Rafting Trips on the Tatshenshini River

The Tatshenshini River: The newly created Tatshenshini-Alsek Wilderness Park is part of the world's largest conservation unit. At 27 million acres this Canadian and US wildland includes two mountain ranges and five parks and preserves. Descending from the lush green hills of the Yukon Territory, two spectacular river valleys, the Tatshenshini and Alsek lay at the heart of it all.   The Alsek River eventually converges with the Tatshenshini and together they flow south into Dry Bay.  The Tatshenshini/Alsek is wilderness on the grandest scale: a river six times larger than the Colorado, mountain peaks nearly three miles high, the world's largest non-polar ice fields and glaciers, glaciers, glaciers.  This is an altogether fantastic journey. Both The Tatshenshini and Alsek River trips meet in Haines, Alaska where you're driven 125 miles to the put-in, across the border in the Yukon Territory. At the end of the trip you are flown by charter plane to Yakatat which has daily jet service.  . Which trip to choose? The Tatshenshini River trip covers about 140 miles in 9 days. The Alsek takes 13 days and covers about 190 miles. Both trips spend 4 or 5 days below the rivers' confluence, but their difference lies above. The Tatshenshini River valley is more lush and forested, while the Alsek is more barren and glaciated. The Tatshenshini has more moose, the Alsek more bears. The Alsek carries a much larger volume of water. The Alsek is more remote and unexplored, one step deeper into the ice age. The Tatshenshini feels more alive, the clutch of the ice further in the past. The Tatshenshini served as fishing and hunting grounds and a travel corridor for the Tlinget Natives for centuries, while the Alsek was locked away by glaciers.   . Cost 2010 Prices start at $2995 per person 2010 Dates-10 Days June 21-30 July 3-12 July 24 - Aug 2 August 24 - Sep 2 September 3 - 12