Latest News from Fairbanks Paddlers
Annual Meeting – Saturday, November 11, 2023
Fairbanks Paddlers Annual Meeting will be held Saturday, November 11th at the Unitarian Universalist Church, 4448 Pikes Landing Road (across from the Princess Hotel off Airport Way). The public is welcome to attend, and we encourage new members to join us.
Schedule
- 6:30 Doors open. Meet and greet old friends and new. Talk paddling trips. Help set out food.
- 7:00 Potluck Dinner. If your name starts with a letter between A and Z bring food! A roast turkey will be provided.
- 7:30 Short Business Meeting. We’ll review the year’s activities and elect board members.
- 7:50 Guest Presenter: Barry Whitehill
Barry Whitehill
Presentation: “Just like Alaska, only different – Floating Finland’s Kakkalojoki and Parankajoki; and Latvia’s Gauja”
Join Barry Whitehill for a glimpse into his 2023 floats outside of Alaska.
CANCELED: Paddle and Potluck at Chena Lakes – August 12-13, 2023
THIS EVENT HAS BEEN CANCELED DUE TO PREDICTED UNHEALTHY AIR CONDITIONS.
Join the Fairbanks Paddlers and the Folk School Fairbanks for a family-friendly paddle and potluck with an optional overnight campout at Chena Lakes August 12-13. We have the Island View Pavilion reserved from 4-8 pm. All levels of paddlers welcome!
Saturday afternoon will be filled with games and activities, including paddling games – both dryland and on the water – and drop-in family and kid-friendly activities. Saturday evening join us for a potluck dinner. Bring your instruments and stories for sharing around the campfire!
We plan to paddle to the island for an optional family-friendly campout. Campsites are first come, first served. You may want to arrive early and reserve a site, if you plan to stay overnight. Bring your own breakfast and your favorite watercraft.
Gulkana River Trip – August 4-8, 2023
Bruce Campbell will be coordinating a trip on the Upper Gulkana River, from Paxson Lake to Sourdough Campground, on August 4-8, 2023. If you are a Fairbanks Paddlers member and are interested in joining the trip, you should respond directly to Bruce’s personal email (brucecanoe@gmail.com) For the club’s insurance purposes, you must also be a member of the American Canoe Association. Please send Bruce your American Canoe Association membership number, or complete the ACA waiver and check the one-event box and $10 fee. You can loin ACA or renew your annual membership from the Join/Renew link at https://americancanoe.org/ You can join Fairbanks Paddlers before the trip at https://fairbankspaddlers.org/join
American Canoe Association Adult Waiver Form (314 downloads)
This 47 mile paddle is the best whitewater learning stretch of the Gulkana River, featuring good class II stretches of rock obstacles to navigate. Again, the Gulkana is the best skill building river on the Road System if you choose to make use of the opportunities it presents. The canyon, hopefully, will have enough water to go class III. You can read the BLM brochure for the river here: (https://www.blm.gov/sites/blm.gov/files/documents/files/PublicRoom_Alaska_Gulkana-River-Brochure.pdf).
The class III designation requires special reporting to the ACA for this trip, which I am willing to undertake. Please be sure you either have the annual ACA waiver and membership, or complete the one I’ve attached. You can complete the full ACA membership and the Fairbanks Paddlers membership online.
Tentative trip plan (subject to change based on wind, input, etc.:)
Friday August 4th: Drive to Paxson Lake campground and set shuttle to Sourdough Campground. If the wind is gentle, we paddle across the lake and camp on the far side. If the wind is as it often is, we may camp overnight at the Paxson Lake campground and paddle across early, early in the morning – like 5 am early, just to put a number on it, before the wind builds.
Saturday: Paddle through the lake outfall rock garden and depending on how tired we are, either camp on the large gravel bar at the confluence with the Middle Fork, or continue on downstream. It is about 15 miles to the Canyon campground and we will likely camp before reaching the canyon.
Sunday: we paddle to the canyon, set camp, and play. Some may choose to go on short hikes, others may choose to portage kayaks and packrafts back upstream and run the canyon over and over. (Most I’ve done in one stay is 11 runs)
Monday: Depart after lunch, camping over halfway to Sourdough.
Tuesday: Finish the paddle to Sourdough and drive home.
Bruce will track water levels on the NOAA website. Generally, a gauge height of above 6 at Sourdough implies enough water for the trip. Above 9 is high, and 11 is full flood stage – too high. I do not recall gauge heights at the lake, others may have insights.
Bruce will also track weather and especially wind. Paxson Lake is not fun when the wind is blowing. It tends to die down during the night and early morning can be the best time to cross. Or it can be glass smooth – Ha!
What kind of paddling skills are required? You need to be able to read current, steer and navigate around obstacles. The rock gardens will advance your ferring and eddy attaining skills.
There is not menu plan as of yet. Please offer suggestions describing what you might cook for a group meal. Group size TBD.
Please see the message thread started by Bruce on the Fairbanks Paddlers email group at https://groups.io/g/fairbankspaddlers/
Please respond to Bruce Campbell via email at brucecanoe@gmail.com. Tracking text messages is nor workable.
(Featured image – Gulkana Canyon – Sept 14, 2022 – 8′ and ~4000 cfs on Sourdough Gauge – photo by John Schauer )
Paddlesports Safety and Skills Instruction
The Fairbanks Paddlers club does not offer formal safety or skills courses. Our collaborative trips are coordinated by volunteers from the club, and are not guided trips. There may be some opportunities on club outings for some informal mentoring; however, participants joining these trips should have the proper paddling and safety skills and appropriate apparel and equipment to safely conduct themselves.
There are a number of businesses around the state offering professional instruction in a variety of paddling and river safety skills. Here are several course providers of whom we are aware.
Fairbanks Paddlers wants to share these resources with the boating community, but does not specifically endorse any specific programs or businesses. If you have additional information or know of other courses or programs, or you are an instructor or business, please contact us at info@fairbankspaddlers.org .
Alaska Canoe School
Fairbanks-based Alaska Canoe School offers a variety of skills and safety courses ranging from Introduction to Canoeing on lakes, to Canoe Instructor Certification courses. This spring, Fairbanks Paddlers is coordinating with them to offer a Paddleports Leadership Course designed to prepare participants to help coordinate group paddle outings. They are also offering a Rescue Practice Class. Neither of these classes is canoe specific.
Alaska Dream Adventures
Alaska Dream Adventures is based in North Pole. They offer introductory kayak and canoe classes from their boat rental concession at Tanana Lakes. They also offer guided trips, kayak and canoe sales, and shuttle services.
Alaska Packraft School
Jule Harle, author or the Alaska Packraft Guidebook, offers a number of courses that “focus on paddling skills and boat control needed to push deeper into the wild rivers of Alaska, as well as self and group rescue techniques, risk management, trip planning and good on-the-water decision making”. In addition to scheduled courses, she offers custom and small group instruction and guided packraft trips.
Luc Mehl – Packrafting and Trip Planning Courses
Luc Mehl is an outdoor educator with certifications in swiftwater and ice rescue instruction, located in Anchorage, Alaska. Luc offers in-person instruction in swiftwater rescue, ice rescue, river safety, and packrafting skills. He also offers several very unique online courses in paddling and river safety skills, trip and emergency planning, and remote travel on wild ice.
Luc’s “Paddle Up a Level” online course is a perfect companion to his comprehensive, award-winning book, The Packraft Handbook. This online course isn’t intended as a substitute for on-the-water experience. Rather, it is structured to accelerate progress in developing safety and paddling skills. You can practice the skills that are presented with friends on local waterways. It is a great resource for those considering other on-the-water courses.
Traverse Alaska
Traverse Alaska is based in Denali Park. In addition to hiking and river trips, they offer packrafting and swiftwater rescue courses.
New Wave Adventures
New Wave Adventures offers rafting and packraft trips in the Denali Park area. They provide introductory packrafting instruction on Otto Lake. They also partner with the Rescue Company to offer swiftwater rescue courses.
Turnagain Kayak
Turnagain Kayak is based in Hope, Alaska. They offer a variety of whitewater kayak, packraft, SUP, and sea kayak instruction.
Kennicott Wilderness Guides
McCarthy-based Kennicott Wilderness Guides offers a number of guided packrafting trips in the Wrangells. They also offer two packraft courses, and plan to offer a packraft specific Swiftwater Rescue Course.
Delta Clearwater Overnight Trips – May 6-7 and May 20-21, 2023 (updated)
The Trips (updated!)
Our Break-Up is a bit late this year and so is our traditional annual trip on the Delta-Clearwater River near Delta Junction. This area has some of the first water to open up in the Interior each spring, and if our timing is right we may have an excellent opportunity to see many species of waterfowl (including swans) up close.
May 6-7, 2023
The first overnight trip (Saturday night May 6, finishing Sunday May 7) will be coordinated by Don and Tracie Pendergrast, and will be limited to eight (8) people total. Interested paddlers should contact the coordinator, who will send out details early next week. Note that Don will need to contact you via email, so if you contact him via text or voice be sure to give your email address. The planned day trip for May 7, 2023 (Sunday) coordinated by Gail Davidson has been cancelled.
May 20-21, 2023
Bruce Campbell will coordinate another overnight float May 20-21 putting in at the same Clearwater State Recreation site, but will take out at the Tanana River bridge on the Richardson, rather than at Clearwater lake. This float is focused toward and led by pack rafters, but Bruce says “any craft are fine as long as they can slow down and stay with our slow little rafts.” This is a self-supported overnight trip. Everyone is welcome. The Tanana can be windy, so be sure to have warm clothing you can add. Plan is to leave town early by 8am, leave one car as shuttle at the bridge about 10am, the rest proceed to the campground (there is a parking fee) with the goal of being on the river by 10:30 or 11 am. Overnight campsite is either just above the confluence with the Tanana, or on an island in the Tanana.
Please RSVP by contacting Bruce at brucecanoe@gmail.com or 907-322-9221 if you want to join.
Memberships, Insurance and Waivers
Please note that all participants must be current members of Fairbanks Paddlers. Memberships can be renewed at https://www.fairbankspaddlers.org/join/ or at the put-in.
Liability insurance for our trips is arranged through the American Canoe Association (ACA). This takes a big worry off the minds of those of us who volunteer to coordinate trips. However, this does add another level of bureaucracy to our trips, so please be patient with that. Each participant will need to be a member of the ACA, either an annual member or a member for the event. Everyone, both annual ACA members and daily members will have to sign an ACA waiver, and annual members will need their ACA numbers. To join the ACA follow the hot link https://americancanoe.org. Individual annual memberships are $40. Please join as a Fairbanks Paddlers member. If you do not have an annual membership, an event membership is available for $10. Waivers and event memberships will be available from the trip organizers.
Parking at the put-in requires either a $5 parking fee payable on site to Alaska State Parks, or a State Parks parking sticker on your car’s windshield. These cost $60 and can be ordered online at https://dnr.alaska.gov/parks/passes, or purchased at the Alaska Public Lands Information Center in the Morris Thompson Center or at the DNR Information Center in the woods off of University Avenue and Airport Way. State Parks are in serious financial trouble these days (especially the Delta Junction-area State Parks) and need our support.
Covid Precautions
Fairbanks Paddlers is Covid Aware. People riding in other people’s cars must be prepared to wear masks. Also we need to know whether individual drivers are comfortable having other people in their car or not. We have to get car-pooling and shuttle drivers sorted out before leaving on the trip.
Contact the Trip Organizers
Please do not “just show up” for these trips. Contact the organizers or you cannot be part of the Fairbanks Paddlers trips.
People interested in the day trip should contact Gail Davidson before Thursday, May 5: email: akmtngrl@gmail.com, Phone: 907-479-7127 or 907-460-1983. ( This trip has been canceled. )
For the May 6-7 overnight trip (limited to eight people) contact Don Pendergrast before Thursday May 5: email don@alaskacanoeschool.com, phone: 907-371-4868.
For the May 20-21 overnight trip contact Bruce Campbell at brucecanoe@gmail.com or 907-322-9221
Trip Description
This is a flat-water trip that moves from the crystal clear Delta-Clearwater River onto a slough of the Tanana, followed by a 1.5-mile paddle up a creek to Clearwater Lake and across the lake to the take-out. From the Clearwater State Recreation Site to Clearwater Lake is about 12 miles and takes 4-8 hours depending on the wind direction and water conditions. Occasionally, depending on water level, the initial turn up the creek requires some strategy but there will be many of us there to help if this area turns out to be a problem. In recent years the current was strong enough there that most of us had to drag our canoes for a few hundred feet. You pretty much have to get into the water (calf deep or knee deep) to do this. If you are lucky you can find gravel in the streambed to walk on, but where the gravel stops there is thick organic muck so be psychologically prepared. A map and further river information is available at the State Parks web site (http://dnr.alaska.gov/parks/aspunits/northern/pdfs/clearwaterfloatguide.pdf).
The Clearwater River itself has a gentle current and no serious obstacles. The slough of the Tanana has a strong current that must be respected, but no serious obstacles other than an occasional sweeper that must be avoided. The Clearwater Lake outflow has a sluggish current that is not too hard to paddle against, except sometimes at the mouth as noted above. Paddlers should have basic boating skills, be able to avoid sweepers and be able to paddle in a straight line well enough to make progress upstream. The water is extremely cold so plan accordingly. Rain gear and extra clothes in a dry bag are a must. If one paddles straight through the trip can be done in 4 hours or a little more. But considering a lunch stop and stretch breaks plan on 6 hours on the water.
What to Bring
Canoes and hard-shell kayaks are the most common boats on this trip; going up the creek with a raft or packraft would be challenging and even IK’s have to struggle. All participants must bring and wear a personal flotation device (life jacket). Migrating ducks, geese and swans commonly make the lake their first stop in the interior, so bring your binoculars. Bring a dry change of clothes in a water proof bag and a variety of layers so you are prepared for temperature changes. The Delta Junction area can be distinctly cooler or warmer than Fairbanks. River boots or waterproof knee boots could be useful if we have to drag the boats a ways. It could rain so bring rain gear. There may be a few mosquitoes out. Also bring lunch and drinks. We will stop for lunch on a gravel bar.
Overnighters will need to bring camping gear and chocolate in addition to the equipment mentioned above.
Boat Swap at Beaver Sports – May 13, 2023
Find a great deal on used boats or paddling gear, or sell the boats you haven’t paddled for a while!
Fairbanks Paddlers will be working with Beaver Sports to host a Boat Swap on May 13, 2023 under the awning outside the Beaver Sports Boat Shop on 3480 College Road.
- 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. – Bring your non-motorized boats and paddling gear to sell
- 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. – Find bargains on “new to you” boats and paddlesports gear
- 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. – Find out if your gear sold and pick up your unsold items.
15% of sales will be donated to Fairbanks Paddlers. Please price your items accordingly.
If you are a Fairbanks Paddlers member and would like to volunteer to help, please contact John Schauer at (907)460-6290
Other questions? Please contact Fairbanks Paddlers at info@fairbankspaddlers.org
Paddlesports Leadership Course: May 19 – 20, 2023
Alaska Canoe School is offering a Paddlesports Leadership Course May 19-20, 2023. Fairbanks Paddlers is supporting the course to reduce the cost and encourage participation.
This course is for any member of the Fairbanks Paddlers who would like to plan personal or club paddle trips and will provide opportunities to build skills, knowledge, and judgement to safely choose, plan and lead trips. We will also learn strategies to provide support, knowledge and leadership to other paddlers. Discussions and scenarios will encourage participants to share their knowledge and skills with the group.
Though there is an on water session, this is not a paddling skills course. Participants may bring their chosen paddle craft.
Participants will be required to sign a waiver and meet the participation requirements of the Alaska Canoe School and the American Canoe Association.
- Dry land Session: Friday, May 19, 2023 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm
- On Water Session: Saturday, May 20, 2023 10:00 am to 2:00 pm
- Location: Flat Water venue TBD
- Class Size: 12 participants maximum
- Cost: $25.00 for Fairbanks Paddlers Club members
Please visit https://alaskacanoeschool.com/courses/paddlesports-leadership-course/ to register, or contact Tracie Pendergrast at tracie@alaskacanoeschool.com or at (907) 750-4902 for more information.
Alaska Canoe School – Rescue Practice Course – May 21, 2023
Alaska Canoe School is offering a Moving and Flatwater Rescue class May 21, 2023.
This 8 hour course will cover rescue scenarios common on Interior Alaska lakes and rivers. You will practice rescuing yourself and others. This course should not be confused with swift water rescue; we will not be practicing in big water or rapids.
For more information go to https://alaskacanoeschool.com/courses/moving-and-flat-water-rescue-988-319/ or contact Don or Tracie Pendergrast.
Chena River Cleanup – June 10, 2023
For dozens of years the Fairbanks Paddlers have gotten together and helped clean up our local waterway, the Chena River. Our “adopted” section traditionally is the popular stretch from Graehl Landing to Pioneer Park.
This year we are one of the sponsors of the larger effort that includes: the Fairbanks North Star Borough, City of Fairbanks, North Pole, University of Alaska, Lions International, Tanana Valley Watershed Association, Alaska Industrial Hardware, Alaska Dream Adventures, and Shannon & Wilson, Inc.
As a club we are primary users and stewards of the Chena River, and this is an excellent opportunity to show and act on our love for water. We definitely have the skills, and a Saturday morning is not much to dedicate to our home river. Take a look at the attached flyer, and plan on joining the effort on June 10. There are lots of goodies (work gloves, trash bags, bug dope, work gloves) and a Free Lunch! Be safe, look good while doing good, and eat well. Bring a friend, bring the whole family.
Paddling Presentation Double Feature at Silver Gulch – April 5, 2023
Join us on Wednesday, April 5 for a double feature paddling presentation at Silver Gulch Brewing and Bottling Company in Fox, Alaska. This is the final event in Fairbanks Paddlers’ Winter/Spring Slideshow Series. Our previous two events were huge successes. Over 100 folks enjoyed great food and beverage, camaraderie, and excellent stories and photos by Ed Plumb at our February show. You’ll want to arrive early to get a good seat. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. with presentations beginning at 7:00. A limited menu of burgers, pizzas and appetizers, as well as beverages from the bar. Food service will stop when presentations begin. The event is free and open to the public.
Silver Gulch is located at 2195 Old Steese Highway North in Fox, Alaska.
Canoeing the Entire Tanana River – Ned Rozell
Our home river, the Tanana, flows about 600 miles from its headwaters in eastern Alaska to the village of Tanana on the Yukon River. Join Ned Rozell as he presents on floating the entire river by canoe, executed over a few warm summers.
Celebrating the 2022 Boating Season – John Schauer
From spring break up through September, John and Karen Schauer enjoyed paddling and rowing rivers with great friends and dogs. Their trips included a few road accessible multi-day Alaskan classics: the Ikheenjik ( Birch Creek ), Chulitna/Susitna, and Gulkana. John will share images and stories of floating these and a few other rivers in rafts, canoes, IK’s, packrafts, kayaks and SOARs.
Join Fairbanks Paddlers
April 1 through March 31
$10 Individual
$15 Household
$150 Business
$100 Lifetime
Upcoming Events
Nothing from December 4, 2023 to February 4, 2024.