Hulahula River

[BBryan]

I have never been to Alaska before, my best friend and myself are considering a rafting trip on the Hulahula. Does anybody have any ideas as to wether this is a fun trip, dangerous trip or any other trips that might be better and more intersting for someone who hasn't been to Alaska.

We have hiking and canoeing expierence as well. We are active and in shape, just looking for a fun, rewarding and challenging trip.

[danattherock]

float trip

First of all, welcome to the forum

The Hula Hula is a challenging trip from what I have read and been told. Lots of class II/III and it is a very remote river. It could be a great trip if you have the skills for it, but if not, consider other rivers for your first trip. Another thing, this is one of the most expensive rivers to get into and out of. You would fly commercial to Fairbanks, then take Wright Air to Arctic Village, then a bush flight from there to the river. Rounding things off, you are looking at $1,200 per person round trip to Faribanks and back from Conn, $300 per person for Wright Air flight (plus extra charge for gear weight), then $3,500-4,200 for the bush flight assuming you are under 750 lbs total. Its a lot of dough. But I don't mean to discourage you. It is your money and this trip is a worthwhile trip. Plan on doing it myself in the coming years. I will be doing the Kongakut first. I had it planned for this year, but it will be next June. I just got into rafting and need some rowing skills. We used our Ally pack canoes on all but one float trip to date. And this past Sept we used the raft for the first time, but it was just a class I river so we did not learn much about rowing a raft. I have some 1:1 lessons set up this summer to help me learn more about rafting. Safety first as much as I hate it. The Kongakut and Hula Hula are two of the premier floats in NE Alaska. There are some others that are popular as well. The Sheenjek and Marsh Fork Canning come to mind. The Kongakut and Hula Hula both have some class III but the others do not to my knowledge. Lots of rivers in Alaska to choose from. I might suggest another river for a first float trip. My wife and I float Alaska rivers each fall. We have done three in arctic NW Alaska and one in SW Alaska. All great trips. Solitude, dolly varden, grayling, caribou, etc.. in NW Alaska. Great salmon and rainbow fishing with nice scenery and fair solitude in SW. I also have the Kobuk and Alatna planned out and waiting. Happy to share any info. Just shoot me a pm if you want to talk more about float trip options.

Below are some pics from our recent float trips.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/2114408...27567944/show/


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