The Upper Kenai is Open Again

The weekend before the Super Bowl eleven men, and one little guy, set out to remove the logjam in the back channel below Sportsman’s on the Kenai River.  If you are not familiar with that logjam, thank your lucky stars! You can safely familiarize yourself with that well-known logjam on the Outdoors Directory Alaska Rafting Forum; see http://forums.outdoorsdirectory.com/showthread.php?t=15154

http://forums.outdoorsdirectory.com/showthread.php?t=33625).

Visit the Logjam Photo Gallery !

Last summer that logjam swallowed multiple boats, and thousands of dollars worth of gear; but thankfully not one life. Our crew was determined that no one else would lose gear, a boat, or worse yet, their lives over that logjam. One of our crew, Mark La Porte (one of Anchorage’s finest), owned the red 18’ AIRE Leopard, which for a time was lodged under the massive Cottonwood log, at the same time with a hard drift boat and an Outcast PAC1200! He, and Tracey Harmon, of Alaska Raft and Kayak, secured the go ahead from the proper authorities.

Volunteers were not hard to come by.  Alex Carter of Alaska Raft and Kayak, Dave Thompson (chainsaw maestro), Chad Harmon, Will and “Murphy Man” Kimball, Ryan Penrod, Rick Rodgers, Mark Wehrmann (plumber extraordinaire), Victor Zagorski, and Mike Strahan (of Outdoors Directory) gave up a Sunday to make sure that back channel was free flowing again.

We found the area along the Kenai River free of snow, though both banks of the river were piled high with stacks of large “ice cookies”.  With a bit of hiking we were able to make our way safely to the edge of the river with a couple of inflatable AIRE Traveler canoes and all our gear (multiple chainsaws, a log hook, ropes, come-a-longs, chains, etc). A number of our volunteers were not familiar with the AIRE Traveler but soon learned that is one stable craft which is easily ferried across a river.

After everyone was safely across the river it was a half-mile hike down to the logjam, which was a doozie! The bole of a huge Cottonwood lay entirely across the back channel; the root wad on one side of the river, the top on the other bank.  Needless to say, a tree that size had caught every piece of debris that had came along, creating quite the mess in that small space.

Someone had already tried to remove the log, but apparently lacked a saw for the job. Not so with Dave Thompson! He had packed along a Stihl with a 36” bar! That’s a man’s saw by any description! Yet the 36” bar would not reach through the butt of the bole! Dave, and Mark La Porte, had to cut through from both sides! After the main tree was cut into sections the crew cut through many of the logs making up the logjam.

A word of caution is in order. Though we cut up the known logjam so that the spring floods can break it up, another can always form overnight. Be careful of those side channels along the Kenai, and all rivers. Rivers constantly eat at their banks, felling trees. One tree can bridge a narrow channel instantly. If in doubt scout the way ahead! If you learn of a nasty situation along a well used local river post your findings on the Alaska River Forum of the Outdoors Directory web site, and let the guys at Alaska Raft and Kayak know. We will pass the information along.

Be careful out there!