Alaska BHA Kenai Refuge Canoe Route Clearing Recap

By Neal Koeneman, Jeff Knisley, & Mary Glaves

Clearing the Canoe Portages on the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge with Paddling-ton Bear & the Alaska BHA Crew

Twenty dusty miles north of Sterling is the U.S. Fish and Wildlife (USFWS) Education Center, the Den. Geographically, It’s in the heart of a mesh of lakes, and trails in the wet flat expanse of the northern Kenai Peninsula. The area is a part of the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge (KNWR) which has over 200 miles of maintained trails within the refuge boundaries.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) Outdoor Education Center, the Bear Den, is stationed twenty dusty miles north of Sterling in the heart of the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge. Six of us rolled up through the Friday evening to a campfire that knew how to burn properly. One of the volunteers was making kabobs with wild meats -musk ox, Dall sheep, and feral Hawaiian hog.

On Friday night, I rolled up to the Den to meet the 5 other volunteers that would be assisting the Refuge’s volunteer employee to give the North Swan Lake Loop a clean bill of health. We spent the evening around a fire that was burning well. One of the Volunteers was cooking kabobs for the group over the fire with wild meats -musk ox, Dall sheep, and Feral Hawaiian hog. The midnight sun was out strong and we stayed up late, getting to know each other through storytelling. 

We were gathered for the weekend to clear portages and give the Swan Lake Canoe Route a clean bill of health. The sixteen mile long northern loop is part of the 200+ miles of trail that the USFWS manages in the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge (KNWR). The refuge has some trail crews that are able to clear trails, but they also rely heavily on volunteer labor to keep the trails usable for the public.

In the morning, Christa Kennedy met us to lay out the game plan for clearing the 16 miles of lake and trail, and to start outfitting us for the work ahead. Due to the wilderness designation of the area no power tools or motorized transport are allowed on the trails. We were outfitted with Canoes and paddles, small handsaws, and large cross cut saws.

Christa Kennedy is the Volunteer Trails Coordinator for the KNWR. She’s a lifelong resident of the Kenai Peninsula, Recognized as one of only three designated wilderness canoe systems in the U.S., it offers a unique paddling experience amidst Alaska's diverse wildlife and landscapes. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Christa has watched the land change over the seasons and over her years. As a guide of sorts she was able to add a significant amount of depth and understanding to the land that I would never have if I was a one time user of the refuge. 

Christa Kennedy, KNWR employee and lifelong Kenai Peninsula resident met us in the morning to lay out a game plan. After the briefing we shuffled vehicles, gear, and canoes until it was time to set off. We would be doing the loop from West to East. Christa has been in the park every summer for the last decade and played tour guide for us.

Authentic, magical experiences are a strong motivator for me to go exploring. They’re hard to come by when you don’t know the land -when you’re a stranger to an area. Having Christa to direct our efforts to tell us how the land changes over a season, over years, and how the animals change their patterns made me feel closer to the land. Her decades of experience made us all feel closer to the land.

The canoeing portion of the trip was straightforward. Fish jumping, loons hunting, and bird fights stopped our paddles, but the loss of progress was voluntary. It’s the magic of the land. 

By late morning we had set off to find our work. Gear had been sorted, cars had been stashed, and the paddling order decided. The 16 miles of loop consists of 18 lakes, 2 water portages, and 15 land portages. At each portage site we made sure that the crossing was clearly visible from the lake, and marked with a reflective sign. On the trails between lakes, we cleared a trail large enough that a person could portage a canoe on their shoulders without having to step off trail, or scratch a branch. 

The land and lakes have been changing more in the last decades. Beavers and spruce beetles have made their mark. The beavers have dammed some of the lake streams causing the water level to rise significantly. Some of the portage’s and boardwalks were not usable -at least not with dry feet- at the current water level. Furthermore the water level has made the ground more unstable and have caused more trees to collapse near the portage sites. The spruce bark beetles have killed substantial parts of the forest and caused trees to fall over the trail more and more. Time takes it’s toll on any trail, but the addition of the beetles and the beaver have increased the maintenance needs.

We worked for over 8 hours the first day clearing trails and transporting ourselves between work sites. At each portage site we had to make 2 trips: one to clear the trail, and another to haul our gear and canoes.There were logs over a foot in diameter that had fallen across the trail in some places. At one portage site we all waded into the water to move a flooded boardwalk back to a place that it would be usable. 

The second day was around 4 hours of combined paddling and cutting. The loop system cuts through different forests. The first day we worked through forests of aspen and white spruce. Teams of people were necessary to operate a cross cut saw and to remove trees from those portions of trail. The second day was predominantly black spruce, and a single person with a handsaw was able to do a majority of the clearing. 

Throughout the weekend we saw 3 other parties on the trail system. Each of them described the difficulty of the trails. The frustrations with blocked trails, and high water levels. They had managed to make it through the loop, but with more effort than should be necessary. We saw evidence of them at every portage: areas where they had trampled through the forest to get around a fallen tree, muddy footsteps where they trudged along drowned boardwalks, and broken branches marking where their canoes had cut a trail for them.

The portages were the work. We marched forward with axes, hand saws, a two-person crosscut saw to clear fallen trees from the trail. Our mandate was to make the trail clear enough that a person with a canoe on their shoulders could walk through the forest without making a sound. Most portages required two trips: The first to clear the trail, and a second to carry our gear and canoes. 

Beaver activity in the area in the last decade dammed up some of the lakes’ outlet streams causing the water levels in some of the lakes to rise significantly. The put-ins/take-outs on these lakes had been altered by the change in water levels. Martin and Spruce Lakes were flooded two-three feet above their normal water level and a new canoe landing had to be improvised so that others could boat the lakes without flooding their boots. 

All trails are ‘usable’ but not necessarily advisable. We passed a few other groups of paddlers coming through the refuge who had managed to make it through the portages despite the roadblocks. Despite how little traffic there is in the early season we could already see erosion in the forest where man and moose had chosen to walk around the blockages. Keeping the primary trails clear helps prevent trail braiding, further impact to the environment, and preserves the pristine nature of the area for future users. 

Eight hours after putting paddles to water we made it to our campsite on Swan Lake. After setting up our camps, making dinner we spent the evening around a smoldering fire of damp wood that put off more smoke than heat. Shortly after 9:00 p.m., we all turned in for the night. Our last words being “good nights” and assurances that we would be up early to start the next day’s work. 

Instead we all spent the night listening to the sounds of the lake, interrupted by the sky. Rain pattered, frogs croaked, loons wailed, therma-rests crinkled, and other familiar sounds filled the dark. 

The campsite was free of food litter, but signs of human impact were rampant in the woods. The refuge has a rule that only dead or fallen wood may be used for firewood. Despite the rule, users have been sloppily hacking at trees and littering the area with 3 foot tall stumps, axe shavings, and the wood equivalent of leftovers. Some of the morning was spent clearing the surrounding woods, and making a firewood cache for future users.

The next day was more of the same: Paddle a lake, clear a portage, watch the loons. Four hours after starting the day, a canoe race broke out to the final shore. A day and a half after setting off we were back to our cars, and the canoe loop had a clean bill of health.

Our groups tally for the 28-hour job was as follows:

Canoe Lake 1 to Canoe Lake 2 - 0 trees 

Canoe Lake 2 to 3 - 5 trees 1 crosscut worthy

Canoe 3 to Contact - 4

Contact to Martin - 7 

Martin Lake 50ish feet of boardwalk pulled from the lake. 

Martin to Spruce - water portage 0 trees 

Spruce to Trout - 12 trees 4 crosscut trees 

Trout to Gavia - 2 trees 

Gavia to Konchanee - 3 or 4 at the campsite

Konchanee to Cygnet - this portage was clear when we arrived.

Cygnet to Swan - 12+ trees 

Swan to Raven - 10 trees

Raven to Mallard - 8 trees 

Mallard to Teal - 15 trees 

Teal to Birch - 6 trees 

Birch to Portage 2 - 3 trees 

Portage 2 - Portage 1 - 24 trees 

We portaged a total 12 miles on Saturday, 10 on Sunday, for a 22-mile weekend! We also replaced 1 sign and fixed an existing one that still had lots of life in it.

Our group was small and mighty. Right-sized, really. We enhanced access to a popular, yet remote wild public lands area for amazing fishing and moose hunting, and had many laughs over our shared passion for volunteering and stewardship with the Alaska Chapter of Backcountry Hunters & Anglers.