August 24^th, 2001

For today driving is the main aspect. We leave Tok in the morning and after roughly 160 km we reach the Canadian border, which we cross without any problems. This morning we organized a fax that is to show that Bine has a ticket to Germany which is paid already, but nobody wants to see it, no questions asked ;-))

We follow the other of two possible highways that connect Alaska with Canada and this one, too, is just a gravel road.

We drive on until we reach the Longdon campground which is situated at the marvellous Kluane lake. At the entrance a sign greets us that especially warns tent campers of the dangers of berries-seeking bears.

We are not to frightened and the camp warden, too, tells us that the time of the berries is over already.

At a shady place we set our tents and enjoy the afternoon with cooking, baking and eating the outcome ;-))

We sit at the fire pit, sing songs of the Ärzte (a German punk band) and have a cool beer or two ;-))

August 25^th, 2001

We sleep in and only get started around 10:30am. Our aim is the Kluane National Park and Reserve, a 22,015 km² area where many of the worlds longest glaciers are to be found. We want to take a look at Kaskawulsh glacier which is 65 km long and up to 6 km broad. To get there we have to cover 23 km in a day to reach a base camp from where a day trip leads to the summit of 1300 m high Observation mountain.

In the park office (marked as "?" on the map) we get our permit, 4 bear boxes and a topographic map of the area. Around 12 we park the van at the trailhead and get our stuff ready.

At first we follow a rather broad gravel road that soon narrows down to a little path. After about 1 km we have to cross Sheep Creek by balancing across a log. During the kilometers the path runs through wet to flooded spots where we are lucky to have high shafts on our hiking boots. After 6 kilometers we get to Bullion Creek which is an obstacle of the bigger kind. We can't help but to wade through the icy, hip deep water that rushes around our legs. Fortunately we brought sandals that help stepping on those underwater rocks.

While crossing such a river it is important to open the hip belts on the backpacks to avoid being dragged underwater if slipping off and falling. Nothing happens to us beside cold feet and some wet pants ;-))

The landscape changes fast from rather wet areas to desert-like spots ;-)) We follow the broad stream of the Slims River which runs from the glacier to Kluane Lake. Around noon we stop on Sandy Hill, from where we have a great view back.

The colors are amazing and they change from a saturated green of the grass to a greyish blue stream of silt-laden water, to the bright red of a nearby mountain slope.

The glacier's outflow is subdivided into several little creeks that run like plait through the valley.

It is late afternoon as we get to the base camp after 23 km.

Quickly the tents are pitched and supper is prepared. Then we sit around the camp fire before we crawl into our sleeping bags.

August 26^th, 2001

During the night and the early morning hours it rains a lot, but it just stops as we get up. We have a extended breakfast as no one is keen on starting off early. Around 11:30am it weather clears up a bit and the sun shines down on us. So we finally get going to climb Observation mountain. We follow Slims River some more and then cross Columbia Creek in a very similar way we crossed Bullion Creek the day before.

From here we follow the valley of Canada Creek. After only few kilometers the path leaves the slightly ascending river bed and runs up the steep slope in tiny switchbacks. In only 2-3 km we climb about 1100m in elevation, most of them during the first hour. Each meter in elevation does increase the quality of the sight into the valley below.

Around 4:30pm we have our lunch break just above a saddle point from where we can see the glacier already. But our actual goal is to climb the summit and so we hike for another 1.5 hours until we get to a sudden break off - the summit.

Below us the Kaskawulsh glacier flows and we enjoy the breathtaking sight of the ice masses (and a summit muffin ;-))

As we get going again we have to hurry a bit as it is already pretty late. But the distance of the last 1.5 hours we cover in only 20 minutes by sliding down the snow fields, having lots of fun ;-))

On our way back to the camp we are quick and around 9pm we sit around the camp fire again.

August 27^th, 2001

The night brings more rain and as we get up we see that the summits of the surrounding mountain ridges (including Observation mountain) are covered in a thick layer of new snow.

It's only 8am as we head back to the park office where we have to be before 5pm. It is overcast at first but as we walk it clouds vanish and the sun accompanies us for the rest of the day.

On the path we see some fresh tracks of a Grizzly, but we can't see the bear itself.

This time we cross Bullion creek a bit more downstream where we have to wade three arms of the river which on the other hand are not as deep. Around 3:30pm we get back to the Van - tired but happy.

We report us back at the park office and return the bear boxes. On the Alaska highway we ride on along Kluane lake.

Few kilometers later I pull the van off the road and onto the beach where we jump into the refreshing water to wash off the dirt and the exhaustion of the last days ;-))

Once again the highway only runs through endless woods, a bridge from time to time is a real highlight ;-))

The reddish slopes of a mountain ridge show that fall is close. We rush past Haines Junction and Whitehorse to set our camp at the Wolf Creek campground. We have delicious vegetables and stripes of meat, for desert there is freshly baked apple pie. We sit around the fire pit for long until one after the other gets into the sleeping bag. Some adventurous days lie behind us which impressed us a lot and made some appetite for more ;-))