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Alaska Rafting and HIking Multi-Sport Adventure: Nizina River Wild!
The towering Chugach, Wrangell, and St. Elias mountain ranges are all found in this largest national park and they serve as the backdrop to this classic Alaska expedition. In addition, sparkling side rivers, rare and fascinating geology, good wildlife viewing opportunities, idyllic riverside camp sites and classic natural history will fill your senses. Those seeking a medium length Alaska white water rafting trip into a place less traveled should consider this trip!
ALASKA RAFTING AND HIKING ADVENTURE TOUR DETAILS:Nizina River Wild begins and ends in McCarthy, Alaska. It is five days long and includes white water rafting, hiking, and camping. The white water rapids on this trips is moderately challenging and playful, not fierce. The water is cold. The Nizina River Raft and Hike does not require strenuous hiking. Guests that wish to wander slowly and take in the beauty of the landscape will find many opportunities to do so, while serious hikers will have the chance to roam far and wide. Very few people float this stretch of river each season. You will truly be among a lucky few and your guides will be thrilled to share the joy of discovery as you wander in places where no person has walked before! All specialty river gear is included in the trip. We can help arrange transportation for you to McCarthy from anywhere in the state. Detailed Itinerary: DAY 1 - This first morning you will meet one of your guides at our base, the historic Motherlode Powerhouse. You will pack your clothing and other gear into waterproof dry-bags and store your luggage and any other items you will not need for the next five days. Then we will board a bushplane and fly up the Nizina Valley, getting a birds-eye view of the river we will float in the days to come. We pass under the Mile-High cliffs and circle over the moraine striped Nizina Glacier before landing at its terminus. Our lakeside camp will be waiting for us, along with a delicious lunch. This afternoon we will explore the iceberg filled lake by raft, stopping once or twice to lake short hikes along the gravel-bar or up the rocky drainage of Amphitheater Creek. We will spend our first night beside the lake, enjoying a fine dinner and alpine glow on the mountains all around.
DAY 3 - This morning will eat a hearty breakfast and don our daypacks for a trek up the mighty Chitistone Valley. We will cut through the open woods for half an hour and emerge on a vast floodplain. We can hike up this valley as far as we like, stop for lunch alongside the muddy Chitistone River and scramble up the steep valley wall for a look down at where we have been or a close-up view of a hidden waterfall. We will return to camp in time for another great meal (this one well earned) and a second evening beneath the towering cliffs. DAY 4 - Today we will continue down stream as the Nizina river becomes braided, forming dozens of channels across a mile-wide floodplain as it sweeps around Sourdough Mountain and heads west. We will negotiate the channels and try to avoid getting the rafts lodge on gravel bars. Trees and other debris are thick along the river in this section because the fast-moving water is eating away at the northern bank. We will pass by a historic bridge that has been mostly washed into the river and, if the weather cooperates, get a view of the peak of Mt. Blackburn, at the head of the Kennicott Valley. As the day draws to a close, the river narrows into a canyon where we will spend our last night with the sound of flowing water. DAY 5 - Although our trip is almost over, this last day contains the most exciting whitewater of the trip and some of the best scenery as well. Soon after leaving camp in the morning, the small canyon opens into a wider area as the Kennicott River adds its flow to the Nizina. An hour later, the walls close in again, this time forming tight turns where the water boils and surges as it is forced around the corners. The limestone cliffs are spectacular and you will watch for peregrine falcons that sometimes make this their home. As we emerge from the canyon the wide Chitina Valley opens before us and here we will end our journey. We will arrive in time to unload the rafts, deflate them and be ready when the bush plane lands to fly us back to McCarthy. We suggest that you spend some time in the Kennicott Valley either before or after this trip. We are happy to arrange a glacier hike or ice-climbing trip on the Root Glacier, a tour of the historic buildings in Kennecott and/or a day hike to one of the mine entrances as well as a night or more in local accommodations. Please contact us for details! PDF of this itinerary |
This is a unique and remote wilderness adventure, as we will be dropped off and picked up by a bush plane that lands on the river bar. Our flight in takes us to the lake at the toe of the Nizina Glacier, surrounded by ice-capped peaks and rocky crags. The lake itself is full of icebergs, some as large as a house. We will spend the first day hiking and rowing around the lake and exploring the wonders of ice and rock. From here we head downriver for four more days of hiking and rafting. After floating the spectacular Nizina Canyon on the last day, we pull out, pack up, and a bush plane carries us back to McCarthy.
DAY 2
