Day 82 BC Parks – Can anything be too beautiful? Try this Alsek Adventure

Posted by: cherylyoung | January 7, 2010

Day 82 BC Parks – Can anything be too beautiful? Try this Alsek Adventure

Rated one of the the top ten rivers in the world – “Mountain Travel Sobek knows the Alsek better than anyone.”

~ Men’s Journal, December 2006

Go ahead, run the risk of scenic overload! The great glacial forces that shaped the North American continent are alive and well on the Alsek River and plainly evident as you float past huge calving glaciers and jaw-dropping mountain scenery.

The wildlife hasn’t really changed that much since the last Ice Age, while the massive cathedral of a landscape is so huge you could fit the Grand Canyon into it.

You’ll delight in some exciting whitewater runs (we call the Alsek “God’s fastest scenic conveyor belt”); make a helicopter portage over unrunnable Turnback Canyon, a virtually impassable gorge whose roiling waters have defeated nearly all who have dared to challenge it; have opportunities to see bears, eagles, mountain goats, moose, and wolves; and marvel at the spectacular confluence with the Tatshenshini, a place many call “the center of the universe.”

Optional hikes to view wildlife and take in the grand vistas guarantee a revelation of nature on its most awesome scale.

Check out our Alaska Feature. Slideshows, stories, facts, and more.

TRIP HIGHLIGHTS

Enjoy an ultimate wilderness experience and scenery on the grandest scale imaginable!

Take an exciting helicopter portage over an unrunnable canyon with Class VI whitewater

Optional day hikes in search of wildlife: mountain goats, moose, and grizzly bears!

Float past the largest icebergs in all of Glacier Bay National Park in Alsek Bay

Want to learn more about the Alsek River experience? Read Ice Age Boating on the Alsek, a GuideLines letter written by Alaska Discovery river guide Christa Sadler.

Special Note: The Alsek and Tatshenshini Rivers are entirely protected within a UNESCO World Heritage Site—the largest in the world—encompassing the vast preserves of Kluane National Park Reserve, the Yukon’s premier wilderness area, the Tatshenshini-Alsek Wilderness Park, and Glacier Bay and Wrangell-St. Elias National Parks.

We’ve been operating trips here longer than any other adventure company!

Itinerary: Alaska – Rafting the Alsek RiverDay 1 – Meet in Haines, Alaska. Drive up the Chilkat River Valley, across the border into British Columbia, and on to Haines Junction in the Yukon Territory. Put in on the river, and begin rafting.

Days 2-7 – On the river, floating past huge glaciers (including the magnificent Lowell Glacier) and taking day hikes into the mountains for extraordinary views of the spilling glaciers, to admire the profusion of wildflowers, and to search for mountain goat, moose, grizzly bear, and other wildlife.

The mild rapids increase in intensity as the Alsek builds in volume and energy, and you’ll encounter one Class IV rapid—“Lava North!” (Named after the Grand Canyon’s notorious “Lava Falls.”)

Days 8-11 – Helicopter portage over Turnback Canyon, with bird’s-eye views of the incredible landscape. (This exciting ride alone is worth the whole trip!).

Relaunch the rafts and float to the confluence of the Tatshenshini and Alsek Rivers, where you can see up to 20 different spilling glaciers!

Continue down the river, with a scramble on the Walker Glacier and a layover at iceberg-studded Alsek Bay, surely one of the most awesome places on earth, with icebergs larger than those found in Glacier Bay.