A former river guide, now operations manager, recounts his introduction to the Alsek-Tatshenshini river wilderness.
The Alsek and Tatshenshini Rivers run wild and free. They’ve been called the last wild rivers on earth, for they flow unrestricted all the way from their source to the sea. They are so removed from the heavy hand of mankind that rafting the rivers is the only feasible way to access the wilderness area that surrounds them. To raft the Alsek or the Tatshenshini is to experience the world as it was in prehistoric times.
British
Columbia in 1993 announced creation of the Tatshenshini-Alsek Wilderness
Provincial Park, twice the size of the Grand Canyon. The Park has since
become the heart of the world’s largest international wilderness
reserve, connecting Kluane National Park in the Yukon and Alaska’s
Wrangell-St. Elias National Park & Preserve to the north and Glacier
Bay National Park and Preserve to the south. I am forever grateful to
the countless members of international environmental organizations who
fought to save these rivers environments from development and the wisdom
of the US and Canadian governments for assuring that this vast area will
be preserved. I know that when I’m finally able to return, it will be
just as I left it. It will always be there for us, for our children and
for our children’s children.
After
eight years guiding rafting trips in California and Oregon and running a
guide service, I came north for a visit, little realizing that I would
fall head over heels in love with Alaska. I got a chance to fill an
empty spot on a rafting trip down the Tat. While this was only one of
hundreds of rivers that I had rafted in different parts of the world,
the trip left me spellbound. Only in Siberia had I experienced such
remoteness. The wild river ecosystem was totally intact for the entire
160 miles. The only signs
of humans we encountered were a few other rafters. I learned about the
ways guides protect this purity; like hiking on bear trails centuries
old and using a fire pan to protect the ground from campfires.
I
sold my rafting business in Oregon and returned to Alaska the following
year. I joined the guiding crew of Alaska Discovery, a well respected
Alaska-based outfitter which has been operating throughout Alaska since
1972. After six seasons
leading trips down the Alsek and Tatshenshini Rivers, I was promoted to
operations manager. It’s to that untamed land that my mind escapes
when it needs a break from the daily demands of my new desk job.
In
my mind, I picture this raw and primeval land, with its dramatic
glaciers hanging between jagged peaks and melting into thousand foot
waterfalls. Glaciers descending to the water’s edge give birth to
sapphire blue icebergs. My mind wanders peacefully through the lush
forests that have never heard a chainsaw or an ax, but are filled with
an avian symphony. The highest coastal mountains in the world
surrounding the scene are absolutely breathtaking. Climbers are drawn to
this vast range of mountains for the opportunity of first ascents of
unnamed peaks. This range is still being sculpted as the ice that shaped
it continues its retreat. Brilliant
fireweed, lupine and Indian paintbrush spring forth as new land is
exposed.
The
Alsek and Tatshenshini river drainage, along with the adjoining
wilderness areas in Alaska, British Columbia and Yukon Territory were
declared a World Heritage Site in December 1994. In company with the
Grand Canyon, the pyramids of Egypt and the Great Wall of China, the
incredible size of the 21 million acres make this the world’s largest
heritage site.
The
preservation of this immense area allows wildlife to flourish
particularly large mammals most sensitive to encroachment by mankind.
From the security of my inflatable, I’ve seen wolves, brown bears and
moose look up, undisturbed, as we float by.
I’m always delighted to spot herds of mountain goats on the
rugged slopes, for reclusive and rare as they are in other parts of the
world, they thrive and are abundant on the ridge tops above this river
valley. Bald and golden eagles feast on the salmon that have spawned in
the tributaries. An amazing diversity of flora and fauna flourish in the
ecosystems that range from sub-arctic at the headwaters to maritime
rainforest at the coast. Visiting
biologists are thrilled by the many rare species they encounter like the
Dall sheep, white trumpeter swan and blue glacier bear.
Everyone
should visit the Alsek-Tatshenshini Wilderness Park if at all possible
at least once in their lifetime, like a pilgrimage to a sacred shrine.
This is an adventure that transforms people, where one can know what
pristine wilderness really is, and be immersed in the beauty of life. When the daily stresses pull at us, we can remember this
place, so apart from the industrial world, and bring perspective back
into our lives.
Author
Joe Willie Jones is Operations Manager for Alaska Discovery, multiday
professional rafting outfitter on the Alsek-Tatshenshini rivers and
several rivers in the national parks and preserves of the Brooks Range.
Alaska
Discovery offers five trips on the Alsek-Tatshenshini rivers
during the summer of 2000.