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Tour Overview
Atlin Lake is a freshwater kayaking jewel of Northern British Columbia accessible by a short 2-hour drive from Whitehorse. Surrounded by snow-capped mountains and glaciers, your adventure unfolds. First by kayak we paddle among glacial-blue waters, islands and bays, and then on foot we backpack into the mountains overlooking the immense LLewellyn Glacier. After our mountain backpacking adventures we return to our kayaks and continue to explore this little-traveled wilderness lake.
What's Included:
•Transportation from Whitehorse to Atlin Lake on Day 1 •Transportation to Whitehorse from Atlin Lake on Day 12 •Meals starting lunch Day 1, ending lunch Day 12 •Eating utensils, bowls, and mug, and group kitchen equipment •Tents, sea kayaks, paddles, personal flotation device •Services of a CFA guide •All necessary safety equipment
Mountain-lined shores and crystal clear aqua-blue water make Atlin Lake one of the most beautiful lakes in North America. It is the largest natural lake in British Columbia and covers an area of 780 km2 (301 mile2 ). Atlin Lake is also the headwaters of the Yukon River. For centuries the Tlingit First Nations People came to the Atlin Lake area from the Taku River region of the coast because of the rich bounty offered by Atlin Lake. The Tlingit name for Atlin Lake is “Atlah”, which means “Big Water”.
The town of Atlin lies on the eastern shore of Atlin Lake. The town got its start when gold was discovered in the Atlin Lake area during the Klondike Gold Rush of 1898. The Atlin gold discovery is considered to be the richest offshoot of the Klondike Gold Rush. In fact, it is claimed that when gold was struck in Atlin, eighty percent of the construction workers building the White Pass & Yukon Railway, some with shovels still in their hand, left their work at the railway to follow the lure of gold mining at Atlin. Today, people still mine for placer gold in the Atlin Lake area. It is currently estimated that the total gold production from placer deposits in the Atlin Lake area has exceeded $23,000,000.
As a result of the gold rush in the late 1890’s, Atlin received much exposure. It soon became famous for its outstanding beauty. The rich and elite of society began to flock to Atlin Lake as a vacation and tourist destination. In the 1920’s the M.V. Tarahne toured some 400 visitors per week around the spectacular lake. The opulent, gasoline-powered vessel was abandoned during the depression in the 1930’s. Today the Tarahne has been restored and is dry-docked in Atlin where the Historical Society offers guided tours.
The stunning beauty of Atlin Lake drew people to this area in the 1920’s, and for this same reason, still attracts people to this area today. The area is often referred to as “Little Switzerland”. The rugged and jagged snow-peaked mountains of the Coast Mountain Range surround the western shore of the Lake. Atlin Provincial Park and the Atlin Recreation Area were developed to protect the magnificent terrain at the south end of the Lake. Teresa Island is the largest island in Atlin Lake but has a much more exciting claim-to-fame. Birch Mountain, located on Teresa Island and rising to a height of 2060 m (6758 ft), gives the island the distinction of being the tallest fresh-water island in the world. With its height of 2060 m (6758 ft), Teresa Island’s highest point looms an impressive 1393 m (4570 ft) above the surface of Atlin Lake.
One of the most impressive features of the park is its abundance of ice and snow. Over one third of the park’s land is covered by glacier. The Llewellyn glacier, which is accessible by a short hike from the south end of the lake, is just “the tip of the iceberg”. The Llewellyn Glacier flows from the larger Juneau Ice Fields. The Juneau Ice Field is the 5th largest in North America. It covers a land size of 3885 sq. km’s (1500 sq. m’s) with estimated snow and ice depth’s of 245 to 1371 meters (800 to 4500ft). Even though the ice field is around 3000 yrs old the ice within it is relatively young as it is perpetually renewed from the snowfall at the upper elevations. The ice spreads around the jagged mountain peaks and sends its offspring, in the form of glaciers, winding down valleys and hanging off sheer cliff faces, melting as they reach the lower valleys and feeding the numerous rivers that have their headwaters as the base of the ice field.
Atlin Lake supports a large diversity of wildlife. Caribou, moose, black bear, grizzly bear, stone sheep, mule deer, mountain goats, lynx, bald eagles and owls may be seen. Atlin Lake is also a fisher’s dream destination. Some have been lucky enough to catch four or five fish per hour. Lake trout, grayling, whitefish and burbot are the common fish in the lake.
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Tour Highlights
Itinerary
Day 0: Whitehorse, Yukon
Hopefully you enjoyed your travels and have arrived safely in Whitehorse, the Yukon’s capital city, nestled among the wilderness.
Please arrive in Whitehorse in time for an orientation meeting at 8:30 pm the night before our departure. Guests are responsible for accommodation and meals while in Whitehorse. Whitehorse is a splendid little city and we recommend booking some additional time at either the beginning or the end of your trip to see Whitehorse.
Please Note: Often our guests choose to come to the Yukon several days early, or to depart several days after their wilderness vacation. Therefore we don't include accommodation in Whitehorse in order to provide flexibility for our guests. If you prefer, we can easily arrange your hotel accommodations in Whitehorse and add these details to your itinerary.
Day 1: (L, D)
Cabin Fever Adventures staff will pick you up from your hotels starting at 7:00 am. Participants need to have finished their breakfast (not included) by this time. Any final details will be dealt with and we will depart Whitehorse by 8:00 am. Our route will see us driving southeast along the Alaska Highway and then south on the Atlin Road through the Southern Lakes District of the Yukon, known for its large wilderness mountain-clad lakes and deep, clean waters. We should arrive in Atlin British Columbia by late morning. After some time to walk around and explore this highly scenic village we will continue on for a half-hour drive to our launching place at Warm Bay, passing vistas of the Llewellyn Glacier, which we will see up close later in the trip. From Warm Bay we will point our kayaks south as we glide across arguably the prettiest lake in Canada’s north. Camping that night will be in the vicinity of Pike Bay, with vistas of Teresa Island, the world's tallest fresh-water island, rising more than 1393 m (4570 ft) above the surface of Atlin Lake. If you are interested in fishing in Atlin Lake you will need to purchase a British Columbia fishing license before leaving Atlin. You guides will show you where they are sold.
Day 2:(B, L, D)
Today we will awake to the mountain grandeur of Atlin Lake. If the lake is calm we will continue paddling south. As we travel the colour of the water will slowly change to a dazzling teal shade that is a product of the glacial silt entering the lake from the Llewellyn Glacier. We will make camp that night in the area of Janus Point.
Day 3: (B, L, D)
As we continue south the character of Atlin Lake changes with the appearance of more exposed rock, inlets and islands. This is the terrain of dreams for kayakers, with so many options for exploration. Camp tonight will be in the vicinity of Bastion Island.
Day 4: (B, L, D)
Today we will explore the inlets and bays of the southern end of Atlin Lake and come to rest on the scenic and beautiful Sloko Island by day’s end.
Day 5 - 8: (B, L, D)
Llewellyn Glacier Backpacking Trip: Heading west from Sloko Island we will enter the steep-sided Llewellyn Inlet, with its numerous small waterfalls cascading in from the mountain sides. At the head on the inlet we will stash our kayaks in the forest, pack our equipment into our backpacks, and commence our hike to the Llewellyn Glacier. We will camp the first night right at the face of the glacier. The following day we will climb 760 m (2500 ft) into the alpine and camp on the edge of a beautiful melt-water alpine lake. The following day we will throw off our heavy backpacks and travel on a fast and light ridge-walk day-hike around the mountain with stunning views overlooking Llewellyn Glacier.
Day 9: (B, L, D)
After a delicious breakfast we hike down from our alpine haven and return to our kayaks by mid afternoon. Depending on our energy we will either remain for that night on the edge of Llewellyn Inlet , or say goodbye and begin our journey north towards Warm Bay, exploring the lake’s western inlets around Copper Island before making camp.
Day 10: (B, L, D)
Crossing Atlin Lake from island to island we reach again the eastern side of the lake finding camp on the islands near Moose Bay.
Day 11: (B, L, D)
Today we paddle north and select a camp just short of Warm Bay.
Day 12: (L, D)
After an early breakfast we will finish our paddle to Warm Bay and be met by Cabin Fever Adventures staff who will shuttle us back to Atlin for a picnic lunch. After lunch and a little time to look around Atlin we will drive 3 hours back to Whitehorse to arrive by 5:00 pm. Dinner and hotel not included.
cost from USD 2120+ 5% GST (double occupancy) or 2170 + 5% GST (single occupancy)
12
£1304.00
Kind Points:293
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Nature & Kind Factor
Our Trusted Partner's Responsible and Sustainable Travel Policy
At Cabin Fever Adventures we don’t believe we can protect the planet by simply saying that we love wilderness and that we strive to protect wild places. Of course we love the wilderness, but the bigger question is does the day-to-day operation of our company demonstrate this commitment? At Cabin Fever Adventures we strive to be the Yukon’s industry leader in promoting a earth-friendly business model. We actively engage our company in the preservation of not only the wilderness here in the Yukon, but consider our company an economic vehicle to affect positive change around the planet.
Our Earth-Friendly initiatives are based on the following simple beliefs:
•One person’s happiness can not be build at the cost of another's •One person can change the world by doing things differently, daily •The needs of the earth’s natural systems are the basis for all sound economic decisions when judged over the long-term.
Based on the above stated beliefs, we have instituted the following business practices into the operations of Cabin Fever Adventures.
We Provide an Organic and Fair Trade Food Menu
•Our food menu is as close to 100% organic as possible and we support several Fair Trade organizations through our food purchases as well. To learn more about organic food products please visit our food distributors website www.horizondistributors.com •To learn more about Fair Trade products and benefits please visit www.transfairusa.org
We are a Member of One Percent for the Planet
•One Percent for the Planet is an organization of member companies who donate at least 1 % of their gross revenues to non-profit environmental protection agencies. We are proud to have made this commitment and hope you will check out their site. We Support-Best Practice Local and or Canadian Businesses Partnerships •We support businesses in the following order of priority when it comes to sourcing gear for our company. First we support companies that we feel are conducting best practices for eco-justice and earth-friendly business practices. Next, we support companies that are local to the Yukon, and thirdly we support Canadian manufactured products because as a voter we can at least work towards changes in our own country.
We Challenge the Status Quo Consumer Attitudes Through our Purchasing Decisions
•We maintain our gear very well and believe in using the entire life-span of a product through proper maintenance and repairs. CFA does not get rid of perfectly good gear to satiate the consumer demand to be outfttted in gear that appears to be brand-new. We can not pretend to be true environmental advocates if our concern for the environment is Yukon-specific rather that global in perspective. Unnecessary consumerism is the fundamental lifestyle problem which has placed human existence out of balance with the planet. We need to start operating within our needs, rather than our wants. When a piece of gear no longer does its job properly or will create a significant consequence if it fails in the backcountry than it is first repaired, and if it can not be properly repaired than it is replaced, but not before. We have become skilled in gear repair, and even make some one-of-a-kind items ourselves. We attempt to source gear for our company from like-minded companies who are making significant steps to reduce their global environmental impact.
We Support Agencies Dedicated to Protecting Wild Places and to Improving Transportation Technologies Vital to Tourism
•We donate to the Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) and green technologies NGO’S. For more information on the work of CPAWS please visit www.cpaws.org •We donate to the Pembina Foundation. www.pembinafoundation.org The Pembina Foundation for Environmental Research and Education supports innovative environmental research and education initiatives that help people reduce their energy footprint.
We Practice Leave No Trace Camping Practices
•The owner of Cabin Fever Adventures is a certified Master Trainer for The Leave No Trace Centre for Outdoor Ethics. We travel as lightly upon the land as we can so as to leave for the enjoyment of future generations the landscape we hold dear today. To learn more about the principles of LNT backcountry travel please visit www.lnt.org
Day-to-Day Operation of our Physical Plant
We operate Cabin Fever Adventures from our wilderness base-camp and are pursuing numerous efforts to minimize our environmental footprint.
•We personally live a lower-than-average impact lifestyle at our cabin in the wilderness. We live with our family of three in a 480 square foot home (44.6 m2 ) that is also our office for CFA. We function on an average of 15 gallons (56.78 L) of water per day for our entire family, including laundry, cleaning, drinking etc. Our water consumption at home is about one-twentieth the national average for Canada. •We operate an almost paper-less office and we conduct near-paperless interactions with our clients. You will notice that we offer all our information digitally and encourage our customers to embrace communication that avoids the need for paper. •We will soon be investing in a solar energy system for our base camp. •We believe in making our equipment last as long as possible and invest in skills and equipment which allow us to utilize local building materials and waste materials, to operate and or repair our equipment. •We remove our solid human waste from the environment on our busier river routes and dispose of it in sanitation dumps •Our largest environmental impact is our use of fossil fuels for transportation. This is why we actively donate to foundations supporting advances in renewable energy, such as the Pembina Foundation and have chosen to carbon offset all of our tourism products. •We utilize green cleaning dish soaps, cleaning products, and laundry detergents.
About our Trusted Partner
Cabin Fever Adventures offers a variety of wilderness vacations in the Yukon, Southeast Alaska and Northern British Columbia. We operate by the doctrines of ecotourism and are industry leaders in decreasing our environmental impact, not just in the wilderness areas we travel through, but globally through our ethical business decisions. We offer an organic food menu, purchase carbon offsets for our transportation emissions and donate to grassroots environmental protection agencies. If you would like to see the stunning beauty of the Northwest while treading lightly on the planet, then Cabin Fever Adventures is for you. There is only one future and it is shared!
Stunning Freshwater Mountain Lakes : Sea Kayak and Backpack Glacier Tour at www.NatureandKind.com (THE.NATURAL.CHOICE)
Stunning Freshwater Mountain Lakes
Early Morning Calm and Feflections : Sea Kayak and Backpack Glacier Tour at www.NatureandKind.com (THE.NATURAL.CHOICE)
Early Morning Calm and Feflections
Agua-Blue Glacial Waters : Sea Kayak and Backpack Glacier Tour at www.NatureandKind.com (THE.NATURAL.CHOICE)
Agua-Blue Glacial Waters
Scenery Abounds! : Sea Kayak and Backpack Glacier Tour at www.NatureandKind.com (THE.NATURAL.CHOICE)
Scenery Abounds!
Light and Water : Sea Kayak and Backpack Glacier Tour at www.NatureandKind.com (THE.NATURAL.CHOICE)
Light and Water
Sunset : Sea Kayak and Backpack Glacier Tour at www.NatureandKind.com (THE.NATURAL.CHOICE)
Sunset
One of our talented guides entertains : Sea Kayak and Backpack Glacier Tour at www.NatureandKind.com (THE.NATURAL.CHOICE)
One of our talented guides entertains
LLeywellyn Glacier during the Hiking Portion of Trip : Sea Kayak and Backpack Glacier Tour at www.NatureandKind.com (THE.NATURAL.CHOICE)
LLeywellyn Glacier during the Hiking Portion of Trip
Approaching the Massive Glacier : Sea Kayak and Backpack Glacier Tour at www.NatureandKind.com (THE.NATURAL.CHOICE)
Approaching the Massive Glacier
Ice, rock and life clinging to the very edge of existence : Sea Kayak and Backpack Glacier Tour at www.NatureandKind.com (THE.NATURAL.CHOICE)
Ice, rock and life clinging to the very edge of existence
Our mountain home away from the glacial waters : Sea Kayak and Backpack Glacier Tour at www.NatureandKind.com (THE.NATURAL.CHOICE)
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