Mahay's Jet Boat ride, Talkeetna, Alaska

When I made a reservation for our big adventure next week, I also looked at several other things to do in Talkeetna during our seven day stay. Friday was bright and sunny, and Saturday promised to be the same.  After so many rainy, overcast days, the blue sky was a beautiful sight.

Saturday morning we took the Devil's Canyon trip in a Mahay's jet boat. Click here to see a commercial YouTube video of our ride.

After only a few minutes on the water, we went around a bend in the river, and got a dramatic, clear view of Mount Foraker, Mount Hunter, and Mount Denali. 

We were told that only 5% of tourists who come here actually get this clear a view. 

From the stories I have heard about the mountain peak just showing of a few minutes at a time, I believe we were very lucky.

  Denali sure is big, given that she is almost 60 miles away.

The jet boat ride was fun. The boat was completely enclosed, but we could open the windows.  When the captain stopped for a picture-op, two front doors were opened and we could use them for a window-free direct shot.

The trip was a 130 mile round trip, and went up into the white water of Devil's Canyon of the Susitna River.

We only went in part way up the canyon because it is too rough to go all the way.

We were told that only two people have made it through in boats. In fact the canyon itself is a demarcation line between dialects of the indigenous people of the area.

We saw a few eagles and this bear along the river banks. He didn't stick around for long, and our pilot said that was good because they do allow hunting from boats along here.

One thing I found interesting was the color change of the waters coming into the river from the sides. The main channel is clouded with glacial silt. The side creeks are fresh and clear. We stopped to see the salmon who were starting to gather at this creek mouth. Only those who were born there will go up to spawn. Each salmon seeks the creek in which it was born.

After a light box lunch, we stopped at a dock and disembarked for a short nature walk.

Perhaps in was just for "show" but our guide carried a shot gun in case of a bear encounter. 















We visited a demonstration Native fish camp and a replica trapper's cabin.

If nothing else, it was a chance to stretch our legs before the last half hour of the boat ride.

Coming back, we once again stopped to get a good view of Denali!

I know this same image is shown above, and is being used as the header as I write this post, 
but when the header is changed it is lost from the blog, and I want to keep it in view.

As nice as that trip was, our day was not yet over

To be continued...