Snake River 2012

Snake River 2012

How many snakes are there in the Yukon? One: the Snake River. (It’s true, there are no reptiles in the Yukon, though with climate change some non-reptilian species — deer, for example — have begun to appear for the first time so that could all change.)

The Snake is a river in the Peel Watershed, a massive area of unspoiled wilderness and home to a fragile, biodiverse and invaluable ecosystem. Along with concerns about what climate change will do to the Peel, the watershed is now under special threat because the new premier of the Yukon Territory has decided to ignore a land use plan hammered out over many years by all the stakeholders.

I was fortunate to paddle this river in the summer of 2012, before greed and ignorance destroy this jewel of nature. It sure didn’t disappoint as we started off high in the mountains above the tree line and dropped about 1,500 metres as we travelled 275 km through canyons, valleys and plateaus, past fireweed covered hills in the aftermath of forest fires and many other sights as the water changed from turquoise to aquamarine to brown. Along the way we saw Dall Sheep, a couple of peregrine falcons (one put on quite the show as it went turning and turning in its widening gyre) and much more. At one point, a grizzly bear sauntered down a cut and then swam across the river right in front of us (furious back ferrying at that point, needless to say).

Here are some pics:

Duo Lakes morning
The trip started off cool and wet. We woke up the first morning to tundra, willows and low clouds high in the
mountains at Duo Lake
At Reptile Creek
View from our Reptile Creek campsite
Fly Fishing
Fly fishing at Reptile Creek (photo: Alex Hutchinson)
Arctic Grayling
I caught the first Arctic grayling of the trip (photo: Alex Hutchinson)
The appropriately-named Milky Creek flows into the Snake
Every view is gorgeous. Here’s a typical vista
Watto on the portage
Me on the portage
View from the portage
Watto and me chilling (photo: Alex Hutchinson)
At about 2 am, after everyone else had gone to bed, I saw these red streaks in the sky
Another Yukon sky
Mick, Steve and Alex catch some rays after dinner (because you can do that in the Yukon in the summer)
And another Yukon sky
Centurion time (photo: Alex Hutchinson)
Long shadows
The trip ended at Taco Bar on the Peel River — across from a smouldering forest fire. That made the sky seem apocalyptic so naturally we discussed Cormac McCarthy’s The Road around our campfire. The next day may not have been quite apocalyptic, but there was a deluge that made the Peel rise several feet and meant our plane was thirty hours late picking us up (photo: Alex Hutchinson)
The sun didn’t stay above the horizon until midnight. Close, though (photo: Alex Hutchinson)
Flying back to Mayo in a Beaver (photo: Alex Hutchinson)
The obligatory end-of-trip pic (photo: Alex Hutchinson)