially in the artic rivers. We ended up using inflatable canoes which was a good compromise for us."

I have this one and did a few of the trips mentioned when I lived in AK. I just sold my folding Ally canoe, it went back to AK and a friend now has it. He spent a summer in Beetles working for the NPS, his wife is chief LEO for Denali NP now.

Karen Jetmar, ALaska River Guide

I am planning on a self guided canoe trip.

walllee: "I am planning on a self guided canoe trip. "

That is what we did. Be advised you have to take a short "class" in Bettles to go self guided in the Gates. The National Park Service does it. Sort of like watching the film to pick up your BWCA permit but much more informative.

walllee: "I am planning on a self guided canoe trip. "

Are you renting a canoe, or shipping up an Ally or Pakboat?

dustytrail: "

user0317: "

walllee: "

Chuckles: "Would you guys mind posting q&a here instead of making it one-on-one? My brother and I are planning a big expedition and canoeing Alaskan rivers like this are possible destinations. I'd love to learn all I can. "

I will, just in the early stage of planning."

Those sheefish look cool. Are you planning on rafting or canoeing? With Canada possibly out of the running for 2021, I've been eyeing up Alaska. There are so many more options for rafting then canoeing, however. "

There is a really good guide book on Alaska Rivers. I will dig it out and get you the info. There are tons of canoeable rivers. The problem is getting the canoe there. Especially in the artic rivers. We ended up using inflatable canoes which was a good compromise for us."

The book is The Alaska River Guide by Karen Jettmar.

user0317: "

walllee: "I am planning on a self guided canoe trip. "

Are you renting a canoe or shipping up an Ally or Pakboat? "

I’m planning on buying a pac boat when I’m up there, then shipping it back home if I live through the trip! LOL...

walllee: "

user0317: "

walllee: "I am planning on a self guided canoe trip. "

Are you renting a canoe, or shipping up an Ally or Pakboat? "

I’m planning on buying a pac boat when I’m up there, then shipping it back home if I live through the trip! LOL..."

Wallee, did you end up doing this trip? If so, could I contact you for some details? I did most of the Alatna down to Allakaket this year and I'm considering the Kobuk or Noatak for next year.

Thanks.

I’m originally from Minnesota, but have lived here in Alaska for the last 26 years. My wife and I have paddled a lot of rivers up here so I thought I’d share a few quick thoughts for those interested in Alaska paddling.

Very few floats are road to road access so chartering bush planes is the norm. Starting from places like Bettles can be a little cheaper because you can take small commercial flights to get that far north and then a small private charter.

Coyote Air is a very reputable flight service based out of Coldfoot and Fairbanks that serves the Brooks Range area. Top notch folks!

In general, the Brooks Range floats are drop dead gorgeous and extremely remote, but also very expensive. If those trips are out of your price range, you can float Birch Creek or Beaver Creek near Fairbanks. Birch can be done road to road making it very reasonable and it is still quite remote. Beaver creek is best done by driving to the Nome Creek put-in and doing a quick flight out back to your car. Wrights Air can do the short hop out from Victoria creek to your car. Nice hiking to be had on this float near the Limestone gulch area.

Flying means folding or blow up boats. Consider giving packrafts a try.
Alpacka makes many models of nearly indestructible whitewater boats weighing less than 10lbs!

Another good resource is Larry Bartlett at Pristineventures.com. He has a line of slightly heavier boats that can carry more gear. I believe they are for sale and rent. He literally wrote the book on float hunting Alaska and is really an expert on floating anything north of Fairbanks.

I just spent a month on the Noatak this summer. What do you want to know? Dan Cooke was a few days behind us, so maybe he can chime in.

MReid: "I just spent a month on the Noatak this summer. What do you want to know? Dan Cooke was a few days behind us, so maybe he can chime in."

Where did you put in and take out on the Noatak? Did you fly in from Bettles or Kotzebue? It sounds like you guys took your time, but what kind of mileage do you think you could put on in a day? I've seen trip reports where people cover the river down to Noatak village in as little as two weeks, and others more like a month.

I used an Alpacka Forager on the Alatna, and we had two Pak Canoes on the trip as well. I really enjoyed the Packraft and it was much cheaper and easier to get to and from Alaska. The Pak Canoes are very durable and haul a lot of freight though.

We were on the river in early August, just after a heavy flood had mostly receded. The river was flowing a little over 3mph at our put-in, but was up to 5mph near it's junction with the Koyukuk. Very scenic and easy paddling.

Thanks for your input MReid. I'm sure I will have more questions as I make plans.

We were in and out of Kotzebue. Flew into near 12 Mile Creek, and took out about 15 miles upriver from Kotz Sound, as we didn't trust the weather for crossing the Sound. Our trip was very leisurely as we wanted to do a lot of hiking.

I was on the Noatak River this summer for 26 days; July 11- August 5. It was the wettest on record, the river was in flood for the last half of the river. We had eleven days in a row of rain.

We flew from MPLS to Anchorage to Kotzebue, then a 206 Cessna to land on a gravel bar between Tupik Creek and Angayu Creek. We paddled back to the town of Kotzebue. We mailed our PAK canoes - a 170 tandem and a 150 solo. A couple and their not yet three year old were in the tandem and I paddled the river solo.

There is an accounting of the story on the Cooke Custom Sewing Facebook page, posted day by day. It is public so you do not have to sign up for anything if you have a Facebook account.


This is a view of the upper river from a walk we took.



Fish I caught in the upper river. I also caught some graying and a chum salmon.

Group photo in front of the plane that took two trips to get us all in.



Wolf that chased a caribou into the river, scoping us out.

Dan,

Did you do the open-water crossing to Kotzebue? One of our trip members had your 'Lean 3 shelter' on our Alatna trip. It came in really handy for a cook shelter and meeting area, considering the amount of rain we had. We missed the worst of the flooding, but the evidence of it was very apparent as we progressed downstream.

Thanks

Crossing from the Noatak To Kotzebue on a super calm day!!!! The entire trip is on the Cooke Custom Sewing Facebook page.

DanCooke: "Crossing from the Noatak To Kotzebue on a super calm day!!!! The entire trip is on the Cooke Custom Sewing Facebook page.


"

What a magical trip! Love the look of that country.