Former Vice President Al Gore

“The Tatshenshini-Alsek is one of the most magnificent river systems on earth, flowing through one of the world’s most pristine wilderness areas. The region is prime habitat for large mammals including the grizzly, the rare glacier bear, moose, wolf, mountain goat and Dall sheep, and birds such as the bald eagle, peregrine falcon and trumpeter swan. It is a place of exceptional quality and environmental significance. The Tatshenshini-Alsek features tremendous biological diversity and overwhelming natural beauty, which should be protected and preserved for future generations.”


Tatshenshini

The Tatshenshini River begins as a trickle in the alpine meadows of the Chilkat Summit, then swells to more than half a mile (about one kilometre) in breadth. At its confluence with the Alsek River, the two rivers rival the largest drainages on the continent. Together they form a vital green corridor, between the interior and coast, through the highly glaciated and rugged peaks of the St. Elias Range and coastal mountains. Below the spectacular peaks, the broad, lush valley is home to large populations of grizzlies, bald eagles, moose, wolves and other animals. These qualities have earned the river a reputation as a coveted destination. Visitors are often torn between the choice of beginning their trip on the Tatshenshini or the Alsek. Those who have experienced both say you must keep each of them on your list. Raft expeditions launch at the confluence of Klukshu Creek, location of the historic Southern Tuchone village of Shawashee. Highlights of the Tashenshini include a section of Class III whitewater, spotting wildlife while meandering through lush meadows and thick foliage, and the excitement of swift water through a glacially carved valley beneath the St. Elias Range.

Alsek

The Alsek begins at the confluence of the Dezadeash and Kaskawulsh rivers and flows through a broad valley within Kluane National Park and Reserve, which leads to iceberg dotted Lowell Lake. A hike up nearby Goatherd Mountain offers panoramic views of the ice fields, the tallest peaks of the St. Elias Range and abundant wildlife, including Mountain goats and Dall sheep.

Beyond Lowell Lake the mountains crowd inward, creating narrow canyons. After this section the imposing Tweedsmuir Glacier looms over the river, which acts like a huge funnel, forcing the river into a narrow confine, crowding it into a deep gorge known as Turnback Canyon. Here a helicopter is summoned to portage the cataract. Downstream the river plunges through a ten-mile series of treacherous rapids. (Don’t worry—we’ll be viewing these from the luxury of the helicopter.)

Past the Vern Ritchie and Battle Glaciers, is the confluence of the Tatshenshini and Alsek Rivers. Together, these two historic rivers swell to stretch nearly three miles wide, surging through braided channels that crisscross the valley. The united rivers bear the name Alsek, which soon enters Alaska and Glacier Bay National Park.

Before reaching the Pacific Ocean via the Gulf of Alaska, the Alsek boasts a giant bend that can be seen from space with a circle of by peaks that form a stunning amphitheatre of glacial ice and rock, including the crystal blue hues of Walker Glacier. Further downstream are more than 20 glaciers and the spot where the Alsek and Grand Plateau Glaciers come together to form an eight-mile-wide face of ice.

The Alsek is distinctive due to the spectacular historic and geological events which took place in its valley two centuries ago, and as recently as 1958.

River History

Tatshenshini

Originally, the Tatshenshini was known as the upper Alsek River, but around 1891, it was designated as the Tatshenshini River by the Canadian government, and the lower Kaskawulsh River became the present-day upper Alsek River.

In the 1800s, the Tatshenshini River was an important trade route for the coastal Tlingit people. In 1890, Jack Dalton and Edward Glave were the first Europeans to travel the river. In 1897, Dalton established a trading post close to the Tatshenshini where the river begins its westward flow. During the Klondike Gold Rush, the trading post was a thriving hub. Today, the site is a popular location for launching rafting trips and salmon fishing.

The Tatshenshini River emerged from obscurity in the late 1980s when development plans for a small gold mine changed to a large-scale copper mine, requiring a road, bridges and massive tailings ponds in the heart of this largely untouched region. In the area surrounding the Tatshenshini River mountains are still growing, making this region more seismically unstable than the San Andreas Fault of California. The plan to have the acidic waters of the tailings perched above the Tatshenshini, a major salmon river, sparked international concern. The Tatshenshini-Alsek watershed was put at the top of the list of the 10 most endangered rivers in America. As a result, Tatshenshini Alsek National Park was formed and the region now comprises the heart of the largest biological preserve in the world and one without a mine or roads. The Tatshenshini River was designated a Canadian Heritage River in 2004.

Alsek

In the late half of the 1800′s the Alsek was entirely blocked by a sudden surge of the Lowell glacier. The resulting lake backed up over an area of hundreds of square miles, even flooding the current site of Haines Junction. The Alsek’s ice dam remained for a few years until it was finally broached by the river in a cataclysmic event in which the valley below was flushed by a flow of gargantuan proportion. First Nations history tells of villages that were decimated by the Alsek’s floodwaters, greater than the amazon. When we travel the river today we see scarring and other effluvial remains that tell the story of this monstrous hydrological event. In 1958, a magnitude 7.7 earthquake transformed the region again, causing the Doame and East Alsek rivers to converge.