Kluane National Park

Museums and memory at Chilkoot Lake

We depart at 7:30 AM. After about 80 km, we see a beaver dam However, without seeing the skilled engineers who built it. A short distance away, some swans are proudly displayed on a deep blue lake. Meanwhile, we start to explore the Kluane mountains amidst pine forests, while encountering light traffic At 12:30, we arrive at Haines Junction, where we visit the visitor center to obtain information about the area and watch a 17-minute film that introduces us to the Kluane. We then drive south along the coast of the Kluane National Park, which protects the St. Elias Mountains coastline. This impressive and wild park includes the peaks of Mount Logan (5950 meters), the highest point in Canada and St. Elias (5488 meters), while approximately half of its territory is covered by glaciers: here, nature reveals itself in all its magnificence.
Let's see the Kathleen Lake (beautiful, with many swimmers). Further on, we walk for a quarter of an hour along the Rock Glacier Interpretative Trail, which rises above the moraine of an old glacier to enjoy the view of the Dezadeash lake below. The view is extensive, but there is still haze due to the fires that are raging hundreds of kilometers north. We meet a couple from Vorarlberg, Austria. They left Fairbanks in Alaska and are heading to Haines. They have seen the fire that developed north of Fairbanks and tell us that the current fires are remnants of last year. The winter extinguished the flames on the surface, but underneath there was still embers that, with the summer dryness, regained strength. They told us that these things are not uncommon in the area, especially in the presence of winters with little rainfall (which is not rare in Alaska and Yukon), and that they can last for two years. There is no way to stop them, except by digging trenches to try to interrupt them. We were told that a firefighter earns $2,000 in 9 days. They are well paid but lead a very difficult life: they are transported to the most inaccessible areas by helicopter and there they have to create firebreaks, sleeping naturally on site.
A quick look at the Klukshu Village, an Indian village near the river, where we see the traps that locals use to attract and catch salmon. We continue on Haines Hwy, which runs along the Tatshenshini Park in British Columbia for a few dozen kilometers. We cross the border with the United States shortly after passing through Chilkat Pass, located at 1070 meters, between high mountains and enormous glaciers looming overhead.

Arrival at Chilkoot Lake

We arrive in Haines (again in Alaska), which is still before 5:30 PM (Alaska is an hour behind the Yukon, so we are -10 hours ahead of Italy). After seeing two small fires along the Chilkat River, the river has a excessive width The water flows murky, typical of glacial melt. Let's imagine what size it might reach at the beginning of summer, during the thaw. We enter the visitor center in Haines where a friendly employee advises us to see the old part of town and Lake Chilkoot. We have a chat with her and she tells us how fires are part of the natural cycle, if viewed through the lens of nature itself rather than human intervention. They help regenerate forests and allow lodgepole pine seeds to germinate, which would otherwise remain dormant. She says that animals also have very developed senses, allowing them to perceive danger and migrate; only a few are caught by fire. This is a completely different perspective from the European one, but if a few hectares of forest burn here, no one notices, and no one intervenes due to the impossibility of reaching the remote areas inland. Despite global alarm, there are glaciers in the area that are advancing, threatening countries or forming dangerous lakes. at the Waterfront, we dine at Lighthouse, a restaurant with panoramic views over the Haines Bay. Before boarding, we visit the wonderful Chilkoot Lake at sunset, full of salmon jumping and surrounded by patient fishermen. On the tip of a pine tree on the other side of the lake, there was golden eagle With its white head, it observes everything majestically. From Haines, we depart at 9:30 PM for Skagway. The cruise on the motor vessel Kennicot lasts 1 hour and 5 minutes and crosses Lynn Canal to reach Skagway. We go to rest for a few hours at the Westmark Inn hotel.