Tazlina Lake

[Snowman1979]

Hi All,

Has anyone floated the Tazlina River from the lake down to the Richardson? And is there a place to put in to float from one of the streams on the Glenn flowing into the Tazlina Lake such as Nelchina Ri., Mendeltna Cr. or Rolsona Dr. and from there onto the river?

 

[Jim Strutz]

Medeltna Creek looks too small, and I suspect, too congested to float. But the bottom end where it intersects the lake is a great camping spot.

The usual method of getting to Tazlina Lake is via Little Nelchina to Nelchina River, and then paddle/power/sail to the start of the Tazlina River. The Little Nelchina has several places where sweepers nearly block the whole stream, and low water can make life tough, but it's still a great float. A very short float plane hop is another way in to the lake. The Tazlina is fast with lots of rocks that magically appear just in time to flip your boat, so never take your eyes off of what's coming. This is one of my all time favorite floats.

Here's my write up about it: http://paddling.jimstrutz.com/page39.html

 

[Snowman1979]

Thanks

Thanks

Jim,

Thanks for the info which is great. I need to pick your brain even more. Being a novice is the Tazlina a good one to attempt? And how long does the trip take to float start to finish?
Thanks again that type of info is great.

 

[Snowman1979]

Thanks II

Thanks II

Jim,

I put the cart before the horse. Your article is great and answered my questions. One I still have left is a novice one. What is a sweeper?

 

[Jim Strutz]

A sweeper is a tree that is laying across the top of the water, or just above it. They tend to sweep people & gear out of the boat. If they drag all the way into the water they can be deadly if you swim under one, or the boat gets pushed sideways against one.

The Nelchina/Tazlina is a good float for near beginners that have some experience maneuvering their raft around obstacles, and staying away from the brush & rocks at the outsides of turns. There are no bad rapids on the either the Nelchina or Tazlina. The only real rapid is about mid way down the Tazlina, and it is fairly open to see where you need to go. I would practice on rivers like the Kenai to gain a little boating experience first though.

However, experienced or not, keep on your toes the whole time you're floating. The sweepers during the first part of the trip and the rocks during the last part will surprise you if you're not looking downstream all the time.

Most importantly, have fun.

 

[Snowman1979]

Thanks Again

Thanks Again

Your article was great and we will be on the river next year.

 

[Mendeltnacreek]

Most people

Most people

Float the little Nelchina. The Mendeltna has sweepers, and is very twisted, some rapids, and will take forever.

 

[motorboatn]

Hows the nelchina

Hows the nelchina

Hows the nelchina right now??

 

[dirtysteev]

tazlina conditions

tazlina conditions

as i had mentioned a couple of weeks ago there was a glacial outburst event on the tazlina. to my knowledge nobody has run it since, therefore there are no reports of the condition the flood left the river in. be VERY cautious and aware that flood events nearly always carry a huge load of debris (ie trees) down the river, potentially causing dangerous logjams, as well as lots of fresh sweepers due to outside bank erosion. keep the reports coming.

keep the reports coming, safe boating, steve