Last updated: August 6, 2020
Itinerary
What follows is a general flow of events. Expect the unexpected and prepare to be flexible.
June 6
Arrive in Haines, AK in time for our 5 pm pre-trip meeting. You will be staying at the Hotel Halsingland (included) where we will rendezvous for the meeting. Meals on your own.
June 7
8 am van departure up the Chilkat Valley and across the Canadian Border (You have your passport, right?) then to our put-in at Dalton Post. It is a 3 hour drive and a ½-hour walk to where we rig the rafts and push out into the current. Once on the water we paddle through the canyon before making our first spectacular camp of the trip.
June 8
This is the best place to hike on the trip. We spend the day walking up Sediment Creek into the alpine zone. Wildflowers are everywhere and views back up towards the canyon and down the river are sublime. Keep your eyes peeled for Dall Sheep above, bears grazing in the avalanche chutes and wolves along the river below.
June 9 - 13
We paddle the Tatshenshini. The rapids are behind us but the fun has just started! Four or five hours on the river should get us to where we need to be and each camp offers a nice hike to end the day. It will be light until 11 pm, so we enjoy an abundance of time unique to high-latitudes in summer. On the night of the 13th we arrive at the confluence with the Alsek River, perhaps the most spectacular campsite on earth!
June 14 - 15
The Alsek is huge, one of the largest rivers in the largest State. Thick with glacial silt and split into a multitude of braids, it is a maze of water often merging with a grey sky. As we approach the coast, glaciers begin to dominate our views and we will plan for a layover day to hike to or on the ice.
June 16
Alsek Lake is world unto itself. At the terminous of the Alsek, and Grand Plateau glaciers the miles-long lake is filled with freshly calved icebergs, startlingly blue against the grey waters. We will paddle amongst the icebergs and listen to the active glaciers calve mountain-sized bergs into the lake before paddling across the lake and re-entering the current.
June 17
Dry Bay. From the fishing outpost of Dry Bay we catch a chartered plane to Yakutat, AK. Weather permitting you arrive in Yakutat in time for the daily Alaska Airlines jet to take you to Juneau. This flight from Yakutat to Juneau (or Anchorage) has not been included in the trip price, as many prefer to book it along with other flight legs homeward.
