Kayakers, rafters have a splashing good time

Tim Johnson, organizer of the whitewater Six-Mile Fest near Hope, sure hopes not.

Saturday saw perhaps the biggest collection of Southcentral paddlers in the three-year history of the event, Johnson said.

And to pique interest further, this year's gathering expanded beyond kayaks, with a mass-start pack raft race in Six Mile Creek, the popular river with a series of Class V rapids that runs through three canyons.

"A lot of swimming carnage," said paddler George Beirne afterward. "If you're not willing to swim, you better get out of the sport."

All together, Johnson estimated, some 250 people attended -- both paddlers and spectators.

"Weather was perfect and sunny," Johnson reported. "The bonfire party started at 6 p.m. The music was cranking, the free beer was flowing, and the mixture of the Christmas lights, the bonfire, and the moon made an epic backdrop with the surrounding Chugach Range.

"And it went on until 3 a.m."

Perhaps the only paddler happy to see it end was Anchorage's Brian Graham, who spilled and swam in the creek during both the time trial and mass-start downriver kayak races to earn the event's carnage award.

"That's a very edgy boat," he said of his Dagger Infrared kayak. "It doesn't take a lot to flip it."

"I was completely under and couldn't see anything. I was looking for the throw lines."

People with throw lines were positioned on both sides of the creek to aid paddlers who flipped. They kept Graham and others safe.

But Graham earned something more lasting than a mouthful of chilly water.

He's now the owner of a wooden paddle on which is etched, "I Got Spanked At Six-Mile Fest."

"It's going to go above my fireplace on my mantle," Graham said. "I've got a spot picked out for it already."

Reach reporter Mike Campbell at mcampbell@adn.com or 257-4329.

Six-Mile Fest

Saturday on Six Mile River Near Hope

Kayak Mass Start -- 1) Paul Schauer; 2) Henry Muenter; 3) Jeff Sheldon.

Pack Raft Mass Start -- 1) Luc Mehl; 2) Todd Tumolo; 2 tie) Tim Johnson.

Carnage Award -- 1) Brian Ghram (2 swims and tumble down a cliff).