Ship Creek Crackdown

Anchorage, Alaska – We knew that paddling down Ship Creek was technically illegal, but with no signs to tell us not to paddle a great whitewater canyon just outside of Anchorage, we did it anyway. Even when Johnny Law met us at the take-out and we faced possible court dates, we all said it was worth it, and now I’ve got a new environmental story to chase as well.

Ship Creek Canyon starts up Arctic Valley Rd., about 15-minutes outside of downtown Anchorage. Ship is famous for being one of the only creeks in the world that you can pull a 50-lb Chinook (King) Salmon out of in the industrial downtown of a city of 300,000 people. As such, the banks of Ship in downtown will be lined ass-to-elbows with fisherman most days of the summer.

But just out of town and up into the Chugach Mountains, Ship is like any other Alaskan creek, wild. The hike in takes about 45-minutes and making lots of noise is a good idea as moose and grizzlies in large quantities roam the area. We saw a nice sized, and fresh, 10-inch bear print in the mud on our way down to the water. The hike is a bit of a slog, but it’s beautiful the whole way and offers some great views back up towards the headwaters of Ship.

The creek starts off swift Class II for the first half-mile, a good chance to warm up before things get busy. Busy is what this creek is all about. There is no single, large Class IV drop on the run, but the technical and continuous nature of the creek make it pretty solid Class IV for the main canyon section. A swim on Ship Creek would not be a fun endeavor.

A brief calm section followed by a twisting rapid that drops out of sight to the right is the entrance to a rapid that deserves scouting for wood as the creek enters the tight-walled true canyon. The creek cascades down a series of drops that a straight line on the left will carry then drops out of sight about 300-yards downstream. A few more, bigger Class IV drops, will lead you down to the reservoir and the dam.

Four of us climbed up onto the dam to watch Dan paddle over the 50-foot slide and as he shot into backwash below, the alarm gave us our first indication that paddling Ship Creek isn’t a free lunch on great Alaskan whitewater. A second alarm when Scott and Matt went over just served to remind us that we’d probably have visitors at the take-out.

Conservation Officer Noah Meisenheime, one of the most laid-back cops I’ve ever had a run in with, was waiting diligently for us at the earliest possible visibility point near the take-out. He greeted us, asked how our run went and then calmly explained that what we had just done was illegal from start to finish, that they had video of us kayaking over the dam and that he needed to see each of our id’s.

As it turns out, though the trail is on Forrest Service land, the creek itself is all within the Fort Richardson light-tactical training area, an area open to recreation, as long as you have a permit. But not water craft recreation of any sort.

“The trespassing isn’t really that big of a deal, but you did paddle over a real sensitive landmark and that wasn’t really that good of an idea,” Officer Meisenheimer said. He explained that someone had drowned in the canyon the year before and that the base commander had shut down the drainage to kayakers to reduce their liability.

Since none of us were from around Anchorage, nor had we been down Ship Creek before, he talked his boss into just giving us a warning citation rather than a ticket or court date.

“Besides, without any signs up ticket won’t hold up in court,” he said.

Just before we wrapped everything up I asked Officer Meinsenheimer what it would take and if he thought it was possible to get access rights for local paddlers.

“You’d have to organize a group, public meeting with the base commander to talk about possibilities,” he said. He agreed that it would also take some public funds to build a portage path around the dam.

It got me to thinking though, with the recreation lobby carrying more weight than ever before and rivers being opened up all over the country for paddlers, why shouldn’t one of the best, most easily accessed creeks around Anchorage be open for the kayaking public to paddle? I understand the liability issues, but as we’ve discussed in past stories, individuals are responsible for their own actions, so as long as that is written out clearly, we should be able to legally paddle that gem.

In my research so far I’ve found that the Anchorage Waterways Council is already trying to get the dam removed because it doesn’t actually serve any purpose. Along with two weirs downstream that prevent upstream migration for salmon and debris clogging the fish ladders, I’ve learned that Ship Creek is actually something of an environmental hazard. Looks like I’ve got a story to pursue.