Final Days in the Great Northwest--on to the Yukon

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So I have been back for over a week and still collecting thoughts and photos to finish this trip blog up. Here goes, but trust me, there is no way words or even pictures capture the expanse of this place.



We took off on a Friday afternoon to get to Kluane National Park in the Yukon. Just so you do not think that all the weather was great while I was there, here is a shot of Lara and I at the Alaska/Canada boarder in a driving snow storm that was ripping through the White Pass as we drove through. Of course, given the way weather changes there, by the time we reached White Horse the clouds had broken. We stopped in at Denny's favorite place to eat, Big Bear Donair and had several Donairs....which are a pita filled with your choice of meats and delightful sauces. Then on to Kluane where we camped near Kathleen Lake.



Kluane, along with Glacier Bay and two other protected areas in Canada and the US, make up the single largest protected land mass on the face of the earth. Check out a map sometime and just think about the spaces. As you approach it from the east the mountains that border the east side of the park, rising from lakes and the plains, tower above you with snow capped peaks and amazing vistas in every direction you look. Every picture I took feel short of capturing the place, but so it goes.



On Saturday we fished in the Kathleen River which connects Kathleen Lake to Little Kathleen Lake. Only a few small Arctic Grayling, but our tromping around in the river was rewarded with heaping plates of sausage, pancakes (with Homecoming Farms Maple Syrup), and eggs on the river bank when we came back to the camper. We decide a hike was in order that afternoon and took the Auriol Trail, about 16 kilometers up on side of a mountain, around the top, and back down. Reaching about the half way point we met a pair of German hikers who told us that they had spoken with two parties who had spotted a grizzly bear. Note: This area of the Yukon holds the largest population of Grizzlies in the world. Right. We chose to go back down the mountain the way we had come. A good choice as the next day we ran into a couple of fishermen on the river who had been at the campsite on this trail, at the half way mark, about when we were talking with the Germans, who had had an encounter with the Grizzly at almost the same time we were turning around. (One of them said his wife sang at full voice every children's song she knew all the way back to the trail head.) This is why all three of us were carrying our own bear spray all the time. I must say, we did not see a Grizzly.



We camped next to the river that night and not in the camp ground...a mistake. At about 4 a.m. the winds came up. You could hear them coming down the valley like a freight train and then braced yourself as they pounded and shook the camper. At one point Lara wanted Denny to move us, but since she had to wake him up to tell him that there was little chance we were moving.



Sunday dawned beautiful and we headed for Dalton Post to see if the pink salmon were running. We hooked up with friends Rob and Lee and spent a fruitless morning searching the river for salmon--when the run is not on there is no need to every put on the waders, so we did not. Dalton Post, by the way, is now just a pile of timbers but was once the main trading post out of Hanes on the way to the Dawson Gold rush. Later it became the place where whites would back in goods, oh, say over 100 miles of wilderness, to trade with the First Nations peoples for furs and pelts. They lugged packs of over 100 lbs through a wilderness I would not want to tackle in a ATV...tough folks.



We headed back to the Elizabeth River and fished there, again I only picked up a couple of Grayling. But Lee, expertly casting straight into the wind at the mouth of the river on the lake landed a beautiful 20" Lake Trout--which he cleaned and, over beers on the river bank, presented to us for dinner. Dinner that night consisted of fried Arctic Grayling for starters and a main dish of baked Lake Trout stuffed with veggies and lemon. Oh my.



Monday dawned beautifully, so we decided we would spend it fishing rather than hiking--good call. During the day Denny, just now learning to use a fly rod, picked up a 17" rainbow and I found a few more Grayling. The big catch was Lara's 26" Lake Trout (they were in the river as it was spawning season). As we were admiring what would be dinner that night we looked up at the Hanes Highway bridge just downstream from us and watched as a Grey Wolf, acting as if she owned the place, trotted across the bridge from west to east. Add her to the numerous Bald and Golden Eagles we were seeing and the beaver we watched working that morning and it more than made up for not seeing a Grizzly.



After putting the fish on ice, we drove over to Hanes Crossing for ice cream at the Frosty. While we were in the Yukon the day was sunny and temps in the mid 60s, all the kids were in shorts and tee shirts. While at the Frosty, Denny called me over to a guys pickup, 'come look at the moose head.' Figuring I was going to see a mounted moose imagine my surprise when I walked up on, yes, a moose head, recently cut off from the rest of the moose. A First Nations guy walked up and we talked about his hunt and the three-year old bull he had taken. His kids were enjoying ice cream after a few days in the bush with dad on the hunt. 'OK, well I need to get this thing home and get the tongue and snout off this thing and chow down." Yep, those parts are delicacies, usually eaten fresh after the kill. Our dinner that night was not quite so esoteric, but wonderful all the same--Grayling starter and this time the Lake Trout was fried.



Oh, and by the way, while dinner was cooking I decided to return to fishing and finally picked up my own Lake Trout, a nice 20" fish, on a leech imitation fly that I had tied just for this trip.



Our last day in Kluane we decided we would hang around until one or so and then start back. So breakfast was a bagel with locally smoked salmon on the banks of Kathleen Lake and then back to the river. As always happens for beginning fisherman, the catch of the day was Denny's, this time a 28" Laker. I picked up another couple of Grayling and a nice 13" Rainbow released back to the water. We left Kluane and on the way through Hanes Crossing stopped for one more ice cream. That night we camped at Tahkini Hot Springs and enjoyed a hot shower and a long soak in the pools. Guess what we had for dinner....yep, Grayling and Lake Trout.



From the Hot Springs we motored home, stopping in White Horse for another trip to Big Bear Donair...here is how much Denny likes this place: It is over 100 miles from his home but the staff knows him by name. Further, on this visit he was treated to a free sandwich as part of their one free for every ten you buy. This was free sandwich number three. Back in Skagway we had, yes, Lake Trout again, this time on their smoker with Alder wood.



The last two days were spent in Skagway, visiting local attractions, hanging out with their friends, planning the trip home. The traveling on the way back started with a Friday afternoon ferry from Skagway to Juneau, accompanied by the Skagway High School Cross Country team on the way to a meet in Juneau. When they arrived they were shuttled off by bus to the school gym which would be their lodging for the next two nights, taking the ferry back on Sunday. I talked to some of the teachers and parents accompanying the kids and they told me this was a 'short' trip. When they go to tourneys for basketball sometimes they spend a day and a half getting up to the bush villages, spend two days playing, and then spend a couple of days getting home. As one parent told me: "If a kid plays all the sports we offer they would miss close to a third of the school year in order to travel to games." Different world.



I have been asked frequently about what was most memorable about the trip. Of course watching mountains and glaciers glide under you while you are in a helicopter is hard to beat, so was just standing and gazing at Kluane, or landing my first Lake Trout ever. But the best part, as always, were the people. From the endlessly polite and accommodating Canadians to the outgoing and friendly folks of Skagway they were all a special treat. Thanks to all of them, and especially Lara and Denny, for a great time. Who wants to go with me next time?

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Photos

Genuinely White Pass
Snow on the border.

Eat up
Denny and Lara enjoying Big Bear Donair

Kluane
The largest protected land mass in the world. Thanks US and Canada!

Dinner
Baked Lake Trout!

Look what I found!
Laker from Kathleen River

Views
Beyond the capture of a camera

Breakfast nook
Where else would you eat smoked salmon on a bagel?

Beginner's luck
Denny with 28" of Laker

Ferry views
Out my window on the way home.

Comments

[jeff woods]

great reading - makes me very envious.
count me in if you do it again, please. I wrote a couple of other comments to your earlier emails but not on this location - I just hit the reply button. Hope you find them Jeff