Up the Stikine River
June 16, 2004
We awoke to a gorgeous day - clear blues skies and mild temperatures. We had reservations for an excursion on a jet boat to go up the Stikine River to Shakes Glacier - so we were very lucky indeed that the weather was fabulous. The group was small - 7 passengers plus the pilot, Eric, and his 14 year old daughter who served as the deckhand. It turned out that Eric was born in Wisconsin, but has been in Wrangell for a long time.
The Stikine River runs for 330 miles through British Columbia
and Alaska to the Pacific. It is a free-flowing river the entire length and
passes through spectacular wilderness in Canada and Alaska. John Muir spent some
time here in 1879 and 1880 and referred to the Stikine as a "hundred mile long
Yosemite". Of course, our excursion wouldn't take us the up the entire river;
only the first half is navigable by jet boat and takes two days.
While crossing the Stikine river flat Eric spotted some crab fishermen
at work checking their traps, so we stopped for a quick look. They had 6 - 8
crabs in this trap.
The next stop was to see an eagle nest. The eagle was at home, although we
couldn't tell if there were any young ones in the family.
Ahead of us lay beautiful mountains.
The next stop was to visit with some people from the Canadian forestry
service (even though we were still in the U.S.) who were tagging salmon in the
river as part of a study to see how many salmon were using the river to migrate
to their spawning grounds. This salmon is a chinook and was referred to by the
person as a "small one".
Further up the river we were totally surrounded by snow-capped mountains. The
scenery was beautiful.
A stop at a patch of lupines for a photo-op. The river ahead was choked with
ice from the glacier. Eric, the jetboat pilot, said that he would be able to "wind his
way through the icebergs".
Our jet boat was soon to become an "icebreaker".
The icebergs were thick enough that there was no channel through them large enough to permit the boat to pass. The pilot used the boat to push on the icebergs and nudge them out of the way. Note the ice on the deck in front of the left window. I thought the pilot was crazy and we would get stuck or the ice would punch a hole in the hull. But the pilot kept at it - first one berg, then the next. Slowly they moved out of the way and we were able to get through. Coming back down river we had to do the same thing, since the ice had moved in and blocked the channel while we were upstream.
Afterwards Eric said that there was little danger of punching a hole in the
hull; it is quarter inch thick aluminum. Besides, it was his boat and he has a
lot of money invested in it, so I figured he knew what he was doing.
Finally we got through the river channel and reached Shakes Lake and Shakes
Glacier; it was beautiful and well worth the trip up here.
We had to pose for the traditional "tourist" photo in front of an iceberg.
On the way back to Wrangell, the pilot stopped at Shakes Hot Springs, where
there are a couple of hot tubs fed by hot water from the hot springs. It
was a relaxing way to end the trip. The guy holding the can of beer was not part
of our group, but was part of the local "wildlife". Eric is the
guy wearing sunglasses and his daughter Trista is to his left.
It was a great trip. Eric did a great job and was a lot of fun. His company is Breakaway Adventures, if you are interested in doing this trip; I thoroughly recommend them.