Posting this one not because it’s a great trip, but b/c someone else is bound to have the same idea and I’ll save you the effort. There’s a river in Fish Bay, near Sitka, that flows right along next to some hot springs. On the topo maps, you’ll also see an old trail. This appears to be heaven–short hike into some hot springs, float back down the river. Awesome.
Sadly, it’s not so grand. The trail’s not really there anymore, but it’s a pretty mellow bush bash, and you can find the old logging roads and/or flagging in many spots. There are tons of hot pools once you get there, but they are all mucky in the muskeg. They were once developed into lined pools, but now they’re pretty neglected. Nice spot though, right next to a deep, clear pool in the river for a great rinse off post-soaking. We tried to float down the river, but eventually ended up packing the rafts back up. The problem is that the area was logged heavily, right up to the river banks. There’s tons of deadfall in the river as a result, and you end up having to climb over a lot of trees. As you get to the end, all the logging right on the banks seems to have caused the river to jump course, so you lose the deep stream bed. It was easier to just walk back out.
So, not a great packrafting river, but still kind of a fun little trip.