Talkeetna

A friend and I paddled from Murder Lake down in early August 2018. Prairie Creek had some wood hazards but did not require portaging. The Talkeetna flow was dropping from a major spike due to heavy rainfall and was 13-14,000 by the time we entered the canyon. Scouting Toilet Bowl is advisable at that flow, but everything else was read-and-run big water class III-IV.

We were unable to fit our two creekboats (a large Dagger Mamba and a Waka Tuna) into a Cessna 206 with Alaska Bush Float Plane, and the pilots were rather reluctant to try in fear of damaging their planes. The width seemed to be more of an issue than the length. Smaller creekboats might work better, but don't count on it, despite what the float plane company might tell you over the phone. As of August 2018, K2 Aviation has a DHC-2 Beaver on floats with an Alaska door that can easily fit two creekboats. They are also based at Fish Lake and can fly you to Murder Lake. Talkeetna Air and Taxi has a wheeled Beaver that can fly into the Yellowjacket Airstrip for a similar price. The Beaver is more expensive than the 206 since it's a larger plane. Most pilots won't strap kayaks to floats and also take passengers due to FAA regulations.

Late August self-support kayak trip on the Talkeetna.

Murder Lake is a small lake just downstream of Stephan Lake. Prairie Creek starts at the outlet for this lake. A Cessna 206, shown here, should fit two paddlers with their boats (inside the plane) and gear.

The water was relatively low, but it was still a blast.

Looking down on the toilet bowl from above