Visiting the UNESCO World Heritage site – with five of North America’s highest mountains, the most extensive icefields outside the polar regions, mountain lakes, alpine meadows, tundra and swift cold rivers – is easier thanks to cruisetours and local operators.
BY PATRICK DINEEN
Tucked into the southwest corner of Yukon with massive Mount Logan standing guard is a Canadian treasure. Named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979, Kluane National Park and Reserve is an area of pristine wilderness and great beauty, which few Canadians have ever seen.
But this region – with five of North America’s seven highest mountains, the most extensive icefields outside the polar regions, mountain lakes, alpine meadows, tundra and swift cold rivers – has attracted the attention of a major travel company which will make it much easier for North Americans to experience this rugged part of Canada.
Seattle-based Holland America Line has been looking for new tours to draw a younger and more active clientele to its Alaska cruises. In the past, the company has concentrated on Dawson City and the history of the Klondike Gold Rush on its cruisetours in Yukon. But Holland America executives were so captivated by the beauty of Kluane that it is being added to its cruisetour lineup in 2003. Parks Canada has created an exclusive program of guided hikes for Holland America passengers.
The cruise line will have seven ships sailing to Alaska in the summer of 2003, six from Vancouver and one from Seattle, making it a convenient way for both Canadian and Americans to explore one of the last frontiers on the continent.
Excursions in Kluane include a strenuous, full-day guided hike to the top of King's Throne for lunch and views of Mount Kennedy, Kathleen Lake and Shakwak Valley. There is also a full-day moderate guided trek through Alsek Valley bear country on foot or mountain bike with lunch overlooking the Alsek River. A full-day rafting expedition on the Tatshenshini River passes through a canyon with 500-foot walls. After lunch, passengers run the Boulder Garden and Twin Holes rapids.
For those who want a more leisurely exploration of Kluane, there is a stroll with a Parks Canada interpreter following the forested Dezadeash River Trail, which is full of birdlife, for views of the Auriol mountain range. After lunch there is an easy walk on the wheelchair accessible Kathleen Lake trail. Flightseeing excursions are also offered deep into Kluane to see Canada's highest mountain, Mount Logan, and the world's largest non-polar icefield. This tour also includes the Kathleen Lake trail.
But you don't have to be a cruise passenger to experience Kluane, part of a vast wilderness that has been recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site along with adjoining St. Elias Park and Glacier Bay National Park in Alaska and the Tatshenshini-Alsek Wilderness Park in British Columbia.
Activities include not only hiking and guided walks but also flying over the Icefield ranges and rafting on the Alsek River in addition to viewing wildlife and dozens of bird species. The climate of Kluane is influenced by both the warmer and damper Pacific air masses as well as the colder and drier Arctic ones giving the region one of the greatest diversity of plants and wildlife in northern Canada. The Dall sheep is Kluane's most abundant large mammal and visitors often see them foraging on the slopes of Sheep Mountain in the spring, fall and winter. But there are also mountain goats living along rocky cliffs and ledges in the south and a small herd of caribou which regularly wanders through the Duke River area. North America's largest subspecies of moose also range through Kluane National Park & Reserve.
But the animal most visitors to the North want to see is a bear and Kluane has populations of grizzly bears that move between alpine meadow and valley during different times of the year. Black bears are common and usually found feeding in forested areas of the park. Wolves move in and out of Kluane but a variety of smaller mammals make their homes in this wilderness including wolverine, muskrat, mink, marmot, red fox, lynx, otter, coyote, beaver, snowshoe hare and arctic ground squirrel.
The southwestern Yukon is also a paradise for birdwatchers with at least 150 species counted in Kluane National Park & Reserve and, of these, 118 nest in the park. On a spring day, sightings could include varied thrushes, yellow-rumped warblers and mountain bluebirds. With small mammals in abundance, the park is also a perfect hunting ground for birds of prey from the speedy falcon to the majestic bald and golden eagles.
Plant life is just as diverse with much of the lower valleys and slopes covered by a forest of white spruce, aspen and balsam poplar. The treeline is at 1,050 to 1,200 metres, but during the summer months the higher elevations are ablaze with colours with over 200 varieties of alpine flowers and plants making use of the long, long days of the far northern regions.
source: Canadian Tourism Commision
This reproduction is not represented as an official version of the materials reproduced, nor has it been made in affiliation with or with the endorsement of the Canadian Tourism Commission.
Click here for more information on the Yukon
Click here for more outdoor adventures in Canada
BY PATRICK DINEEN
Tucked into the southwest corner of Yukon with massive Mount Logan standing guard is a Canadian treasure. Named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979, Kluane National Park and Reserve is an area of pristine wilderness and great beauty, which few Canadians have ever seen.
But this region – with five of North America’s seven highest mountains, the most extensive icefields outside the polar regions, mountain lakes, alpine meadows, tundra and swift cold rivers – has attracted the attention of a major travel company which will make it much easier for North Americans to experience this rugged part of Canada.
Seattle-based Holland America Line has been looking for new tours to draw a younger and more active clientele to its Alaska cruises. In the past, the company has concentrated on Dawson City and the history of the Klondike Gold Rush on its cruisetours in Yukon. But Holland America executives were so captivated by the beauty of Kluane that it is being added to its cruisetour lineup in 2003. Parks Canada has created an exclusive program of guided hikes for Holland America passengers.
The cruise line will have seven ships sailing to Alaska in the summer of 2003, six from Vancouver and one from Seattle, making it a convenient way for both Canadian and Americans to explore one of the last frontiers on the continent.
Excursions in Kluane include a strenuous, full-day guided hike to the top of King's Throne for lunch and views of Mount Kennedy, Kathleen Lake and Shakwak Valley. There is also a full-day moderate guided trek through Alsek Valley bear country on foot or mountain bike with lunch overlooking the Alsek River. A full-day rafting expedition on the Tatshenshini River passes through a canyon with 500-foot walls. After lunch, passengers run the Boulder Garden and Twin Holes rapids.
For those who want a more leisurely exploration of Kluane, there is a stroll with a Parks Canada interpreter following the forested Dezadeash River Trail, which is full of birdlife, for views of the Auriol mountain range. After lunch there is an easy walk on the wheelchair accessible Kathleen Lake trail. Flightseeing excursions are also offered deep into Kluane to see Canada's highest mountain, Mount Logan, and the world's largest non-polar icefield. This tour also includes the Kathleen Lake trail.
But you don't have to be a cruise passenger to experience Kluane, part of a vast wilderness that has been recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site along with adjoining St. Elias Park and Glacier Bay National Park in Alaska and the Tatshenshini-Alsek Wilderness Park in British Columbia.
Activities include not only hiking and guided walks but also flying over the Icefield ranges and rafting on the Alsek River in addition to viewing wildlife and dozens of bird species. The climate of Kluane is influenced by both the warmer and damper Pacific air masses as well as the colder and drier Arctic ones giving the region one of the greatest diversity of plants and wildlife in northern Canada. The Dall sheep is Kluane's most abundant large mammal and visitors often see them foraging on the slopes of Sheep Mountain in the spring, fall and winter. But there are also mountain goats living along rocky cliffs and ledges in the south and a small herd of caribou which regularly wanders through the Duke River area. North America's largest subspecies of moose also range through Kluane National Park & Reserve.
But the animal most visitors to the North want to see is a bear and Kluane has populations of grizzly bears that move between alpine meadow and valley during different times of the year. Black bears are common and usually found feeding in forested areas of the park. Wolves move in and out of Kluane but a variety of smaller mammals make their homes in this wilderness including wolverine, muskrat, mink, marmot, red fox, lynx, otter, coyote, beaver, snowshoe hare and arctic ground squirrel.
The southwestern Yukon is also a paradise for birdwatchers with at least 150 species counted in Kluane National Park & Reserve and, of these, 118 nest in the park. On a spring day, sightings could include varied thrushes, yellow-rumped warblers and mountain bluebirds. With small mammals in abundance, the park is also a perfect hunting ground for birds of prey from the speedy falcon to the majestic bald and golden eagles.
Plant life is just as diverse with much of the lower valleys and slopes covered by a forest of white spruce, aspen and balsam poplar. The treeline is at 1,050 to 1,200 metres, but during the summer months the higher elevations are ablaze with colours with over 200 varieties of alpine flowers and plants making use of the long, long days of the far northern regions.
source: Canadian Tourism Commision
This reproduction is not represented as an official version of the materials reproduced, nor has it been made in affiliation with or with the endorsement of the Canadian Tourism Commission.
Click here for more information on the Yukon
Click here for more outdoor adventures in Canada
Comments