Glaciers, Landscape, and the Imagination
With the accelerated pace of global warming, few places remain in North America where one can gaze into the time when our continent was emerging from the Ice Age. Fortunately, one such place remains— the incomparable Tatshenshini and Alsek Rivers.
Our journey will begin on the beautifully forested Tatshenshini River and end on the heavily glaciated Alsek River. The Tatshenshini and Alsek Rivers are located near Alaska's eastern border with Canada and flow into the Pacific Ocean. This river is a great choice for those looking for an extraordinary adventure in a landscape that may be slipping away.
Travel through Southern Alaska's wilderness
This 11-day rafting adventure will allow you to experience immense serpentine glaciers and endless snow-laden mountain ranges that hold the world’s largest non-polar ice field. On this 160-mile stretch of river, flowing from the interior of the Yukon to the Gulf of Alaska, guests will delight in paddling some highly charged sections of whitewater, take hikes to sub-alpine meadows strewn with wildflowers and amble on glaciers to turquoise seracs.
At trip’s end, rafters drift among majestically sculpted iridescent icebergs carved into Alsek Bay with majestic Mt. Fairweather (15,000 feet) looming above them.
Native Folklore and Nature Photography
On this unique journey there will be two outstanding educators to illuminate trip participants about the environs that you'll travel through.
Anthropologist Tom Thornton will discuss the vitality of this watershed as a sentient cultural landscape, emphasizing oral narratives and folklore, travel stories, indigenous names on the land, trade routes and subsistence patterns. We will also discover how Natives and non-Natives have negotiated the rich but formidable region over time.
Outfitter and veteran river guide, Jimmy Katz, will be leading the expedition and sharing his insights into this remarkable watershed: from salmon cycles to the habits of the wildlife that inhabit the region as well as the action of glaciers carving the land. As a nature photographer and photo instructor, Jimmy will hone your landscape and close-up photographic skills on layover days.
ECHO is pleased to offer this remarkable journey in cooperation with our good friend Jimmy Katz.
