A Kluane Lake day – sunshine, sheep, and an ice cave
I’ve been so busy for the past many weeks that I’ve hardly been out exploring at all. Yesterday, though, a friend and I drove out to Kluane Lake, and it was superb – an absolute 10/10 day. Though very cold, there wasn’t a cloud in the sky, we got some great wildlife encounters, and we even found an ice cave.
What am I busy with? Well, on Tuesday and Wednesday last week, we got another 6 inches of snow. Luckily, I already had a Bobcat booked to come over and get rid of the 4-5 inches of hard-packed snow that had accumulated over the winter, so he took care of the new stuff as well, and the driveway is now pretty much clear. That was only the third time I’ve ever called an outside contractor in for snow – once at our city house 12 years ago, and once here 5 years ago. Usually I spend dozens of hours chipping away at the hard-packed stuff for weeks – for $110, the Bobcat solution is much better.
The cabinetry for the new en suite bathroom won’t arrive for 3 weeks or so yet, so I’m still just working on it slowly. I got the shower fully installed and most of the drywall put up on Friday and Saturday. I’ll get the drywall finished today and start mudding it.
The temperature on Saturday morning was nearing the all-time record low, at -31°C (-24°F). The forecast was for a high of -9C/+16F at Kluane Lake, so I picked Karla up at 10:00 and we headed west. An hour later, we took a detour off the Alaska Highway to go through the tiny village of Champagne, and stopped there for a few minutes. The Alaska Highway has always been a great place to collect hubcaps knocked off vehicles by potholes, and these hubcap “totem poles” are always a popular subject for photos. Some of the hubcaps date back to the 1950s.
Mileposts at Champagne – the new Kilometer 10 of the Champagne road, and the old M.P. 974.6 from when this was part of the Alaska Highway.
When looking for scenic mileposts on the Alaska Highway, it’s pretty hard to beat Km 1526 on a day like this.
Dimok Timber, the lumber mill along the Alaska Highway at Canyon Creek, is a fairly frequent subject for me.
The views just keep getting better and better as you near Haines Junction. Many people who live in Whitehorse never leave town in the winter. I really think they should get out and learn to appreciate what we have in the Yukon.
There a huge ice cave west of Haines Junction, a 14-km round trip hike from the highway. It’s become a very popular destination recently. Yesterday there were 17 vehicles at the trailhead! I want to get up there, but it will certainly be a mid-week hike – there’s no way I’m going to a place like that with a crowd. [Edit – I finally led a small group to the ice cave in late February 2019. See “A hike to the Kluane Ice Cave.”]
Karla is as passionate about photography as I am, so we stopped quite a few times. She also did some shooting through the windshield. The beauty on a day like this does pretty much leave you speechless after a while.
Where the highway drops down to Christmas Creek, the curving road and spectacular peaks make it an irresistible photo stop. There are decorated Christas trees at both ends of the little bridge that crosses the creek 🙂
We stopped at the Slims River Bridge for a few photos. Karla got down for a low shot. I was surprised by how little traffic there was – almost none.
There were about a dozen Dall sheep low on Sheep Mountain, including a ram and a ewe about 100 feet above the highway. I parked the car before getting to them and we walked up the highway to shoot them from below.
What a surprise when the ram and ewe both climbed down the cliff for a visit!
Meeting sheep who are this comfortable with people is really unusual, in my experience. Looking at the ram’s substantial horns and power, Karla called back to me, “Is this how I die?” 🙂
After a few minutes, the sheep calmly climbed back up the cliff.
A final pose by the ram at a distance that didn’t even require a telephoto (well, a short one – 105mm). They then both climbed back up to where they had been, and we went back to the car and continued on.
Trucking the Alaska Highway looks like a pretty fine gig on a day like this! Some days, not so much…
As I drove up the highway a bit further, we could see a massive pressure ridge on the lake, and it came to shore at a spot where we could walk down to it, at tiny Horseshoe Bay. A walk in the sunshine for some exploring – just what the doctor ordered. It had now warmed up to the forecast high, -9C/+16F.
Pressure ridges are often formed when the water freezes and expands, and wind can often enhance the ridges. I had never seen one this large or complex, but conditions were perfect to create this.
The pressure ridge stretched as far as we could see in both directions. This was the view back to the east.
Thawing and re-freezing of some open leads added to the complexity of the scene.
Karla found an ice cave that could be accessed by a hole just big enough for a person to get through!
The cave is about 20×10 feet and 5 feet high. The colours and patterns inside were wonderful. Karla’s little dog Meeko usually has a really good sense of adventure, but she wanted nothing to do with his. It’s hard to say how long this will last – I expect a few weeks yet unless we get a very warm spell.
This was an incredible location to sit and enjoy life for a while. I found that it was about 5 degrees too cold for proper suntanning, but today I can see that my face sure got some sun.
This was the view along the pressure ridge to the west.
It’s hard to imagine the forces and conditions that could bend and not break a sheet of foot-thick ice.
We finally decided that it was time for a late lunch or early diner, and at about 2:30 started walking back to the car. The Talbot Arm Motel in Destruction Bay seemed like a good option. The food was good, the view exceptional. Heading home, we had just passed through Haines Junction and Paint Mountain was ahead at 4:55.
At this point, we were both extremely pleased with the way the day had gone. It couldn’t have been any better. Until the herd of elk appeared 🙂
There were about 25 elk in total, in two loose groups. There were quite a few yearlings.
One final photo, of the wonderful light on the peaks right at Km 1490.
I got home at about 7:00. Although it’s gorgeous again outside (but very cold again), as soon as I post this, I have to get back to work on bathroom drywall..
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