WISE
  • Home
  • About WISE
    • Mission and Goals
    • President's Message
    • Staff
    • Board of Directors
    • Partners
    • Location
    • Policies
    • Donors and Grantors
    • Annual Reports and Newsletters
  • What We Do
    • Education Programs >
      • Aquatic Ecology Camp
      • Alaska Forum on the Environment
      • Changing Seasons
      • Copper River Stewardship Program
      • Outdoor and Wilderness Leadership Skills
      • Earth Discovery Day
      • In-Class Science
      • Science Lecture Series
      • Summer Hikes
      • Wild Plants Workshop
    • Research & Citizen Science >
      • Salmon Blitz
      • Willow Creek Research Consortium
      • Christmas Bird Count
    • Other Programs >
      • 20th Anniversary Challenges
      • Copper Country Discovery Tour
      • Family Ice Fishing Day
      • Project Healing Waters
      • Winter Fun Day
  • Get Involved
    • Employment
    • Volunteer
  • Support WISE
    • Donate
    • WISE Store
    • Take Our Nature Tour
  • Contact Us
  • WISE Blog

WISEfriends Blog

Wanderings- Tatshenshini River Adventures Part I

7/21/2000

0 Comments

 
By Janelle Eklund

​Nine of us joined together to float the Tatshenshini River on July 20, 2000, starting in Canada and ending in Alaska. Traveling through the Yukon Territory of Canada we took the Haines Jct. hwy to the put-in point, arriving the night before launching. The next day, while rafts were being blown up and geared, three in the group shuttled the van to Haines where we would get dropped off by plane ten days later.
 
We launched shortly after 3:00pm. Clouds bearing the weight of showers dumped on us off and on all day. It kept us busy changing in and out of rain gear umpteen times. The first upper stretch of the river reminded me of the Gulkana River back in the Copper Basin. But not for long. The landscape changed funneling the river into a canyon. A roller coaster white water ride kept the rowers on their toes without a break for five miles. We had the where with all to scout the canyon first and donned our dry suits before entering the chasm. The only body part that got a little wet was our heads.
 
We bobbed along passing spruce forests sweeping from river bed to metamorphic rock formed hills. The river cut through narrow chutes where faults were colored in  lines of black, grey, and orange. Each told a hidden story of ancient times. Bald eagles swept down cliffs on the wings of wind. The slower stretches let us observe the sites along rivers journey.
 
We camped at Silver Creek where the mosquitoes made us wear our head nets. At that point the rain was only spitting which made it nice for setting up the tents.
 
7-21-00
 
The river was calmer today with a few rapids which gave the float some diversity. Our destination was Sediment Creek and by our calculation not too far down the river. Friends of ours had launched ahead of our group and we planned to camp with them. Our thoughts were centered on a short day. Wrong. What we thought was Sediment Creek didn't look quite right, and our friends weren't there but we tried to find a place to camp anyway. There were some nice places but the lack of eddies and slower water prevented us from stopping. After bumbling along and trying to stop we decided that wasn't Sediment Creek at all. The next drainage turned out to be the right one. Our friends and their cataraft were a welcome sight. A calm side channel allowed us to row above their camp. A high steep bank was the only way to the campsite. For unloading gear we made a human chain which worked well. Everyone automatically picked a chore and went about setting up camp.
 
Rafting affords the luxury of bringing things like a 25lb fire pan with a grill, and food items like a whole chicken. For dinner the chicken went in a pot of boiling water to get it partially cooked before barbecuing it on the fire pan grill. A delicious and fulfilling dinner came with shared stories of an exhausting day on the dynamic river.
 
To be continued
 
From my light to yours-
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Picture

    Who We Are

    WISEfriends are several writers connected with Wrangell Institute for Science and Environment, a nonprofit organization located in Alaska's Copper River Valley.  Most of these articles originally appeared in our local newspaper, the Copper River Record.

    Archives

    August 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    June 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    June 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    June 2016
    April 2016
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    June 2013
    May 2013
    April 2013
    March 2009
    September 2007
    August 2007
    May 2007
    May 2006
    May 2005
    March 2005
    June 2003
    September 2000
    July 2000
    July 1998
    June 1998

    Categories

    All
    Alaska Forum On The Environment
    Aquatic Ecology Camp
    Art
    Audubon's Christmas Bird Count
    Bear
    Birds
    Blueberries
    Camping
    Cats
    Changing Seasons
    Chosen Frozen
    Christmas Bird Count
    Clean-up Day
    Copper River Basin Symposium
    Copper River Stewardship Program
    Denali
    Donation
    Earth Discovery Day
    Fish
    Geology Camp
    Giving Tuesday
    Glacier
    HAARP
    Hikes
    Home
    Ice Fishing
    In Class Science
    In-Class Science
    Insects
    Interns
    Kotsina River Cleanup
    Lamprey Lecture
    Lecture Series
    Local Food
    Meadow Jumping Mouse
    Moose
    Natures Beauty
    Neighborhood Nuisance
    Nic'anilen'Na
    Oil Spill
    Owl
    OWLS
    Partnerships
    Plants
    Pop-Up Natural Playground
    Project Healing Waters
    Quinzee
    Redback Voles
    Re-Usable Shopping Bag
    Salmon Blitz
    Skiing
    Snow
    Snowshoe Hares
    Subsistence
    Tolsona Mud Volcanoes
    Tonsina River Trail
    Volcano
    Weather
    Wildfires
    Wild Plants Of The Copper Basin
    Wings Over The Wrangells
    Winter Fun Day
    WISE News
    WISE Thoughts
    Women Of Distinction
    Wrangell St. Elias National Park

    RSS Feed

Picture
About WISE
What We Do
Get Involved
Support WISE 

Contact Us
Policies​
Wrangell Institute for Science & Environment 
www.wise-edu.org
contact@wise-edu.org
(907) 822-3575
​WISE is a
501(c)3
nonprofit
​organization
 
​

Contact Us

Donate
  • Home
  • About WISE
    • Mission and Goals
    • President's Message
    • Staff
    • Board of Directors
    • Partners
    • Location
    • Policies
    • Donors and Grantors
    • Annual Reports and Newsletters
  • What We Do
    • Education Programs >
      • Aquatic Ecology Camp
      • Alaska Forum on the Environment
      • Changing Seasons
      • Copper River Stewardship Program
      • Outdoor and Wilderness Leadership Skills
      • Earth Discovery Day
      • In-Class Science
      • Science Lecture Series
      • Summer Hikes
      • Wild Plants Workshop
    • Research & Citizen Science >
      • Salmon Blitz
      • Willow Creek Research Consortium
      • Christmas Bird Count
    • Other Programs >
      • 20th Anniversary Challenges
      • Copper Country Discovery Tour
      • Family Ice Fishing Day
      • Project Healing Waters
      • Winter Fun Day
  • Get Involved
    • Employment
    • Volunteer
  • Support WISE
    • Donate
    • WISE Store
    • Take Our Nature Tour
  • Contact Us
  • WISE Blog