By Andy Hall
Photos: Andy Hall,
Stuart Wagstaff and
Karl Midlane
Both Karl and Andy are Freelance Mountain and Canoe coaches. Thanks to Wenonah for assistance with canoes and TJ composites with paddles and Palm, Peak and Kokatat for dry suits and other gear.
Tatshenshini: one of the world’s top ten white water trips (pt2)
The Tat and the Alsek meet to make a travelling, brown, surging sea, where the size forced us to readjust our perception of what we were seeing. A ferry to river right which previously might have taken two minutes now took five, what looked like good campsites just weren’t. We checked one out and noticed a moving dot in the distance, possibly a kilometre away. “Maybe a fox,” we said to the others in the canoe 100 metres up the bank.
A minute later, Karl had his zoom lens to confirm what we already knew. This was a bear cantering very fast towards us, and not just any bear but a grizzly. Aware that they can swim fast, we let go of the bank, and our shouts to the others seemed to stop the bear, which stood up on its hind legs less than 100 metres from them. Fortunately, Alli had the presence to get the boat in the flow.
An hour later we were swapping stories by a fire with our tents under the backdrop of glaciers and mountains. The ‘groover’ might get some use tonight! The groover was a metre-long ammo box which, when sat on like a toilet, would have left grooves in your backside (if it wasn’t for two pieces of specially designed wood protectors). A complicated protocol of hiding it but announcing your presence, depositing only solids, and having smart plastic bagging system had made it a very successful new addition on this expedition. The whole sanitary and camp experience was much more pleasant for the relative lack of bugs.
The next day was spent negotiating braids to access the channel river left to the lake below the Walker Glacier, so named because this rapidly-retreating glacier, which had once stretched into the river, was now a trip highlight for ‘walkers’ from every raft group on the river.
Alaska
Now in Alaska, our first night was an endurance test of high winds which covered everything in our tents in sand. Next day we took much-needed time apart, photographing, painting, walking to the lake and glacier, and later chilling together over food. Here autumn colours were turning the trees, with the realisation that the trip was nearly ended, giving a melancholy feel.
Our next key involved entry into Alsek Lake, which, from our guidebook, had several glaciers calving ‘bergy bits’ into it. A strong wind against the current of a full river could cause capsizes, and an inspection was suggested. A downpour of sleety rain preceded our viewing. But though it appeared there were factory-sized lumps of ice grounded in the river mouth we reckoned we could avoid them safely. Back on the river, the whole passage was a unique spectacle, with some of the bergy bits eroded into smooth, shiny overhangs above us.
The remainder of the day was spent trying to soak in the beauty of the place, knowing that soon we could be back in civilisation. The following day gave us more views to absorb as we floated to our last campsite, including unclouded sights of the 4671-metre Mount Fairweather.
On our last morning, I made breakfast very early in the dark to give manoeuvre time if there were hitches. A sensational sunrise hit us whilst we left our site. A short time later, we spotted the buoy marking the egress channel. The only trouble was, it was on a pole in the middle of a dry river channel! The National Park had warned that there was an alternative channel to reach the runway coming in from the ocean side. We did seem to be travelling too fast in the direction away from the runway, and we passed sandbanks of sea birds and seals signalling proximity to the ocean. At the last minute, a rise in the land on the south side of the delta appeared with a channel going inland.
Soon it ran out, and we were unloading our kit and deflating the raft. I had managed to raise a local person on my marine radio who had then contacted the Brabazon haulage crew. It turned out to be a mum and two kids on a quad bike with two trailers! A deal was struck whereby she took our canoe in return for our carriage to the runway. We didn’t have to cut our canoe in half after all! Everyone was pleased.
Stunning finale
Yakutat Air added to the tension by being three hours late, but the flight to Haines over ice sheets and between icy crags was a stunning finale to the best trip ever!
