Tag: adventure

Alaska-Yukon Road Trip: Lake Laberge & Advice from Raven

Lake Leberge-Yukon Territory
The Marge of Lake Laberge. Yukon Territory, Canada.

Tim Troll & I found many hidden beauties and many blind allies that required backtracking in our 10-day wandering road trip on a 2700-mile exploration of the Yukon Territory and Alaska (Spetember 24-October 10)

Lake Laberge is a mysterious lovely lake, the scene for Robert Service’s poem:

Rocky Plants - Autumn Leaves-Lake Laberge-Yukon Territory
Rocky Plants – Autumn Leaves-Lake Laberge-Yukon Territory

 

The Cremation of Sam McGee

The northern lights have seen queer sights,
But the queerest they ever did see,
Was that night on the marge of Lake Labarge
I cremated Sam McGee…

 

 

Typical conversation:
Bill: “Stop here for a photo!” (screeching tires). “Where do you want to go now?”
“How about down the fork to the left?”
“Where does it go?”
“No idea, but it looks like the road heads toward the river.”
“Yeah, that sounds good… is there food? Never mind, we’ve got what we need.”
Brother-in-law Tim is an excellent voyaging companion.

And then, of course, there’s the chance that a raven will help point to the right path.      (maybe?? or is it a trick?)

Tormented Valley, Yukon Territory – Search for Gold

Tormented Valley, Yukon Territory

Lakes and rock formations of the Tormented Valley in Yukon Territory, Canada.
The road from Skagway, AK to Carcross, YT runs through many landscapes.
But none stranger or more potent than Tormented Valley with its brilliant green lakes.
Bedrock here is encrusted with lichens or many colors and textures.
Add a cold wind, and this can be a forbidding place.

Tormented Valley-Yukon Terr
Tormented Valley-Yukon Terr

But today the shining gold aspen trees against dark green spruce and pine made Tormented Valley seem more like open-air vault for landscape riches. See tomorrow’s post for golden hillsides.Wild autumn colors: Quaking Aspen trees. Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, Canada.

Quaking Aspen-Whitehorse BC
Quaking Aspen-Whitehorse BC

Quaking Aspen (Populus tremuloides) leaves flutter in the wind, an adaptation that helps them withstand strong winds—giving in rather than fighting against the breeze.
These thickets of trees are colonies that all sprout from the same roots.
The individual trees don’t live much more than 100 years, but some aspen root colonies are believed to live many thousands of years, perhaps as much as 80,000 years.
Also may be the largest organism on earth, spreading over many miles, although not verified.
For now, I’m thrilled to see their golden quaking leaves on every mountain and roadside as we travel through the Yukon Territory.

On the road with brother in law, Tim Troll, my adventure pal.

 

 

Transfixed by Wonder Light. Icy Strait, Alaska.

Icy Strait Sunset-Southeast Alaska
Icy Strait Sunset-Southeast Alaska

Transfixed by Wonder Light. Icy Strait, Alaska.

If I had been driving in a city, I might have abandoned my car to gaze at the light of gold in Icy Strait.

Fortunately, I simply walked to the stern of the Wilderness Explorer where I remained until my return to earth.

Far into the brilliance, a fishing boat slipped across between the black edges of the terrestrial world.

On an @UnCruise.

Nugget Falls roars into Mendenhall Lake

Nugget Falls cascades into Mendenhall Lake; Mendenhall Glacier in
CLICK PHOTO TO VIEW VIDEO: Nugget Falls cascades into Mendenhall Lake; Mendenhall Glacier in distance

Nugget Falls roars into Mendenhall Lake, Juneau, Alaska. Follow the creek as it flows into Mendenhall Lake (frozen), and you can see the foot of the Mendenhall Glacier in the distance.

The snowy peak prodding the blue sky is Mount Stroller White (1,570 m; 5,150 ft). The forested ridgeline in front of Stroller White that ascends to the left is one of the shoulders of Mt. McGinnis (1,289 m; 4,228 ft).

Nugget Creek arises from Nugget Glacier, flowing down a valley that separates Mount Bullard (1,288 meters; 4,225 ft.) from Heintzleman Ridge. My IG Post from 11/27/2017 shows me on cross country skis with Mount Bullard in the background.

A dam and a 198-meter (650-foot) long tunnel were constructed by the Treadwell Company during the heyday of early hardrock gold mining in Juneau. This hydroelectric facility provided electricity from 1912 to 1943, just one of a number of hydroelectric plants that put Juneau at the forefront of early industrial use of electricity, including electric locomotives.

Nugget Falls is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Juneau along with the Mendenhall Glacier. It’s also one of our favorite 30-minute hikes of exceptional beauty and the power of the waterfall.

Kate Troll shares peace & beauty in wilderness of icebergs

Kate Troll rafting Alsek Lake
Kate Troll shares a moment of peace and beauty among the icebergs of Alsek Lake, Southeast Alaska, near Dry Bay on the Lost Coast

Kate Troll (@katetroll) shares a moment of peace and beauty among the icebergs of Alsek Lake, Southeast Alaska, near Dry Bay on the Lost Coast. Kate & I have been living in & exploring Alaska for 40 years. She combines her adventures here and around the world with her long career as a leader in environmental conservation, and her thoughts about hope in the face of climate change, in her book: “The Great Unconformity: Reflections on Hope in an Imperiled World”.

Just one more magnificent highlight on our float trip down the Tatshenshini River to the Alsek River, which runs through Alsek Lake before emptying into the Gulf of Alaska at Dry Bay. 11-day trip with 10 friends through 3 Canadian and USA national parks that combine into largest designated wilderness in world.

The powerful Alsek River flows under the mile-wide ice berg jam from huge glaciers that calve into the lake, and exits around a large island. The ice can completely block the exit, forcing rafters to get picked up here by bush plane. We hiked in to scout a route, and were able to find an open channel between the shoreline the ice jam, the eerie growl of river going under the ice off to our port side, forcing us to row far out into Alsek lake.

Nellie the Sheltie-Dog of the North Woods

Nelly the Sheltie - Dog of the North (northern
Nelly the Sheltie – Dog of the North (northern Southeast Alaska)

Nellie the Sheltie, Dog of the North Woods (northern Southeast Alaska coastal temperate rainforest). Thanksgiving: I’m so very thankful that Nellie the Sheltie is still our effervescent companion at home and in the woods… Thanks to Lindsay and Andre, she added kayaking credentials this summer!

 

Kate Troll and Nellie with Wild Flag (Iris)
Kate Troll and Nellie with Wild Flag (Iris)

Last spring, we learned Nellie had an aggressive tumor in her bladder. Thought we’d lose her, but medication and diet (and no doubt love and exercise) have reduced it by half. Still zipping along, barking in circles, and giving us happiness every day at age 10.

Southeast Alaska Sunrise-Mt. Juneau towers over Douglas Bridge

Sunrise over Douglas Bridge – Mt Juneau

Sunrise as Mt. Juneau (3,576 ft.; 1,090) m rises straight up from sea level to towers over Douglas Bridge.

The Mt. Juneau trail is a stiff climb, with option to follow the alpine ridgeline and descend using the Perseverance Trail (13-mile round trip).

Juneau & Douglas, Alaska were originally separate competing cities. Treadwell gold mine on Douglas Island, and the Alaska Juneau and Perseverance mines on the Juneau “mainland” (North American continent) were the largest hard rock gold mines in the world from the late 1880’s thru the first several decades of the 20th century.

The Douglas Bridge opened in 1980, replacing the first bridge (built in 1935. Juneau became Alaska’s state capitol in 1906. Juneau-Douglas unified into a single municipality in 1970.

Spawning Salmon Feed Birds, Animals, and Trees

Sheep Creek Estuary at low tide. Gulls feeding on chum salmon eggs
Sheep Creek Estuary at low tide. Gulls feeding on chum salmon eggs

Gulls feeding on salmon eggs and carcasses, Juneau, Alaska. Chum Salmon (aka “Dog Salmon”) and Pink Salmon (aka “Humpies”) spawning in Sheep Creek estuary. CLICK THE PHOTO BELOW TO SEE VIDEO: 10 seconds into video, a chum salmon with red and purple stripes thrashes into shallows. Past this chum salmon out in the channel, see the humped backs of pink salmon in spawning frenzy.

Gulls feeding on Chum Salmon eggs. Click image for video
Gulls feeding on Chum Salmon eggs. CLICK IMAGE FOR VIDEO

Pinks and Chums are the only two species of salmon whose fry (newly hatched young) migrate immediately back to saltwater. They become “smolt”: their bodies and metabolism change so they can live in saltwater. The young of the other 3 species (Chinook, Coho, and Sockeye) stay in streams and lakes for 1 or more years before they go out to sea.

Once in the ocean, their life histories diverge. Pink salmon spend only 1 year feeding in saltwater, migrating back into the streams as 2-year-old adults, the smallest of the salmon at 2.2 kg (4.8 lbs.). Chum Salmon remain in the ocean for 2-4 years, so return as 3 to 5-year-olds. Their longer life of feeding and growing results in weights of 4.4 to 10.0 kg (9.7 to 22.0 lbs.)

The high protein-high fat salmon and their eggs are super-foods for predators like gulls, shorebirds, bears, and humans. As they die, the nutrients from their bodies feed aquatic and terrestrial plants and invertebrates from crab to insects in the Coastal Temperate Rainforest. These are critical habitats and migratory passages that require protection from pollutants, destruction, and blockage.

Southeast Alaska’s Gastineau Channel: Can you see the cruise ship?

Can you see a cruise ship, sandbar, navigational aid, and a research vessel?
Can you see a cruise ship, sandbar, navigational aid, and a research vessel? Juneau, Alaska

In the photo above, I stood on the left shoreline, the edge of the North American continent. The shore and mountains of Douglas Island form the right shoreline. Gray mountains at the far end are on Admiralty Island, 12-14 miles away.

Good eyesight? Can you see a cruise ship, sandbar, navigational aid, and a research vessel in in the saltwater of Gastineau Channel? Try it and then zoom in (if using phone). When boating, I constantly search the water ahead for other vessels, navigation markers, and hazards like logs or rocks. I scan the water for any shapes, spots, or projections from the water’s surface, starting closest to me, and gradually sliding my view look down channel until I reach the horizon.

Searching the water along the left shoreline, look for rocks, sand bars, and a navigational marker on pilings. In the channel, you’ll the small research vessel operated by NOAA (National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration) heading away from us. You’ll also see a cruise ship coming toward us that must pass between the navigation aid and Douglas Island to avoid the sand bar the extends from the left shore.

Bonaparte's Gull & Fly fisher check each other out
Bonaparte’s Gull & Fly fisher check each other out. Fishing alone is communion. Click to go to Instagram.

Today’s reflections of a September sky, near Juneau, Alaska show an amazingly different view from my previous Instagram Post of a fly fisher in fog, taken 2 days ago a few miles down the left shoreline.