WARNING: Packrafting is an extremely dangerous activity. DO NOT attempt without serious preparation and research, it can cost you your life. Take a class, start with experienced rafters, and always check recent reports and conditions. Learn more in The Packraft Handbook.

In our opinion, Glacier Creek is the best intermediate weeknight packraft near Anchorage. Fun, exhilarating, splashy, and can be completed with only a single car in ~2 hours. What's not to love? Plus you get a beautfiul drive both ways down the Turnagain arm.

The run begins after a short hike through beautiful pines right below the hand tram to cross the stream. There's ample space to inflate and in high season plenty of tourists to gawk at your watercraft!

The most exhilarating part of the run is the first ~5-10 minutes. The put-in is right by a beautiful waterfall where winner creek merges in and immediately there are a number of very sharp turns which can pick-up significant wood hazards. The key here is keeping aggressively to the inside of curves to avoid the steep canyon slopes and strainers. As the run continues, the canyon widens out and becomes a more relaxed float through a classic gravely Alaskan river.

As we usually only have one car, our preferred shuttle method is to leave the packrafts at the trailhead, drive down and leave our car by the take-out bridge in Girdwood, then bike up the steep dirt road to the put-in. While this requires a few minutes of extra driving, we prefer it to biking up the steep road after a paddle. You could also use two cars or walk the shuttle leg. There are numerous berries right along the road in the later summer regardless of your means of transportation!

Notes:

• As always, please use proper protective gear. We always wear dry suits, PFDs and helmets
• Be sure to check the gauge before you go. Usually run at ~300-450 CFS, we've run at 800+ where it is signifigantly pushier and hazards are more dangerous. After rains, can be 2k+ CFS when the difficulty level would be much, much higher
• There's a good place to stop for a meal or drink on the gravel bars towards the end of the run by the airport
• There are a few places to lock bikes by the trailhead, mostly to the wooden posts marking parking spots

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