Alsek River

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Alsek River is a wilderness river flowing from the Yukon into Northern British Columbia and into Alaska.

It starts at the confluence of the Dezadeash and Kaskawulsh rivers in Kluane National Park and Reserve. After flowing south into the northwestern tip of British Columbia, it is joined by the Tatshenshini River in Tatshenshini-Alsek Park. It reaches the Pacific Ocean at Dry Bay, in the Gulf of Alaska, south of Yakutat, Alaska close to the northern end of the Alaska Panhandle. Although the river is navigable by kayak or rubber raft in its northern reaches, it rapidly becomes unnavigable—for any but the most experienced and skilled kayakers—at Turnback Canyon.

The first known kayak descent of Turnback Canyon was by Dr. Walt Blackadar, who ran the canyon solo on August 25, 1971. He wrote about his trip for Sports Illustrated. "This has been a day!," he wrote in his journal. "I want any other kayaker or would-be expert to read my words well. The Alsek Gorge is unpaddleable!" Despite this sincere warning from a man who apparently felt lucky to be alive, groups of expert kayakers have successfully run Turnback Canyon since then. A prominent mountain which overlooks the Alsek was named Mount Blackadar in his honor.

On older maps, the Alsek river is labeled as the Tatshenshini and vice versa. Some Yukon First Nation elders also refer to the river as the Tatshenshini.

The river flows next to the Lowell glacier which blocked off the river from 1725 to 1850 and created a large lake behind it. When the glacier broke in 1850, it created a massive flood, washing away everything in its path on the way to the Pacific.

The portion of the river inside Kluane National Park has been designated a Canadian Heritage River.

[edit] See also

• List of Alaska rivers
• List of Yukon rivers

[edit] External links

• Canadian Heritage Rivers System: Alsek
• National Whitewater River Inventory: Alsek
• National Whitewater River Inventory: Tatshenshini
• First-person account of running the Alsek River
• Maps and aerial photos Coordinates: 60.07° -138.065°
  • Street map from Google Maps, or Yahoo! Maps, or Windows Live Local
  • Satellite image from Google Maps, Windows Live Local, WikiMapia
  • Topographic map from TopoZone
  • Aerial image or topographic map from TerraServer-USA

[edit] Books

• Andrew Embick (1994). Fast and Cold: A Guide to Alaska Whitewater. Valdez Alpine Books. ISBN 1-56044-269-7.
• Ron Watters (1995). Never Turn Back: The Life of Whitewater Pioneer Walt Blackadar. The Great Rift Press. ISBN 1-877625-02-7 (hardcover) ISBN 1-877625-03-5 (paperback)
• Jim Cassidy, Dan Dunlap (1999). World Whitewater: A Global Guide for River Runners. McGraw-Hill. ISBN 0-07-011962-7