Packrafting the Firth River: A Five-River Route in Arctic Alaska and the Yukon.
- Tim Kelley
- Oct 12, 2018
- 3 min read
Updated: Jan 19
Why packraft the Firth?: Flowing out of the British Mountains on the eastern flank of the Brooks Range in Canada's Yukon Territory, the Firth is a one-of-a-kind Arctic River trip. The landscape of Ivvavik National Park largely escaped glaciation, which has left behind all sorts of geologic remnants such as the craigy rock towers, or tors, that line the surrounding ridgelines. Unlike many arctic rivers that flow through broad, braided valleys, the Firth cuts a breathtaking low-walled canyon through the tundra for much of its reach. In addition to excellent Arctic scenery, Ivvavik National Park offers unparalleled wildlife viewing, with likely sightings of musk ox, wolves, bears, moose, caribou, and sheep. In late summer, the char were large and plentiful, and we caught our limit of fish each day. From the wildlife to the engaging whitewater, the river has something for everyone.
ROUTE OVERVIEW
The Firth is most commonly paddled as a commercial raft trip starting with a charter flight into ( ) and ending with a charter flight out of ( ). Due to its incredible remoteness, the Firth is a pricey trip, and when I was researching ways to reduce the cost, I started looking into accessing the river from the Alaska side of the U.S.-Canada border. The eventual route we settled on ended up being the most cost-effective option. We began our trip upstream of the standard put-in on Mancha Creek, a small tributary of the Firth near the U.S.-Canada border, adjacent to a tundra landing site. We paddled the length of the Firth Canyon before transitioning to hike mode once we neared the coastal plain. To return west, we followed the ridgeline into the Malcolm Valley before traveling upstream along Malcolm Creek. Some scenic hiking over an alpine pass brought us to the headwaters of the Pagilak River, a tributary of the Kongakut River and the start of our final paddling segment. We ended our trip at Caribou Pass, where we met our chartered flight back to Coldfoot, Alaska.
River Difficulty: The whitewater on the Firth ranges from class II-IV. Due to the remote nature of the run, I would treat it as class IV. While the vast majority of the whitewater is read and run class III, the vertical walls and continuous nature of some sections could make a swim dangerous. There is a digital copy of the river guide available through the park, as well as an extensive natural history guide. The other rivers along this route are a step easier: Mancha is a class II float, as are the last few miles of the Kongakut. The Pagilak has a consistent gradient of 100fpm but stays mostly class II-II+ when we saw it at low water. It would likely take on a continuous class III character with more water. While it is not flowing in the direction of our travel, I would recommend taking a day to lay over and paddle Malcolm Creek, a beautiful canyon stretch lasting only a few miles but containing some entertaining class III.
Permits: Paddling the Firth requires permits through Ivvavik National Park. There are very few visitors to this park, and as such, the park staff were super available with logistical help in the lead up to the trip. The backcountry permit cost $9 per person per day. While our entry and exit from the park by foot was atypical, they were supportive of our trip and only asked that we check in via inReach text once we left the park. If you plan to paddle the Firth in late summer, I would advise getting a fishing permit to experience the excellent Char fishing.
Resources:
Coyote Air:
Ivvavik Natural History Guide and Firth Maps:
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