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Rafting Six Mile Creek - A Rookie's First Try

September 26, 1998

by Ted Coats

Here it is, my chance to drive a raft down Six Mile. Six Mile Creek is one of the premier white water rivers in the state of Alaska. It is certainly THE river of South Central Alaska. It contains 3 distinct canyons consisting of class IV, IV+, and class V rapids, respectively. All of which fall in about an eight mile section of this stream. As I prepare myself for this ride of a lifetime, I cannot forget the fact that this river has killed people, quite a few actually. Most of deaths have come to those that did not know that this wonderfully, beautiful, and peaceful stream that runs several miles along the highway turns into a raging torrent of water that will send any unsuspecting vessel and passenger where it wants it to go. Once you enter its grip, there’s no turning back.

This river has been one of my goals since I was first introduced to this new sport of mine. I knew that running this river was not really possible with my standard floor raft. Too much time would be required to bail out the water that would surely finds its way in. However, three weeks ago I had the opportunity to ride with Jim Strutz who has run this river many times. I jumped at the chance and took the ride of a lifetime. Little did I know that three weeks later I would be at the helm of the same boat. Jim wanted to ride his inflatable kayak down this river but didn’t have a rescue boat to go along. So he offered his 17 foot cataraft, and I accepted. I conned Warren Foster and Curt Hanson to go along with me and provide paddle assist (it didn’t take much effort). I wonder if they know what they are getting themselves into.

Launching at the Ist Canyon put-in. We put in at the starting point about two miles above the first canyon. It is a bit chilly out, and this was evident with the mist of our breaths, but once we put all our rafting gear on, we are plenty warm, for now that is. With our dry and wet suits, high floatation life jackets and helmets on, we look like scuba diving football players. We are dressed for battle with the river.

Now that we were ready, so is the river, but it looked much less the terror than it was three weeks earlier. The river level is low. It is only six inches lower than it was when I previously ran the river, but it’s enough to change it from mid levels to the low side. Although it’s lower, it doesn’t make it any easier. The river at this level is safer, but the added rocks that are now exposed requires more precise maneuvering.

View of East Fork of Six Mile

As we float along this harmless looking stream, it’s easy to be awed by the spectacular beauty that Alaska has to offer. Although it’s a bit cloudy, the fall colors, along with the freshly snow capped mountains nearby, easily gives argument for those who say that this is God’s country. Each time I float or drive by this section river, I cannot forget about the two ignorant twenty year olds who bought a canoe earlier in the day and decided to take it for a test drive along this section of water. Without wearing life vests, this maiden voyage would meet the same fate as the Titanic. I can only imagine the looks on their faces when they made a tight left hand turn and found themselves at the entrance to the first canyon with absolutely no time or way to get out of it.

View from the launching site

There is quite a bit of anticipation as we near this entrance. As we get closer, some small rapids form creating some class IIs, but it’s not anything that a well handled canoe can’t handled. The responsibility of being captain of the vessel has increased my anticipation more so than it did three weeks earlier when I approached this section for the first time. I do not want to mess this up. Looking ahead we can see Gulch creek entering the river on the right. This is the indicator that the ride is about to begin.

Seventeen Ender Hole and Gulch Creek entering on the upper left

The first rapid is called "Seventeen Ender Hole." It is named as a result of a Californian kayaker who did seventeen enders before he baled out of his kayak. That’s how the story goes, but Seventeen Ender is a river wide ledge drop that creates a keeper hole taking up all but a small section of the left side. Earlier advice has been to stay away from Seventeen Ender. That is what I plan to do. Jim, in his inflatable kayak, goes first. Because of the sharp left turn prior to this rapid, we are not able to watch him go through this first section. We wait a few moments then take our turn. There is no turning back. I keep the cataraft as close to the left bank as possible. It ends up being too close. Because of the low water, there is hardly any water on the left side. It all goes into Seventeen Ender. I keep thinking, I need to stay out of Seventeen Ender. I keep the raft as far to the left as I can. As we go over the ledge, we hang the raft up on a rock. Normally this is not good news. Rafts have a tendency of flipping when hung up, but this was not the case this time. After a few moments of bouncing and pushing, we get free, and we survive the first major rapid. Funny thing is, our views later would not call this a major rapid.

Predator with Seventeen Ender at the top Immediately after Seventeen Ender the river shore grows into sixty foot high cliffs, and the river narrows to about seven feet wide in some places. It’s now time to play pinball. How many times can you hit the walls. For those of you not familiar with white water sports, it is not a good thing to hit walls. They have the ability to flip rafts, poke holes, and sometimes pin you against them and not let go. To add to the excitement of the narrow chute, the river has placed another hole in the middle of it. It's called "Predator." However, at this low water level there is not much to it. We go through it without any problems and continued through the rest of this mini Grand Canyon by no more than glancing off a wall or two. A textbook run. I hope the next time goes half as smooth.

Running the cat through Pedator

No problems with this canyon

At the end of this chute there is a large eddy on the left side in which to regroup and scout the next rapid. We rejoin Jim and his kayak who is waiting in the eddy. We find out that Jim turned over going through Predator, but was able to quickly remount while going through the chute. From the eddy we can see the next rapid. I am amazed that it does not have a name or no one seems to know what it is. All I know is I don’t want it named "Dead Ted’s Drop." The rapid is a cliff drop of a few feet. The water on the left side drives into a wall that juts out into the river. At low water there are rocks exposed on the right side, but they can’t be seen until it’s too late. Jim advises the best way to run this is to start out on the right and drive toward the left hitting it right in the middle. We set up for it just like Jim told us to. Over we go, and into the water we go. The front end of the raft drives into the water giving Warren and Curt a good dunking, but it resurfaces before it’s able to get me. No Drop Dead Ted rapid here, this time.

Name? ("TheWaterFall") It's not Drop Dead Ted

Another view of "The Waterfall" rapid

The next set of rapids are narrow chutes around large boulders in the middle of the river. None of these are difficult so long as you set up for them just right. This is particularly true when the water level is down. Enter any one of these rapids the wrong way, or side ways, and the potential of flipping is very real. Jim has experienced this before. We hit each one of the slots the right way because we don’t flip. This was made easier by following Jim who himself had no problems. This first canyon isn’t so bad, but there’s one major rapid to go.

One of the many rocks that create channels "Screaming Right Hand Turn" is the next one that awaits us. Looking at this rapid from high above and it looks like a piece of cake. I wonder why they even named this section. Advice for this section is to run it on the right side, but at low levels the only route is right down the middle. When the water is higher, one needs to be careful and stay off the left wall. It’s amazing how different a rapid looks when you are at water level and not high on a river bank. As we approach this rapid, I can see that there is a noticeable drop in elevation along with the right hand turn. This one doesn’t look too bad. We shoot right down the middle of the rapid where most of the water is flowing. At the bottom of the rapid someone or something placed a rock there that I couldn’t see. Our raft didn’t have any problem finding it. I quickly learned rule number one of white water rafting, be ready for the unexpected. The raft hit the rock and jolted us real good. It was so good that it knocked me off my seat. So good that it knocked me off the left pontoon. Time for a moment comes to a stand still. Decision time. Can I perform the balancing act of a lifetime?, or …., well you know the next option. I choose the latter. It’s one thing to jump into cold water and know it’s cold. It’s another to fall into it when your not expecting it. (Remember rule number one?) Talk about a slap in the face. The air just gets sucked right out of you. I quickly came back to the surface. (Remember the high flotation life jackets?) I look around and noticed that the raft didn’t flip. I was the only one that felt the desire to be baptized in Six Mile Creek. I hope the other two left on the raft can steer it without an oarsman. It’s now time for white water swimming. Actually the river quiets down after this rapid, so with my feet leading the way, I quickly find my way to Jim’s kayak who is enjoying a good laugh. Warren and Curt soon follow with even bigger grins on their faces. So much for the first canyon and its class IV rating. Just think, the best stuff is yet to come.

Screaming Right Hand Turn The river returns to the nice easy pace that it was before it entered the canyon. With the occasional class II rapid, this part of the trip would be boring if it were not for the fantastic scenery. About three quarters of a mile below the first canyon, Canyon Creek enters on the left. Although not as big as the East Fork of Six Mile Creek (first canyon section), it does increase the river flow about fifty percent. It is about 2 miles or so to the beginning of the second canyon. With not much to do except enjoy the views, Jim offers Warren the opportunity to try an inflatable kayak. Not being one to pass up an adventure, Warren eagerly accepts. He quickly picks up on it and tries to find all the white water he can. The scattering class II rapids aren’t enough to knock him off, but what water can’t do, a tree branch can. In an attempt to catch a wave, Warren grabs an over hanging branch to help him stay in place. The kayak has no plans of staying in place and leaves him behind. Another one bites the dust, or I should say water. He climbs back on, and awaits the second canyon.

The second canyon is shorter than the first, but with the increase of flow, so does the difficulty. The first rapid awaiting our arrival is "Pearly Gates." Any idea how it got its name? Anyway, this rapid is a river wide ledge with a good drop. This river is full of ‘em. Jim tells us it’s our turn to go first. Approaching the rapid, for some reason, I’m more to the right than I want to be. I guess this comes from not having Jim to follow. If I try to get farther to the left side, I take the risk of not being straight when I go over the ledge. So I set the raft up to go over it straight on the right side. Halfway over the ledge, I realize that the left side is where I want to be. Oh well, play the cards you are dealt. The front end of the raft finally starts its way down over the ledge, and after what seems likes being suspended in mid air, we crash back into the river. This totally drenches my two passengers, and also gives me a good soaking, too. After what seems an eternity, we finally resurface. I quickly yell to my paddle assists to help get us out of the Pearly portion of the rapid. Not a problem, and boy was that fun.

There’s no time to celebrate. The next rapid comes fast. It’s called the "Nozzle." Named appropriately, the river closes to a narrow opening. This section claimed Six Mile’s latest victim last summer. I have no plans of it repeating itself this time. We head right down the middle. We keep it straight and off the walls. Great run. I look back to admire our great run. I see Jim just as he hits the foam of Pearly Gates and watch him go over. I yell to my assistants to get the throw ropes ready. There’s not much we can do except watch and back paddle to keep from going farther down river and wait for Jim to come to us. Come to us he does. After getting the kayak off his head, all Jim can do is hang on and ride out the nozzle. Before we could throw him a rope, Jim quickly climbs back onboard. With the Nozzle conquered, it’s time for the "Anvil."

Upstream View of the "Nozzle"

Below the Nozzle there is an eddy on the left. We pull in and park our rafts to check out this next rapid. The Anvil is the meanest rapid in the second canyon. It gets its name because the canyon wall juts out into the main flow creating the Anvil. There are a couple minor drops before the Anvil. This section is also another canyon. Remember the problem with canyons? Walls. The game plan here still is to stay off the walls, but at low water staying off the wall is only a wish. It’s very difficult to stay off the wall because at low water there is a rock that blocks the right side forcing you to stay left and the water flows off the left wall. After checking it out, getting guidance from Jim, and a quick lesson of how to climb to the high side of a raft when it tries to climb a wall, we reload the rafts and have at it. The minor drops are a piece of cake. We just stay in the main flow and follow it to the Anvil wall. We don’t try to stay off it. We just try to slide by it. This proves to be a good game plan. We get by the Anvil, and before we know it, the right side of the canyon is in our face. We quickly bounce off it and end up in a large eddy. We made it through the Anvil. Second canyon; so far, so good.

Downstream View of the "Anvil" There is one last rapid to go in the second canyon. "Beaver Drop" is another river wide drop to contend with. At low water levels, all you can do is follow the main flow. I have the paddle assist do their thing and this rapid turns into a non-event. The second canyon is over. Short, but sweet. With our handling of the second canyon, my confidence is high for the third canyon. I can hardly wait. Ya, right! The take out for the second canyon and the put in for the third canyon is about half a mile below Beaver Drop. We float on past and realize that we are committed to the third canyon. I can’t believe I’m doing this, but what the heck, what can go wrong? Don’t answer that question. The third canyon begins about a mile below the put in/take out. Along the way there are a few rapids. They aren’t big enough to warrant names, but they’re still fun to run. Just like when we were above the first canyon, the anticipation is very high. Before I know it, we are at the entrance, and the door is open. "Come on down," the river seems to be saying. "Try it, you’ll like it." We stop at the top of "Stair Case." Here it is. The biggest, baddest rapid on the whole river, a class V gem. I look at it and recall running it as a paddle assist three weeks earlier. It was a blast, but this time it’s different. I just don’t feel right about it. Jim has decided that he’s not going to run it, so he pulls has kayak around. Trying to portage the cataraft around this section is doable, but it would be a lot of work. It sure would be easier to just run it. I know that I can do it. You just point down stream, paddle fast, try to stay to the left, don’t hit the rock on the left, and stay off the wall on the right. My real concern is the fact that this is not my raft. I don’t want to mess it up. When a raft like this flips in major rapids, it has a tendency to start ripping things off like oars, mounts and seats when they start hitting rocks because you have no control of the raft when riding it upside down. I elect to let Jim take it down the Stair Case. I’m disappointed in the decision, but at least I won’t wreck anything this way. I volunteer to be the safety man so that Curt can have a run at this class V rapid since this is his first time. I take up position below the rapid armed with throw ropes (just in case) and with a camera. Jim then guides the raft toward the big hole in the water. I’m too far away to see the looks in their faces, especially through a cheap view finder. I click off a couple pictures ( I hope they turn out). Quite a bit of the raft submerges into water except for the right side which hit some of the rocks on that side. They quickly regroup and paddle on past, right side up. I tell myself, "I could have done that." Jim tells me I should have run it, I could have done a better job. I don’t know about that, but I’m sure not going to carry the raft back up it and see if he’s right. I’ll just have to wait for the next time.

Getting Turned in "Staircase" (Class V) I quickly realize that I’ve got a small problem. I am upstream and they are down stream, and there’s no way to get there except one (remember, we’re in the third canyon). I could walk quite a ways out of the way, but there’s still a kayak to deal with. Letting it float down stream is not an option. We might not get it back. So the only coarse of actin is to get in it and paddle it down stream. This brings up problem number two. I have never paddled an inflatable kayak before, or any kayak for that matter. I guess I am going to learn fast. I finally get on board. This is no task when the thing rocks from one side to the other. I can’t forget that there are more rapids below, and if I miss the eddy that the raft is parked it, I’m in real trouble. I gingerly paddle out into the flow. I quickly pull into an eddy around the corner. I find out that the water here is too deep and I can’t get off. So I proceed out once again in hopes of finding a friendlier eddy. This time the down stream rapids are getting closer. I see the eddy I want to get to. Not really knowing how to control this thing, I jump into the water and start swimming. Probably not the wisest move, but I had more faith in my swimming abilities than my kayaking. The water wasn’t nearly as cold this time, but come to think of it, I wasn’t what you call dry anyway. This time I’m able to make it, but I’m still upstream from the raft. Not taking any further chances of getting swept down stream I tie the kayak to a rescue line and climb around the cliffs pulling the kayak with me. With great relief we are regrouped and ready for the next battle.

Now comes the fun stuff. The next major rapid is "Suck Hole." If it grabs you, it doesn’t let go without a fight - a big fight. The last time (and the first time) I went through it, Jim was knocked off his seat and wasn’t able to use the oars, but me and Warren paddled as hard as we could and all we did was go backwards. I couldn’t believe it. So this is what a keeper hole is like. Jim then got back in his seat and put the oars in and we were out of there before it was able dump us in the drink. This last trip was fresh in my mind as we approached it, but for some reason there are still more rapids to through before we get there. These rapids aren’t named, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t big (Jim is right when he says that they would be named if they were anywhere else besides the third canyon of Six Mile). In the middle of the first one, I must catch a rock with my left oar, because I quickly notice that it’s bent. Man, I must have been pulling hard. We find an eddy on the left side and get to it ASAP. The whole time I’m thinking, "Great, I’ve busted one of Jim’s oars. I wonder how upset he’s going to get"? We unleash the spare oar from the bottom of the raft while Curt hangs on to a rock and keeps us from floating down the river into further trouble. With the new oar in place, it’s time to find trouble.

It won’t take too long to find it, but it won’t be at Suck Hole. I don’t know if it’s because of the lower water level, or if we just get lucky, but we go right through it without so much as a burp. In fact, Curt keeps asking where’s Suck Hole. We had to tell him that we already went through it. Jim was waiting for us, and we pulled off to the right and join him. We show Jim our battle damage, and he says, "no problem". He proceeds to stand on it to straighten it out. Hey, that looks better, but it’s not perfect. In an effort to make it perfect, Jim tries one more time. CRACK! It splits right in two. I sure hope we won’t need a spare for the rest of the trip. No time to worry about it now. We still have half of the canyon to go.

The next rapid is the greatest one on the whole river. Its called "Merry Go Round." The name says it all. There is a big boulder in the middle of the river and the water goes "around" it. It also drops quite a few feet in the process. The best side is the left. We line up for it, and that’s all there is to it. The rapid does the rest. The left paddler thinks he’s going to smash into the rocks on the left, and the right paddler thinks he’s going to fall into the abyss at the bottom of the rock. But neither happens. The raft stays in the main flow of water going completely around the massive boulder until it meets up with the water coming around from the right side. Splash time. Man, that was a blast! We quickly back paddle to stay away from another rock, but it’s not a problem, NOT.

Remember, I said we were looking for trouble. Well, were about to find it. For some reason, the right oar comes off, and the next thing I know it’s floating in the river. I’m glad Jim added foam to the oars to make them float. I start to panic in my mind because I know that "Jaws" is coming up soon, and without both oars, it’s going to be "Crunch Time," (or is that "Munch Time"?). We’re able to position the raft so that I can grab it. I got it. Oh no, more rapids. I lose it again. I can feel the teeth getting sharper. I soon discover that I’m able to maintain some control just using the left oar. We find the floating oar again, and this time I won’t let go. I’m able to put it back in its clip, just in time. We see Jim sitting in an eddy waiting for us and to scout out Jaws. We head toward the right side and soon realize that we aren’t going to make. We probably should’ve tried harder, because now we aren’t going to get a sneak preview of Steven Spielberg’s favorite fish (yes, I know that a shark isn’t a fish).

Jaws is named for all the rocks that poke up resembling teeth - particularly at low levels. As we approach the first set of rocks…."Houston, we have a problem". There is not enough room to fit this wide cataraft through the small opening created by the low water. We didn’t have this problem last time. If we had been able to stop and scout it, we would’ve chosen to portage around this section. Plan B, when all else fails, CHARGE! The front seat and first cross member bang a bit, but they make it over. The problems comes when the foot support bar hits the rock. It sits a few inches lower than the other bars. It will not go over the rock. Consequently, the back of the raft starts to swing around. This is actually a good thing, because we are now far enough on the rock that the raft is able to fit through the tight opening. We begin to head down river backwards. The front part of the raft (which is the back right now) easily slips off the rock. It couldn’t have gone any better if we had planned it that way. Time to turn the raft around. Uh oh, here comes trouble. There’s a big rock (or is it a bicuspid?) in the way. The left side hits it square in the middle. This is not good. Any rafter will tell you hitting a rock square in the middle with your side is a recipe for disaster. The left side starts to climb the rock. This means the right side is going under. I yell to Curt to climb to the high side. I can’t believe how fast he gets there. The right side starts to come back up. I get the right oar in the water, and it’s enough to start us around the rock. We slide around the rock, and head down stream in the right direction. I don’t think the other two realize how close we came to biting it. There’s no time to celebrate. We continue through the rest of Jaws without any further problems, but boy I’m beat. Zigging and zagging through that boulder field with eight hundred pounds of raft and cargo has taken its toll. There’s still one more rapid to go before we can claim victory.

We pull off to the side and wait for Jim. Unlike us, he stopped and scouted Jaws. Eventually he rounds the corner and stops by. Jim has been doing a great job in his kayak. We’ve had our hands so full we haven’t been able to monitor him in the third canyon. Things move pretty quick here. He lets us know that he’s dumped it a couple of times, but getting back on board is a breeze. He says he’s got the bracing thing down too, and this has helped from falling off too many times. I’ve been real impressed so far. I think I’m going to have to try that some time. We’re almost done. Time to go back to work.

"Junkyard Dog" is the last thing in the way for us. At this water level there is only one way to shoot this rapid. Follow the water. I’m glad Jim reminded me to stay on the right side, because this rapid is difficult to see ahead, and you’re on it before you know it. This one is sort of like Merry Go Round. All you can do is put it in the slot and hang on. It’s not possible to provide any control with the oars because of all the rocks on both side. We hit the slot and enjoy the ride. The raft easily slides and bangs off some of the rocks with no problem. It’s another fun one to just ride out. We did it. We beat Six Mile (this time that is).

There’s one small rapid left on the left side that a lot of people try to play and surf in, but we effortlessly go by it on the right side too tired to even try to get to the left side and play in it. It is time to enjoy the moment. With the exception of Stair Case, I drove through one of the toughest rivers in Alaska, and didn’t flip. All this in just my first year of white water rafting. I realize that this does not qualify me as an expert on this river. Far from it. There’s still Stair Case to do and higher water levels to run (Note: I did return the ext season and ran the whole river at the 10' level without problems), but I’ll enjoy this for now. I guess you can say I’ve got my learner’s permit. Dad, wanna go for a ride?

Kurt and Jim at the Third Canyon Takeout

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