To run this river you have to fly in to Summit Lake in a floatplane and then portage your gear to the channel that leads to where you can then line your boats till there is enough water to float. From Anchorage you could charter to fly directly to the river, an hour flight, or you could take a regular scheduled flight to Port Alsworth or Iliamna and charter to the river from there. The river starts from a glacier on the SE side of the pass, flows down the mountainside and splits into two channels—one going NE into Summit Lake and the other SW as the Tlikakila River.