Kluane - A Yukon Backpacking Adventure

Turning 40 is a big deal and so we decided to commemorate this milestone with an especially adventurous backpacking trip.  I think it was Mike who first suggested the Yukon as a destination, and it certainly seemed to fit the bill as far as adventure was concerned.   

Mike, Jensen and I flew from Toronto-Yellowknife-Whitehorse and met up with Kyle from Victoria.  We collected our baggage, got the rental car, picked up bear spray and fuel and were on the road to Haines Junction in no time!

Our destination was Kluane, a massive wilderness that I had dreamed about visiting since I was a boy.  It felt surreal to be heading down the highway towards this frontier, but as the miles ticked by, the looming mountains testified that soon we would arrive.

After around 2 hours of driving and a bite to eat we arrived at the Mount Logan Ecolodge.   A beautiful little lodge tucked in the mountains.  

We packed our last few items, checking and double-checking that we had everything.  The main concern were temperatures, as the forecast was calling for wet and cold weather, an unpleasant combination.

The morning at the lodge arrived with some light clouds hanging over the nearby mountains.

Our first stop was the Kluane visitor centre to collect our permits and receive a safety briefing from the rangers.  They informed us that there had already been 3 rescues this season in Kluane and stressed the importance of bear safety and avoiding hypothermia. 

We soon hit the road and started our drive towards the Bock Creek access point.  As we did, the temperature dropped into the single digits as the rain pelted the windshield.

The clouds soon cleared along the Alaska Highway as we neared Kluane Lake.

By the time we got to the parking area the rain had stopped and the sun was shining.  This route starts out as a gravel road before transitioning into route finding along the rocky shoreline of the creek.  It winds up, up, and up until it reaches Bock Lake 3,500ft above the highway.

The route along the creek was at times narrow, requiring some bushwacking and scrambling around ledges and boulders.

As we reached the last third of the hike the route steepened and became very rough walking indeed.

I arrived at the top of the pass and got my first glimpse of Bock Lake.  I enjoyed the view for a minute while hail started to fall.

Mike soon arrived and we started to make a plan on what to do next.  Jensen and Kyle weren't quite up yet and so we decided to try to find a spot to set up our tents to have a dry place to warm up.  This was a mistake as our tent got a lot of hail and rain inside.  My hands were numb by the time we had everything set up, and it took me a while to warm up.  

The hail soon stopped and the water become a beautiful, placid, green.

All night we were serenaded by the sound of massive rockfall on the far side of the lake - we mistook it for thunder at first! 

Unfortunately the weather continued to be against us and around dawn it started to rain and then snow on us, making hypothermia a very real possibility as we were not dressed for winter weather.

The white snow on black rock and turquoise water created a stunning vista.  

The landscape reminded me of something out of Lord of the Rings!

As the weather continued to be cold and rainy we decided to drop down to a lower elevation instead of going over the pass to the Duke River.  After a short climb up to the pass between Bock Creek and Nines Creek we were rewarded with a wonderful alpine tundra for camping, surrounded by mountains.

Some of the foliage was starting to turn red for the fall.  

The area was littered with blueberries and lots of ground squirrels - favourite Grizzly food.  But we ignored the massive pile of bear poo and pitched our tents anyways.

Bear barrels and mist. "Fangorn Forest" looms in the distance.

If you look close you can see Mike, Kyle, and Jensen walking along the ridgeline, giving a sense of the scale of the wilderness we were in.

After the wet weather of the first day and night we were rewarded with sunny skies and decided to climb up out of the mist to some nearby ridgelines.

We were rewarded with stunning views of the valley.

Later in the day we scrambled up another small peak for a look around.

Ground Squirrels were our constant, noisy companions.

Golden Eagles soared over the valley, presumably feasting on the ground squirrels.

The next day we noticed that one of the Dall's Sheep flock was lower down the nearby mountain side.  I climbed up quietly until I was able to snap some good photos.  They seemed to be quite comfortable with my presence.

After enjoying this pass for the past couple of days we decided to move on to the Nines Creek area.  Not too far from our camp we came across bear tracks - a mom and a cub...a premonition of what was to come.

Nines Creek become more incised as we headed down in elevation, carving its way from one side of the canyon to the other, requiring frequent stops to cross.  This really slowed us down as we opted to save our hiking boots by switching into water shoes.  Nobody was keen on wet feet given the temperatures we had experienced.

As usual, Kyle found a way to add some levity to the trip and shortly after the below photo was taken his bear spray popped out of his pocket and went bobbing down the stream!  Mike and I looked at each other in disbelief and laughed before I took off after it, fishing it out in a back eddy down around the bend!

The hiking wasn't too bad until we hit this steep hill which almost crushed spirits.  A gin gin candy was required to raise morale.

The afternoon was wearing on and although it looks warm in this photo, it was not...we were getting cold and realized we would not be making it over the next pass so opted to drop down into a nearby gultch to camp.  

As we arrived there was a flock of Willow Ptarmigan that skuttled away!

Mike and Kyle made a fire, our first (and last) of the trip as at most of our other camps there was nothing fit to burn.

We carved out spots for two tents, played some cards, and enjoyed the campfire until it started to get dark.

All was quiet in camp as we got into our sleeping bags and started to drift off.  Only the sound of the wind in the willows and the gurgling stream could be heard.  I awoke out of that pleasant space between wakefulness and unconsciousness to hear rocks moving down the creek in the direction of our food barrels.  Mike and I were both alert now and heard a strange sound I've never heard before - to me it sounded like a lamb bleating (and was in fact a bear cub calling out).  Mike came to the conclusion that it was a bear and we popped our shoes on, grabbed bear spray and jumped out of the tent to find a sow Grizzly and cub a stones throw away in the valley.  We yelled to the other guys to get out of the tent as we had bears to deal with!

All 4 of us yelled at the bears and they took off up the rise beside camp, standing there long enough for me to snap off a few silhouette shots.  

Certainly a thrilling and slightly nerve-wracking moment, and one I won't soon forget!

Rain started falling again overnight and Kyle's InReach forecast called for more rain and snow incoming.  

With a small gap in the weather we decided to take the opportunity to get out of dodge, packed up our wet tents and gear and headed down the valley.  

American Dipper was a welcome sight along the river.

It was a long hike to get out, and since we came out at a different spot from our starting point we had to hike an additional 5km along the Alaska Highway to get back to our access point.

Even though the trip ended up following very little of our planned route, it delivered in fantastic scenery and adventure and good memories for all!  We had barely got out before we started talking about the next one.

We first started doing these trips together back in 2012, 14 years ago, and I hope to be doing them still in another 14!