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Get
hands on and up close as you learn
about local plants, animals, trappers,
and Alaska natives, with the wilderness
as your classroom. Mahay's
Jet Boat Adventures makes
it possible with their jetboat
adventures on the Susitna and Talkeetna
Rivers. For most visitors, this
exploration will be their deepest
immersion into the Alaskan wild—something
you just can't get from a flightseeing
tour, a cruise, or a car.
The 10-mile Wilderness
Jet Boat Adventure is
Mahay's most popular tour—at two hours, it
won't chew up the whole day, and you'll stay engaged
and entertained the entire time. The tour travels
up and down the "Su" on a high-tech, glass-domed
jetboat that can navigate rivers in only inches of
water. A 10-minute ride downriver provides an excellent
view of the Alaska Range and McKinley (visible through
the clouds about 30% of the time). Then it's back
upriver through this otherwise impenetrable wilderness.
Look up and spot a giant nest, home to bald eagles.
Marvel at the huge trees lying on the riverbank,
freshly felled by beavers—tours
may pull up to the bank and collect wood chip souvenirs.
Some adventures spot black or grizzly bears
roaming the shoreline.
Your guide pulls ashore and leads you into the woods
on a ¼-mile exploration along a forest trail,
pointing out local plants and wildflowers used by
native Alaskans. Step back in time as you discover
the painstakingly reconstructed replica of an Alaska
native dwelling. Seeing this lean-to, made without
modern tools and in its natural setting, is an experience
that's hard to find in a museum. Step inside an authentic,
restored trapper's cabin, complete with a chair carved
and upholstered (in bear fur) by Steve Mahay himself
back in 1972, when he lived in the Bush. Check out
a trapper's fur and food cache, and an emergency
bivouac shelter as well.
To increase your chances
of seeing beavers, eagles, moose, and bears, opt
for the 3½-hour, 50-mile Three
Rivers Tour.
This jetboat tour includes all of the 10-mile adventure
highlights, plus the chance to pan for gold, learn
about a historic townsite, and enjoy hot beverages
and pastries around an open campfire while listening
to stories about Bush life.
If you prefer to add a little
whitewater to your wilderness experience,
go for the four-hour, 135-mile Devil's
Canyon Adventure.
After heading down the Su to see McKinley and
up for the on-shore exploration,
you'll continue on to the Talkeetna
River. The boat stops to watch
anglers at work on Clear Creek,
to spot beavers, bald eagles, and
other wildlife, and then for a
hearty, deli-style lunch ashore.
Back on the water, hold on as you
jet through a quarter mile of Class
III-IV rapids, then sit back as the boat slips
between the towering, sheer rock walls of a narrow
canyon—sometimes only 10 feet wide. This
tour suits those with an adventurous spirit,
but it's doable by most. You'll enjoy a more
personalized experience, with a longer trip on
a smaller boat (12-14 passengers).
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