Brad Meiklejohn and I took a recon trip to Metal Creek, near Knik Glacier. Metal Creek first caught my attention 4 years ago due to the eerily straight drainage and a random video online of a jeep washing downstream at flood levels. I joined John Pekar and Tomas Jensen to reach Metal Creek from the Matanuska side, but after swimming instantly in the Mat and devil’s clubbing (yes, it is a verb) our way a few miles up Carpenter Creek, we turned around.
Brad, as usual, had a much better approach: a bike ride, Knik River crossing, more biking, and hiking an ATV trail. We ran 2.5 miles of class II/III silty water in beautiful tight canyons. Late August water levels would have been better, things were a little slow for us mid-September. Unfortunately, the valley chokes down to an un-runnable canyon about 2 miles upstream from the entrance from the Knik. After several portages to avoid meter-wide rapids and sieves, I popped my boat on a rock and we called it good. The exit down the lower Metal Creek to the ice-berg choked Knik Glacer was awesome and a great trip destination for anyone comfortable with class II water.
gotta kiss a few frogs before you find a princess
Beautiful photos Luc! Looks like fun.
amazing pictures brad! i want to go on an adventure with you, i can’t imagine having a better experience with anyone else!
Did you look up the glacier fork at all? Looks like the canyon could be fairly rowdy.
No, we didn’t check out Glacier Fork (AKA Grasshopper Canyon). I think Timmy J has looked at it, but I don’t think anyone has run it. The canyon section coming out from Grasshopper Valley didn’t look runnable to me.