Trip Update #10 Jasper to Fernie

In our last report, I told you about the snow storm we got caught in. When it was over there was 16 inches on the ground where we camped. As we approached Jasper NP, the snow quickly disappeared at ground level. The mountains were covered with their first of many snowfalls for the season. When we took a dip at the Miette Hot Springs, we found out they had 24 inches of snow, and the snow caused a three day road closure to the springs. We were told that this was quite unusual weather, but it seems every place we go is having unusual weather.

We took advantage of the one clear day we had in Jasper and took the Tramway to the top of Whistler Mountain. The views of the snow covered mountains were outstanding. We hiked various trails for several days and saw numerous elk and big horn sheep. We drove down the Icefields Parkway to Lake Louise and Banff. On a side trip to Yoho NP, we saw the Spiral Tunnels. Trains go into the tunnel in one direction and emerge out of a lower tunnel going in the opposite direction. Because the trains are so long you can see the same train going in opposite directions at the same time. You just have to see it.

While in Banff we enjoyed the Banff Hot Springs. (Do you see a pattern here?) We also visited the Cave and Basin hot springs area. Although no longer open to bathers, it is an important historical site. The discovery of this hot spring led to the Government of Canada establishing its first national park here in 1885. Tropical fish grow wild in the marshy lakes downstream from the spring, and birds winter over instead of flying south.

For a little diversion, we headed for Calgary. The idea was to do the luge and bobsled runs that are open to the public. In a classic case of poor timing, the outdoor bobsled run did not open until Oct 1 and the indoor luge run was closed for maintenance. We did visit the ski jump tower and some of the other facilities on site, but nothing to get your heart pounding. The ski lifts were modified to handle mountain bikes. From the number of dirt bikers we saw, I would say this was a successful conversion. The following day we visited the Calgary Zoo which was OK.

From Calgary we went back to the mountains to an area called Kananaskis County. This is a little know area, south of Banff, used mostly by locals. We went from full campgrounds at Jasper, to having the entire campground to ourselves. We are currently in Fernie, B.C.

Trip Update #9 Whitehorse to Jasper

Before we left Whitehorse we took in the Frantic Follies Show, a vaudeville review that was quite entertaining. One of their skits was based on a Robert Service poem, “The Cremation of Sam McGee”. The Yukon River flows through Miles Canyon in Whitehorse and we hiked around the canyon and found the ghost town of Canyon City. Here the Gold Rush Stampeders unloaded their rafts and carried their belongings overland to avoid the famous Whitehorse Rapids in the canyon. All that remained in Canyon City was hundreds of rusted tin cans. We left Whitehorse and headed to Watson Lake. Watson Lake is famous for its “Sign Forest”. Over 60,000 signs have been left and nailed to posts by travelers. These included road signs and handmade signs. We left the Yukon and entered British Colombia.

There was one striking difference between the Yukon and British Columbia. We were in the Yukon for 3 weeks and saw one black bear. We were in BC for 10 days and saw 3 grizzly bears, three black bears, 60 bison, four caribou, three moose, several deer, a coyote and a cougar - better than a drive thru the zoo! Several friends had told us not to miss Liard Hot Springs. The first night we visited these natural pools, we had the hot springs all to ourselves. We camped at the park that night and we were back in the hot springs in the morning.

The original Alaska Highway was built by the US Military in response to a threat to the Aleutian Islands by Japan. Our troops were working on the highway a month before Canada approved the highway project. The road was completed to Fairbanks in 9 months in 1942. It was only passable with military equipment, so the following year, a civilian based project was started to improve the roadway, reroute it where needed and build more permanent bridges. The Alaska Highway was opened to the public in 1948. Despite a few areas under construction, most of the paved roads in Alaska and the Yukon are in pretty good condition. No need to carry extra gas or extra spare tires. (This does not apply to the unpaved roads heading to the far north).

While surviving the Alaska Highway was no big deal, surviving the September Blizzard on the Bighorn Highway was a big deal. We had spent the night just north of Grand Cache, AB and when we woke up we noticed an inch or so of snow on the ground. We took some pictures and packed up and headed down the road. We gassed up at Grand Cache and were told that there were some accidents due to the storm. It didn’t seem too bad at the time and we only had 88 miles to go to get back to a main highway. The road conditions grew progressively worse. Several vehicles slid off the road, and we passed a few big haul trucks just spinning their wheels. We considered stopping somewhere, but there really was nowhere to stop. Stopping on the side of the road might mean being stuck there for days, so we slowly proceeded down the road. Several times we had to stop in the roadway and clear ice from our wipers. After three nerve wracking hours we made it to the main highway. We were thankful we had front wheel drive. We found a campground and awoke to 12 inches of snow on Sept 15. We heard the road to Jasper NP was closed, so settled in for a day in the RV. The following day we dug ourselves out and headed into the park.

Trip Update #8 Tatshenshini River

You may not have heard of the Tatshenshini River, but it became famous in the 1980’s when plans for one of the world’s largest open-pit copper mines, the Windy Craggy mine, resulted in an international effort to protect the river, its wilderness areas and the salmon fisheries from development and degradation due to sulfuric acid runoff. The effort was successful and this resulted in the Tatshenshini – Alsek Wilderness Park and recognition as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

As we reported previously, Pat and I both had colds at the start of this trip. It was not reassuring to hear at the pre-trip meeting from our guides, Trish and Mark, about the lousy weather that the last two trips had experienced on the river. Days of horizontal rain are not uncommon on this trip. We were told we needed 100% waterproof rain gear. Forget GORE-TEX or any breathable fabric. My rain gear was marginal; Pat’s new rain suit was unacceptable, so Pat secured a loaner rain jacket. We then stocked up on a two week supply of Kleenex, cold pills, and cough syrup. With a little luck we might live through this ordeal.

On the way to the put in, we stopped at a First Nation’s camp where they teach students and visitors the traditional ways of trapping and making shelters. Dead falls, we were told, were preferred over traps because the animal was killed immediately. Seeing a dead fall in action left little doubt about its effectiveness. When we got to the put in, it was raining bears and moose. (Yukon’s version of cats and dogs). Fortunately two of the guides, Royce and Rob, had set up a tarp, in addition to getting the four rafts ready. This rain was a particularly bad omen because this river, unlike most rivers, has it start in a dry and warm area and becomes progressively colder and wetter as it loses elevation. As we pushed off, a curious thing happened - it stopped raining! For the next several days the weather was decent, with most of the rain occurring at night.

We camped at the head of the canyon the first night, so we could run the rapids on the second day. It has been said that the rapids are class 3 with class 5 consequences. In other words, you didn’t want to fall out of the raft into the cold and swift river. Fortunately no one fell out but everyone managed to get soaked. There would be more rapids later in the trip, but this is not a whitewater river for thrill seekers. We continued to float west, deeper into the St. Elias Mountains and entered British Columbia.

After a few days on the river, we had a day to go hiking up Goat Ridge from Sediment Creek. We did see four mountain goats from the hike. Even though it was late August, fall foliage was beginning to appear. The mountains continued to gain elevation as we approached the coast. We saw numerous eagles and a few large nests. After two more rafting days, we had a 36 hour rain event during a lay-over day. Again we were fortunate to be able to congregate under a large tarp or sleep in our tents.

The river changed dramatically as we approached the junction with the much larger and colder Alsek River. The river got much broader as its channels braided due to deposits of glacier silt. Unlike the confined river valley we had been rafting through for days, we could now see two miles across the river valley. This allowed us to see several grizzly bears chasing a raven on the far shore. Somehow the raven stayed just out of reach. We took a hike and saw two petroglyphs - it seemed odd that prehistoric people traveled through this area, but they were likely following the abundant wildlife or came to the junction of these rivers to trade.

While my former co-workers were enjoying their convention in Ocean City, Pat and I took a walk on Walker Glacier. The surface had cracks, pools, streams and moulins. Moulin is the French word for waterwheel, where the water carves a well from the surface to the bottom of the ice. Some have a purple hue. We filled our water bottles with the pure glacier water. A little further down the river we approached Alsek Lake. The lake contained icebergs that dwarfed our rafts, some over 100’ long and 30 feet above the water. They had calved from the many glaciers that surround this lake. We were able to avoid the ice blocked channels as we entered the lake and made camp on a large island. The wind shifted during the night and the guides were up at midnight moving the rafts to the leeward side of the island. When we awoke, there was ice packed along the shore, where the rafts were the night before. The sky was clear and the scenery stunning. From our camp we could see icebergs in almost all directions. Surrounding them were mountains towering 15,000 feet above the lake, an elevation difference greater than you would see in the Himalayas. We were in the middle of the largest non-polar ice cap in the world. Glaciers surrounded every peak and filled each valley. We got a glimpse of Mt. Fairweather’s elusive peak, the tallest mountain in British Columbia. We spent the day hiking to a high cliff and watching icebergs roll over, break up and disintegrate. Calling it spectacular would be an understatement. The day was so warm and wonderful even the white socks (a local type of black fly) enjoyed swarming around us. The guides, Mark and Royce, built a steam sauna on the beach and after 15 minutes in the sauna we all jumped into the ice cold lake, then back into the sauna to warm up. (Repeat as needed).

You pay a price for having a beautiful day in the middle of a coastal rain forest. On our final day, we packed up in the rain and we were rafting by 8:45 AM. The famous horizontal rain made an appearance for several hours. The wind was howling at our backs, making the rafts difficult to control as we crossed the lake to the river channel. I was soaked to the skin by the time the rain stopped. A black bear watched in amusement as we jumped around on shore trying to warm up. The rain let up as we reached the final takeout at Dry Bay, AK.

The plan was for a duel engine Hawker Sidley plane to pick us and all the gear up from a gravel runway, normally only used by much smaller aircraft. The runway was cut out of the woods and there was little extra wing clearance for a Hawker. In fact they would refuse to land if the runway was too wet, fearing that they would slide into the woods. Should they refuse to land, we would have to shuttle all passengers and gear to Yakutat AK, taking 5 trips with a smaller aircraft, and then reloading everything into a Hawker the following day. This was the fate of two previous trips. The guides did not like this alternative anymore than the 10 passengers. Our tireless trip leader, Trish, along with very rain soaked Rob, baled water from deep pools on the runway for two hours. (Passengers were not allowed on an active runway). Their efforts paid off when the Hawker successfully landed. While turning around, the plane got stuck in the mud and had to be dug out. After everything was loaded we flew back over the river, mountains and glaciers on the 45 minute flight back to Whitehorse YK. Pat got over her cold, and mine was getting better.

Our guides were great and they prepared us outstanding meals, they even dressed up silly for special meals. We said our goodbyes at dinner in Whitehouse. It was a trip we will never forget.

Don