Six days “doing nothing” at Kluane Lake

Posted On August 4, 2024

From the morning of July 28th until the afternoon of August 3rd, Cathy and I were at Congdon Creek Campground on Kluane Lake. I wasn’t going to write a blog post because we didn’t do anything of note. But then a friend commented that perhaps that’s what is worth writing about – the pleasure of “doing nothing” with my family in a very special place.

We had been struggling with getting the motorhome ready. Early on the 28th I posted on Facebook: “04:30 – the motorhome is almost ready to go to Kluane Lake for a week or so. I’m hoping I can figure out how to tow the Tracker but if not Cathy is okay with following me in the Jeep.” I wanted to take the e-bikes but the complexity of doing that made it impossible in my current state.

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I did get the Tracker hookup figured out, and by about 1:00 we had reached Congdon Creek Campground. All the lakefront sites were taken, so we parked up in the forest at #31. Cathy tried to convince me that the forest sites are great, but the lake views greatly increase the quality of my experience there. The next morning, I headed out to walk the entire campground, but noticed that lakefront site #9 had just opened, so quickly went back, got the Tracker and took it down to claim the site. With that done, I walked back to do the slower process of moving the motorhome. By about 10:00 we were set up again 🙂

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The last time we were at Congdon Creek seems to have been September 2022, and there have been a lot of changes since then that I wanted to record for an update to my campground page. For this walk I only took Tucker, as two dogs are too difficult to manage when photography is my primary goal. One of the two most significant changes is the wonderful new playground that even includes a zipline.

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Due to a high level of grizzly bear activity, tenting is only allowed inside an area surrounded by an electric fence – there are now 19 tenting sites there. I talked to a woman with a couple of kids, who had an elaborate kitchen set up to prepare a meal, and she said it was quite inconvenient to not be able to do it at their tent. She said that at Liard Hotsprings, the entire park is now surrounded by electric bear fencing – I’m curious about how you get vehicles into such a compound.

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The most significant change is that the campground is now double the size it was. Heavy bear activity resulted in 40 sites being closed many years ago (20-25 years?). That area has now been completely renovated and some facilities such as outhouses have been replaced.

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There are no lakefront sites (the two that look on the map like they might be, actually aren’t) but overall I would rank the forest section slightly higher than the old section due to site layout and levelness.

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Tucker and I took the walking trail that loops from the south end of the campground back along the beach. There, it was even more clear that flower season is almost over, and berry season is upon us. My app says that these are Tatarian asters (Aster tataricus).

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Soapberries (Shepherdia canadensis) used to be abundant at the south end, but as they were part of the grizzly problem, I think they were largely eradicated. A few small patches remain (or have re-established), though.

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The walking trail really is lovely, and there are benches to sit on and enjoy the view at a couple of places.

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Here’s an aerial view of our entire walk, from my Strava page.

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That afternoon, we all drove back to the dogs’ favourite beach (because of the endless soft sand), at Km 1642. We call it Bella’s Beach 🙂

On the way back to Congdon, I noticed that the Cottonwood RV Park has re-opened, with a light re-naming to Cottonwood Wilderness RV Park. They don’t have an online presence yet, but I’m very pleased to see them back.

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The next day (July 30th) started off slowly, as they all did. Bella gives the best hugs 🙂

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Bella and Tucker love Congdon Creek as much as Cathy and I do. This was the view from my usual “inside” spot at the dinette.

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Bella has always loved digging a nest in whatever dirt is available, and she was right into it here, under the picnic table. The dirt at Congdon Creek has a particularly wonderful smell.

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In many places, including the edge of the beach in front of our site, I found Northern comandra (Geocaulon lividum). The berries are apparently edible but not very tasty.

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At about midnight, I was awakened by the feeling that usually means the aurora borealis is making a showing. I went down to the beach, but there was a solid layer of cloud, and I could see a storm moving in from the east. I had barely gotten back inside when a torrential rain hit, and it kept up for much of the rest of the night.

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I discovered a few hours later that there had indeed been an extremely strong aurora show.

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The next photo of Bella was shot on the elevated platform that’s along the walking trail. She seems to be enjoying her life.

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She’s now 10 years, 9 months old, and is slowing down a lot. Sometimes when she says she wants to come with me on a walk, it becomes clear that she shouldn’t have, and I cut it short.

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Tucker is always game for a snuggle and a nap 🙂

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On August 1st, there was fresh snow on the peaks, though much of it melted through the day.

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The weather was erratic during our entire stay, and we took advantage of sunny periods. We went back to Bella’s Beach the afternoon of the 1st…

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…then the opposite direction to Destruction Bay (“DBay”), to see if anything important was going on in places with cell service. There wasn’t. I also wanted to see if the DBay marina had been dredged out or fixed in some way since the lowering of the lake. It hasn’t.

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August 2nd started with hardly a cloud in the sky, but then clouds moved in as the sun rose. The next photo was shot at 06:10.

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For the only time this visit, I lit a fire and enjoyed my morning coffee sitting in front of it. Cathy and the pups were all still in bed. It was a really nice way to start the day – I should do that more often.

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That afternoon, I decided to take Bella and Tucker down the beach to the north, where they could be off-leash for a while.

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They played hard! Tucker usually initiates it, but Bella almost always goes along with it for a few minutes before pooping out. In the next photo, I had thrown a stick in the water – Bella retrieved it and teased Tucker with it 🙂

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We walked as far as the mouth of Congdon Creek. I always enjoy the infinite patterns that Mother Nature creates with water, sand, and other materials.

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The mouth of the creek is constantly changing as rain in the mountains cause high flow levels that shift the gravels.

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The mouth of Congdon Creek is prime grizzly habitat. The title image for my Yukon Wildlife group was shot there. People camping on the beach has disrupted their behaviour in major ways.

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To make things simpler, Cathy had made most of the dinners for the trip at home, and others like Friday night’s fajitas were easy to assemble.

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We decided rather late Friday afternoon to head home. As I mentioned at the start of this post, I wasn’t going to write it because we didn’t do anything of note, but now I’m glad I did. This journalling is important to me, and as Becky said to me, doing nothing of note can sometimes be notable in itself. We have a spell of exceptional weather arriving today, so I hope to have some much more interesting activities to share with you as the days go on.