Shakes Glacier Jet Boat Adventure

Our jet boat

Unusual walking spot

 After spending a day jet boating up the Stikine River, over a terminal moraine and into a glacier lake I realized that I am a pretty cautious captain...compared to these guys! If you ever come to Wrangell, Alaska this adventure should definitely be on your list.

Grounded 'berg

Pushing icebergs

  You board your jet boat at the dock in Wrangell. Everyone has seat and even seat belts, which is a bit unusual for a boat. Instead of propellers that spin under the boat making it go fast, this style of boat has water intake that it shoots out in a stream kind of like a jet ski. Manuevering is with a giant joystick and the draft, or depth of the deepest part of the boat, is only 12 inches. This is perfect for heading up the silty and shallow Stikine River.

Grounded 70ft deep

Wine, salmon, and cheese

  Shortly after leaving the island of Wrangell and heading towards the mainland I watched as the depth sounder started giving shallower and shallower readings. We were speeding right along as the water got to about 5ft deep. I would have been very nervous. And it was high tide! What do they do at low tide? Our captain new right were to find the "deepest' channel and we made it past the delta into the mouth of the Stikine river. "Now's where it gets tricky." he said.

Beautiful day in Alaska

  Just past the entrance to the fastest free flowing navigable river in North America, we came across another shallow section called, the 'stump graveyard.' Ground logs were everywhere here. I would never take a skiff or zodiac into these waters. Once we were past the stump graveyard we jetted up the river, taking several side passages on the way up. The captain pointed out several of his favorite salmon fishing grounds and we stopped at several forest service cabins for bathroom breaks on the way.

   The next big challenge was making it over a terminal moraine, downstream from a huge glacial lake created by the receding Shakes Glacier. I had flown over this area during a surprise impromptu float plane adventure a year ago, saw the glacial moraine from the plane, and swore that noone would be able to take a boat past it, as it looked too shallow. You can check out the float plane adventure here. But sure enough, we took the jet boat at high speed right over the moraine, past the grounded ice bergs, and into the glacial lake.

Waterfall cascading onto the boat

   From here is was a relaxing ride, pushing ice bergs, washing the boat by driving into a waterfall (see photo below) and having a picnic of wine and cheese and salmon while admiring the glacier that created it all. We left behind grey skies and rain in Wrangell to enjoy some blue skies and sunshine tucked away between the mountains. I still can't believe we were going 35mph in water that was sometimes 2ft deep. I have to put this down as one of the most unique Alaskan adventures that you can experience.

   Check out Alaska landscape photos here.