Story and photos from the Kokaktat Blog by Maxi Kniewasser

“Three rivers in three weeks doesn’t sound too ambitious, or so I once thought. When the rivers are remote wilderness multiday trips though, things change a bit. The rivers after all are the Stikine, the Susitna and the Alsek.

 

This past September, my good buddy – up and coming ripper – Ric Moxon and I spent nearly three weeks living in our Kokatat drysuits and got to experience some of the most beautiful places in the world. For the first leg, the Stikine, we were joined by Taylor Cavin, Ben Hawthorne, Cody Howard and the one and only – Daz Clarkson. Water and weather were perfect for all three days. Words don’t do this one justice, so I won’t try.

After a great trip down the Stikine, Ric and I realized that we had six days before our put on date for the Alsek (you need permits for this one). So we rallied to Talkeetna in Alaska and hopped in a Cessna 206 float plane. We were treated to a stunning flight past Mt. Denali before getting dropped off in the middle of nowhere. We felt pretty alone, especially after getting stalked by a grizzly the first night.

 

The whitewater was bigger than either of us had thought. In the end all was good and we made it safely back to the civilized world. The weather had been stunning for just a bit too long it seemed. As it had to be, that changed pretty quickly. By the time we met Alaskan boys Jono Coombs and Xavier Engle all that had changed into a full on snowstorm. Somehow we convinced ourselves that it wouldn’t be that bad and still put on. FYI, the Alsek drains the largest non-polar ice caps in the world and flows through the mighty St. Elias Mountains. Even in the middle of summer this trip is COLD!

 

Still, we had a great trip filled with miserable weather, stunning views, sarcastic jokes, great whitewater and lots of hot cocoa and whiskey. I am pretty sure that I broke the world record of most amount of GORP/trailmix ever eaten in seven days. All of us were very glad to be in Kokatat GORE-TEX drysuits. I m pretty sure that without them, all the joking would have quickly turned into a group melt down. The Alsek was awesome! In any case, my next trip is somewhere warm!” – Photos and story by Maxi Kniewasser, Kokatat Whitewater Ambassador
 
To see more of Maxi's pics from the trip visit www.kokatat.com