[TR]Hyder, Wrangell, and the Stikine Icecap w/ Dad

[Fairweather]

Spent two weeks in Alaska with my Dad back in July. Not a climbing report, but I've thrown in some good mountain porn of our flight up the Stikine Icecap to justify the [TR] status. We drove to Hyder, Ak., and then back-tracked to P Rupert to catch the ferry to Ketchikan, Wrangell, Petersburg.

 

Hyder Alaska - A really cool place:

 

The only place in town:

 

The town is infested with bears:

 

A nice fixer-upper. $400 or best offer:

 

The best halibut on Earth. Caught two hours ago, not breaded, seasoned lightly:

 

Fish creek just outside of town:

 

The road up to Salmon Glacier is stunning:

 

Dad meets "The Bear Man"

 

Near the GranDuc Mine:

 

 

 

Meanwhile, on the Canadian side of the border:

 

And they also have a really cool toaster museum in Stewart:

 

 

Me and Dad heading north:

 

Along the Zimovia Highway, Wrangell Island:

 

There's gotta be a reason I love this town. Can't put my finger on it...

 

Looking down on Wrangell from Mount Dewey. John Muir was here:

 

Wrangell cemetery. There were a half dozen "Unknown Soldier" headstones here. Question: If the soldier was unknown, how did they know where to bury him? Did some poor homesick Bostonian's mortal remains end up on a remote island in Alaska?

 

Going for a plane ride:

 

Fly up the Stikine River, turn left at Shakes Slough:

 

Kates Needle:

 

 

Devil's Thumb:

 

 

Burkett Mtn. and Needle:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

...and exit the LeConte:

 

Not our boat. Our boat arrived 5 hours late...but that's another story:

 

Oh yea, almost forgot: Ketchikan sucks. Not the same place it was twenty years ago

 

 

[Pete_H]

Nice. Lucked out with the weather

[olyclimber]

Nice! My bro lives in Wrangell...I posted pics from a similar sight seeing flight up I did up there a while back. It is incredible territory, if you ever go back let me know and maybe I can talk my brother into taking you up to the hot tubs or something. He has a jetboat.

[Fairweather]

Actually, the wife and I are thinking about a 165 mile canoe trip down the Stikine from Telegraph Creek to Wrangell--with a stop at the Shakes hot tubs and a couple of overnights in the nearby USFS cabins, of course--maybe within the next year or two. Has your brother ever jetted all the way back up to Telegraph Creek?

 

BTW, Wrangell is a really neat place. Your brother is a lucky man.

[Jake_Gano]

Spent a couple weeks in Wrangell. I'd love to come back during a cold snap - plenty of waterfalls that need FAs. Beautiful place!

[olyclimber]

Actually, the wife and I are thinking about a 165 mile canoe trip down the Stikine from Telegraph Creek to Wrangell--with a stop at the Shakes hot tubs and a couple of overnights in the nearby USFS cabins, of course--maybe within the next year or two. Has your brother ever jetted all the way back up to Telegraph Creek?

 

BTW, Wrangell is a really neat place. Your brother is a lucky man.

 

Yeah he was guiding the river with his boat, don't know if he still is doing that or not because he has a lot more responsibilities with his regular job these days. He isn't the mayor of the town yet, but I wouldn't bet against that happening. He has definitely been up to Telegraph Creek. But he has been way up the river...it would be fun to go check out the Grand Canyon of the Stikine (though I'll pass on boating in it, so I'm not sure how i would do that).

 

[video:youtube]uwh1TqsvmNU

 

In the short time I was up there on the island I managed to get in a car accident (funny because there is hardly any miles of road on the island). T-Boned by some old guy running through a stop sign, they ended up taking away his drivers license because of the accident.

[Fairweather]

We're thinking just the lower flat-water part, of course. Looks like lots of views--and bears. I took some pretty cool video flying up the lower Stikine, the Chief Shakes area, and Shakes Lake/Glacier, and even though I was going up to take a look at Kate's and Devil's Thumb, I came away more inspired by the beauty of the river. Getting the canoe back to Telegraph Creek is the trick.