Six years ago, Gordon and I took our family on our first remote river trip to help bring attention to western Canada's beleaguered Taku river, a magnificent wilderness at risk from mining and roadworks. Since then, we've rafted through the rapids and ranges of five more Canadian and Alaskan refuges, all in the capable company of The River League. Moose, mountain goats and caribou have been delivered copiously. Bears have been the bounteous bonus - and by far, the most beguiling.
This trip was down the Tatshenshini, which is born in Canada's northern Yukon Territory and on its 132-mile sluice to the sea spills south-west through upper British Columbia and slices completely through south-east Alaska. It snakes through boreal spruce lands, is squeezed by canyons and carves through the highest ranges of the continent's coast. Along its way, you see waterfalls, beaver pond outflows, and the incessant melt of countless glaciers.
On our first day, we gathered at the high-lapping headstreams, where three yellow rafts were already hand-inflated and mostly loaded. But we were carrying a lot of our own comfort for almost a fortnight of self-sustenance, so the loading and strapping took another couple of hours. By the time we were onboard, with paddles in hand, each vessel weighed about a tonne and a half of flesh and rubber, sunscreen and wool hats, swimsuits and wellies, shorts and thermals, cameras, guitars, an emergency satellite phone, rescue rope, a natural history library, and enough first aid to support any injury that didn't warrant a four-hour medi-evacuation by helicopter. Plus: 18 dozen eggs, 1,000lb of lamb and romaine, shrimp and tofu, feta and melons, brandy and chocolate. And, for this group in particular, a vault of single malts.
By day two, we were already getting into a routine and, after an early breakfast of scrambled eggs, we dismantled our tents and delivered our watertight barrel-sized riverbags of worldly possessions to the crew for loading. By 9.30am, we were on board for a six-hour float. Unlike the first day's serious roller coaster of grade III/IV rapids, this was the serene side of remote wilderness: intimate forest walls going tight to the water's edge; poplar trees thatching the banks like chopsticks where beavers had chewed through their massive trunks.
The rafts were in a rotisserie of sunshine in slow spins that let us take in full 360-degree panoramas. Icy swallows dropped out of condo-holes. Higher still were rock ledges whitewashed with the telltale signs of golden eagles' nests. A mother moose, with shoulder hairs raised defensively, kept watch on her gangly calf.
We cheered at the announcement that we would stay two nights at our second camp. The layover meant we could ditch the wellies and don the hiking boots for a full day's walk. Below us, valleys spread green, with aprons of rock washes, and a backdrop of never-ending mountain peaks. Thighs burned, but spirits were positively on fire.
On the fourth day, we began to spot the bears: the first was on a scree slope beside the river, posing placidly for us as we drifted quietly by. A much larger grizzly romped on the beach just upstream from what was to become our camp; this hefty one prompted self-reminders to remove the afternoon snack wrappers from pockets.
After breakfast, five of the lads sallied forth for an exploration with a back up of pepper spray and bear crackers. Nothing was guaranteed, but a posse this size is apparently large enough to deter encounters too close with bears.
We tuned into the hunting zone of a big grizzly crossing the wash of the far shore. Lots of eagles resting on the sandbars. And then we came upon a big grizzly with a new cub just four months out of its first hibernation den grazing away on soap berries and scratching out edible roots. We snooped to within a couple of hundred yards and watched her for 30 minutes. She could have reach us in a 15-second gallop.
Gordon said this was the greatest show on earth. Retired US ambassador Dick Viets added, "I cannot impress upon you enough what a profound impact it has on me to be watching such wildlife against a backdrop that has never been modified, destroyed, altered by man."
At its widest, the main river bows to nearly 3km across, and at times it felt more like we were paddling on a flowing sea. It was not hard to feel humbled here. We have been on a nomadic float for nine days, and have seen no other soul beyond our own roster.
Back on the beach, veteran rafters pitched in to help gather an abundance of driftwood, while the guides created the frame of a waterside sauna. Several hours later, after a feast of roast lamb and Greek salad, we hunkered ourselves into the blue cast of the tarp'd hovel. The guides shovelled in a nest of granitic heat, and with a wetted broom of wild sage, washes of water became a sudden swath of steamy decadence to soak our soiled and muscle-sore bodies. A second round, after a mad, mass plunge into the icy lake, felt even better. Thrushes were chorusing from the dense wall of alders. It was after midnight, and still they sang.
The Tatshenshini-Alsek ultimately poured its massive bulk into the Gulf of Alaska - and us with it. We pitched our last camp on the beach. The Pacific coiled in to greet us in banded waves of turquoise and white. Orange-billed Caspian terns wheeled overhead, mingled in flocks of hundreds of gulls. Our final feast was fresh salmon - one each of baked, teriyaki, curried, and straight fire-stoked. One of our number returned the fish heads to the washed sand shores; in a grand display of grace, a majestic bald eagle swooped down and snatched them away.
We had flowed to our most western limits, and had fallen with the river 1,950ft since our put-in. Our way back could only be by air. I took a supersize inhalation of salt and seagrass, spruce and sage scented air. A waft of woodsmoke. A perfume more sensual than a city candle shop.
Way to go
Getting there
Air Canada (0871 2201111, aircanada.com) flies London-Whitehorse via Vancouver for £522.40 rtn inc tax.
Rafting
The River League (+604 987 8667, riverleague.ca) has 11-day Tatshenshini trips for US$4,497pp including transfers to/from Whitehorse, food, equipment and guiding. Maximum 12 participants. Next trips depart June 20 and August 24.
Further information
Tourism British Columbia, hellobc.com; Visit Canada 0906 8715000.
Country code: 00 1
Flight time: London-Vancouver 10hrs.
Time difference: -8hrs.
£1 = C$1.99.
