Get Outdoors - Outfitters: Alsek and Tatshenshini Rivers

The Alsek and Tatshenshini Rivers run wild and free. They've been called the last wild rivers on earth, for they flow unrestricted all the way from their source to the sea. They are so removed from the heavy hand of mankind that rafting is the only way to gain access the wilderness area around them. To raft the Alsek or the Tatshenshini is to experience the world as it was in prehistoric times.In 1993, British Columbia established the Alsek-Tatshenshini Wilderness Preserve, now the heart of the largest international wilderness reserve, connecting Kluane National Park in the Yukon and Alaska's Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Glacier Bay National Park. I am forever grateful to the millions of members of international environmental organizations who fought to save these rivers from development and the wisdom of the US and Canadian governments for assuring that this vast area will be preserved. I know that when I'm finally able to return, it will be just as I left it. It will always be there for us, for our children and for our children's children.

After eight years guiding rafting trips in California and Oregon and running a guiding service, I came north for a visit, little realizing that I would fall head over heels with Alaska. I got a chance to fill an empty spot on a rafting trip down the Tat. This was one of hundreds of rivers that I had rafted in different parts of the world but this trip left me spellbound. Only in Siberia had I experienced such remoteness. The wild river ecosystem was totally intact for the entire 160 miles. The only signs of humans were a few other rafters that we encountered. I learned about the ways guides protect this purity; like hiking on bear trails centuries old and using a fire pan to protect the ground from campfires.

I sold my rafting business in Oregon and returned to Alaska the following year. I joined the guiding crew of Alaska Discovery, a well respected Alaska-based outfitter which has been operating throughout Alaska since 1972. After six seasons leading trips down the Alsek and Tatshenshini Rivers, I was promoted to operations manager. It's to that untamed land that my mind escapes when it needs a break from the daily demands of my new desk job.

In my mind, I picture this raw and primeval land, with its dramatic glaciers hanging between jagged peaks and melting into thousand foot waterfalls. Glaciers descending to the water's edge give birth to sapphire blue icebergs. My mind wanders peacefully through the lush forests that have never heard a chainsaw or an ax, but are filled with an avian symphony. The highest coastal mountains in the world surrounding the scene are absolutely breathtaking. Climbers are drawn to this vast range of mountains for the opportunity of first ascents up unnamed peaks. This range is still being sculpted as the ice that shaped it continues its retreat. Brilliant fireweed, lupine and Indian paintbrush spring forth as new land is exposed.

The Alsek and Tatshenshini River drainages, along with the adjoining wilderness areas in Alaska and Yukon Territory were declared a World Heritage Site in December 1994. In company with the Grand Canyon, the pyramids of Egypt and the Great Wall of China, the incredible size of 21 million acres make this the world's largest heritage site.

The preservation of this immense area allows wildlife to flourish particularly large mammals most sensitive to encroachment by mankind. From the security of my inflatable, I've seen wolves, brown bears and moose look up, undisturbed, as we float by. I'm always delighted to spot herds of mountain goats on the rugged slopes, for reclusive and rare as they are in other parts of the world, they thrive and are abundant on the ridgetops above this river valley. Bald and golden eagles feast on the salmon that have spawned in the tributaries. An amazing diversity of flora and fauna flourish in the ecosystems that range from subarctic at the headwaters to maritime rainforest at the coast. Visiting biologists are thrilled by the many rare species they encounter like the Dall sheep, white trumpeter swan and blue glacier bear.

Everyone should visit the Alsek-Tatshenshini Wilderness Park if at all possible at least once in their lifetime, like a pilgrimage to a sacred shrine. This is an adventure that transforms people, where one can know what pristine wilderness really is, and be immersed in the beauty of life. When the daily stresses pull at us, we can remember this place, so apart from the industrial world, and bring perspective back into our lives.