Back in the Saddle for 2015

Looking into the coast range

Yee gods.
Its been one hell of a while since a post.
But as I have written before, I'm not going to waste my time or anyone else's time with inane gear reviews, what I ate for lunch, or my daily routine.
Not that I have been sitting in a shack, holed up doing nothing.  There was 2 months in New Zealand hiking and mountain biking.  And while its a great place, its not exactly a "wild" country with new adventure to be had.
So, back to The Yukon.
The rivers are up, the snow is gone from the high country, and the lads are back at it.
Wheaton River, upper run.
Paul B and Tony did it 2 summers ago.  Walk in to the Wheatons headwaters, camp, paddle out.
Amazing country, and a great overnight back country fix.  
Friday afternoon, saw Paul B, Dylan, Tony, Grant and myself walking up the Berney creek road.  We nipped over a small pass and dropped over into the upper Wheaton river valley.  Fantastic hiking in open, alpine terrain.

Berney creek road and Mt. Skukum behind 

Easy cruising with one small cliff-out had us camped in the wonderful Pine flats around 10 PM.  You just have to love endless daylight.  A wonderful mix of campfire, whiskey, great company and the song of the river wafted us to sleep.

We were up relatively early, and on the river by 9 AM.  We ended up walking downstream a bit, as it was a touch bony by camp.

Heading down through the old burn with Radelet peak in the background

The river is a bit constricted until Boudette creek comes roaring in from the South, doubling the volume and opening it right up.

The next few Kms are great fun with lots of boulder gardens and chutes.  After a bit, the Wheaton slows, meanders and generally settles down, until Berney creek joins the party.  Then its fast, tight fun until Fenwick creek joins.  Watch out for wood!
We hit the bridge again around 3:30, and headed back to our cabin for beer around the campfire.
Great fun.

Wheaton River Lower Run

Last weekend was looking to be the nicest of the fall, so Dylan and I hatched some quick plans to paddle the lower Wheaton river out to Bennett lake, camp overnight, then cross the lake and back to Carcross.
It was wonderful.
The lower Wheaton rarely gets run, not due to any technical difficulties, but its usually choked with wood.  A major rain event earlier this summer pretty much flushed it out, and with the exception of some sweepers and one log jam, it was clear albeit shallow sailing.
The colors were at their peak, it was warm, the camp site at the mouth of the Wheaton is 5 star.
We spent a great night around the fire, enjoying a beer.
We were up early, as the wind was fierce and we wanted to get across before it really picked up.
It was fine bobbing across in the PRs though.
We took out and walked the railroad tracks back to Carcross, as it was faster than paddling.
Dylan had suggested bringing packs, but I said we wouldn't need them.  Wrong.  We carried the gear hobo style, but it worked out.
Summers pretty much done.

O'Donnell River Upper Canyon

The O'Donnell is a cool little river near Atlin BC.  The lower run, which is by far the most popular, is a fun river for tandem canoes, with lots of tight maneuvering in rock strewn canyons.  Log jams can and do add to the challenge.
I have paddled the lower run numerous times in a 16' Mad River Freedom, but never checked out the upper run.  Rumors had it as class III in tight canyons, a bad run for canoes.
We thought it sounded great for a pack raft run.
Run-off water levels are essential for the O'Donnell, as it is a low volume river with lots of rocks.  Other rivers are running strong right now, so we figured it was time to take a drive to Atlin.
The same cast of characters from the Arkell trip met up at Warm bay south of Atlin on Friday night.
We piled into Tony's trust FJ and made the drive in to the upper river put in.  The roads in good shape right now with minimal mud and only one nasty wash out which is easily navigable with care.
We had one casualty on the way in.

We blew up in a stiff, cold south wind and hit the river.

It winds though really cool meadows with the odd old placer mine (and associated old equipment) along the banks.  In short order you hit the beginning of the canyon section, with the odd rock and ledge appearing.
Apologies for poor image quality, lots of water on the lens.

The next few Kms down to the lower put in are super fun.

We scouted two blind corners with lots of rock in them, but  all the drops and rapids are really clean with no wood.  If I run it again this summer, I wouldn't scout at all.  Always wise to check for wood after any high water event.

It was over too soon, and we passed the lower put in and were on the lower run.

The river stays fast though, and with the odd rock to dodge, you soon hit the first of the smaller canyons.

One has a nasty log across it that while not terribly life threatening, ruins the good line.

Bad shot, but you get the idea

A fun rocky traverse allowed us to avoid the portage along the canyon rim.

The lower portion of the river near Atlin lake has tons of log jams which suck with a canoe, but are speedily dealt with carrying only a PR.

We hit the lake at 5:30 and paddled back to Warm bay under sunny skies and in 5' swells.

Awesome day trip.

Arkell Crick

Another creek that has been begging for a pack raft trip.  Arkell creek.

Flows into the Ibex near its confluence with the Takhini.  We'd wondered about if for years.

Last weekend, that itch was scratched.

Anthony, Paul B, Dylan, Rob and myself headed into the Ibex valley last Sunday to give it a go.  Had a false start when Robs Frontier found the biggest ruts to fall into.  Fortunately, Mario lives nearby, and Mario has The Goods.

He very handsomely leant one of his many monster F-350 4x4s, and in short order the beast had yarded out the wee Nissan.

Back on track, we continued on and found the old horse trail.  Pleasant walking had us down to the Ibex lickety split.

We followed the horse trail up Arkell creek after first verifying there was actually water in the damned thing. There was, barely.  But at some point, man had that thing been in flood.

Crossing The Ibex

The Whole Area Had Been Flooded In The Not To Distant Past

The horse trail was very well defined and offered fast walking up the Pine flats next to the crick.

Eventually the crick narrowed and steepened as we got into the mountains.  Lots of griz sign.

As I said, there was enough water, barely.  We blew up at a point where the creek upstream looked just too bouldery.

The water was actually pretty deep, but the boulders were plentiful and large, so we pumped up the seats extra full.

We had great fun bouncing and splashing down.  A couple of corners were spicy enough to keep your attention.

It would be fun to go back with another foot in it.

Aishihik River

Yup.  That time of year again.  Break out the pack rafts.
Not much is open right now, but the Aishihik from the Yukon Energy tail race is.
Right where the tail race from the hydro site and the West Ahishihik join, its open water all the way to the Alaska highway.
Anthony, Paul B and Dylan were keen to get wet, so Saturday we headed to Canyon, stashed the bikes for the shuttle, and headed up to the put in.  The East Ashihik is still ice bound, which is fines as its probably not pack raft friendly, at least at high water.
We had to drag for about 1 Km until we hit open water.  Lots of shore ice, some debris in the water here and there.  No rapids, but we got to get in the water.
Nice bike back to the put in.  Saw a great big old wolf.  Cool.

Friday Creek

Yet another great loop of moderate length.
Dylan was up for an exploratory ride this Saturday, and I had "heard" this loop was in.  It was.
It was cloudy and snow squalls obscured the hills and mountains, but clearing was promised.  We parked at the Watson river trail head and made our way into the alpine towards Alligator lake.

Friday Creek

Turned up Friday creek on good dog sled trail, following it up the valley and on to Coal lake.
We both fell victim to a big chunk of ice which toppled us.  I had enough time to wonder how Dylan was handling the crash when his Nate made contact with my head.  Not as bad as his pedal in my shoulder.
It must have looked great from afar.

The occasional steep hill gets you up on some nice eskers

Pedaling down Coal lake was fantastic.  Sheep watched us from the hills.

Coal lake in the distance

On Coal lake

Once you leave the lake, you follow a great trail through the woods until you pick up the trail the dog sledders use from Fish lake.  Follow it to a high pass where you cross the Coal lake road, the follow a super fun valley down out of the alpine to Fish lake.  Follow the lake back to the parking lot.
Really great 50 Km ride.
Go do it.

Topping out on the Coal lake road, just about to begin the long descent.  Yee-Haw!