Alsek River Rafting Expedition in Alaska & Canada

On our first trip down the Alsek, we camped on a beautiful sandy beach where a small clear stream of water was flowing past before joining the Alsek. The water was from the melting of the Fisher Glacier.  It was one of the most beautiful river camps anywhere. We had some great halibut tacos prepared specially by Martha Clark Stewart and watched the sun set on the colorful mountains downstream. Just as the sun was setting, Mindy Mackay saw a wolverine along the back talus slope of the camp. The wolverine was determined to summit the steep and rocky slope. The wolverine was always moving full speed. There were three different draws on the slope. It attempted the first draw, got about 10 feet from the top, and had to turn around. It ran all the way back to the bottom and up the second draw and back down. Finally the wolverine found a successful route up the third draw, disappearing into the trees and out of sight.

On one of our Alsek River trips, we camped on a large sandy beach just below Range Creek. It was a warm August day in British Columbia. We camped early and set up camp. After camp was set up, Walker Mackay, John Toner and Sybrena Smith decided to do an exploratory hike up to the top of a knoll behind the camp. From the open beach, the journey would require breaking through some dense foliage before hitting a draw of talus slope up to the top. The guides were almost to the top when they looked down to their left and saw a large Grizzly Bear a little more than a rocks throw away. The bear stood up, sniffed, and ducked back down into the greenery. Instead of running away like almost every bear in Alaska does, the bear moved closer. This time standing up a rocks throw away, the bear was obviously curious. It ducked back down in the greenery and appeared on the other side of the thin ridge at the top of knoll. The bear was within 100 feet. The wind was blowing toward it. After a minute or two of sniffing and standing the bear decided to retreat back into the woods. This encounter was a good reminder to hike in groups in Bear Country. From then on we have called the camp and small knoll behind the camp “Bear Knoll.”

Blackadar is famous for his first descent of Turnback Canyon which he completed on August 25, 1971, solo. In doing so, he is revered by an entire generation of paddlers. Blackadar said of the achievement, “One huge horrendous mile of hair, 30 feet wide, 50,000 cubic feet per second and twenty degree downgrade going like hell. Incredible! I did not flip in that mile or I would not be writing….I’ll never go back, not for $50,000, not for all the tea in China.” Blackadar did not start kayaking until he was 43 years old and his run down Turnback Canyon occurred at the age of 49. He was featured in Sports Illustrated where they compared his achievement to the first ascent of Mount Everest. Now Mount Blackadar towers above Turnback Canyon. If time and water levels permit, there may be a chance to hike down to the first rapids of Turnback Canyon, and peer into the same rapids Blackadar paddled into.