Adventures in Atlin

Hi Blog!

As you know, this is our second trip to Alaska. One of the things we wanted to do this time around was get off the Alaska Highway. There are a number of side roads to be explored. Our stay here in Tagish puts us in position to explore the Atlin Road. Our ultimate destination was the Town of Atlin, BC. The 98 km road is just full of scenery. We stopped at one rest area to take this photo of Mount Minto on the far side of Atlin Lake.

As we approached Atlin, we could see the coast range shrouded in clouds. Como Lake is a small day use lake that is also used by local float planes.

When we arrived in Atlin, we stopped for a selfie with the town elder. We learned that Atlin was founded as a result of a demand for gold mining in the area. The Atlin Gold Rush came to Atlin Lake country in 1898 and was one of the richest offshoots of the Klondike Gold Rush. 

To learn more, we stopped at the Atlin Museum located in the town's original school house. By the end of the mining season of 1899, around 5,000 people had flocked to the region and Atlin became a busy and important settlement. Although gold production was greater in its early years, the Atlin fields still produce gold. Total placer gold production has exceeded $23,000,000.

The museum was small, but well worth the $2.50 admission. We spent most of our time in the museum talking to the docent. By the time we left, we had a list of places we wanted to visit. However, before heading down to the shore of Atlin Lake, we poked around the museum yard which was just filled with really cool looking old mining equipment.

The following is from the website, "North of 59," by "Holly": 

"My house is a pyramid. I live in a log pyramid with cedar shingles and windows that look like  ethereal eyes. Sometimes it feels like the building might rise up out of the inconvenient artesian well that it's slowly sinking into and walk/fly/whatever away. My mom was interested in Atlin in the 80's where strange "spiritual" things were happening. She was pretty into the occult when she was younger and Atlin was of particular interest. When she converted to Christianity she was creeped out more than anything. She had heard of a healing centre created with the power of prisms - and here I am living in it. I expected the house to have a creepier feel to it. Maybe that spirit would have been left behind from whatever shenanigans the Brannigans brought with them when they opened the Atlin Healing Centre. As far as I can tell, the worst we've got is a creaky chimney and doors that fall open due to the foundation shift. Come to think of it, I think there are only 2 or 3 doors in the house that actually shut."

Atlin Lake is the largest natural lake in the Canadian province of British Columbia. The northern tip of the lake is in Yukon. However, most of the lake lies within the Atlin District of British Columbia. Atlin Lake is believed to be the source of the Yukon River although it is drained via the short Atlin River into Tagish Lake. The name comes from the Tlingit name meaning simply "big lake. Even from this vantage point, Dave is only able to see a small portion of the entire lake.

In the 1920s, Atlin was popular as an exotic tourist destination. There were no roads to the settlement, requiring tourists to travel up the Inside Passage through the British Columbia Coast and the Alaska Panhandle and via passes through Alaska and a series of lakes in Yukon and British Columbia. The journey ended when the M.V. Tarahne took the tourists across the lake to stay at the large three storey Atlin Inn. It was during this time it was nicknamed the "Switzerland of the North" because it is surrounded by mountains in much the same way as Switzerland. During the Great Depression, tourism decreased and the White Pass and Yukon Route closed their transportation routes and hotel. Atlin was largely isolated from transportation and commerce until the Atlin Road was built in 1950-51. The M.V. Tarahne sits just where they left it.

On the way back to the Jeep, we made a quick detour to Sincerely Yours General Store. They are the local purveyors of Atlin Mountain Coffee. The have a great reputation for roasting fine Peruvian coffee. They also have experimented with Whiskey Barrel Aged Coffee. If the aroma of the whiskey coffee is any indication, it is going to make an amazing cup of coffee. 

With purchases packed away, we began our scenic drive out Warm Bay Road. Our first stop was the Llwyellyn Glacier view point.

The Llwyellyn Glacier is part of the Juneau Icefield which covers an area of 1,500 square miles in the Coast Range. The icefield is the source of many glaciers including the Mendenhall Glacier near Juneau, Alaska.  Llewellyn Glacier is one of the largest glaciers in British Columbia with a surface area of 458 sq. km.  It is an outlet glacier of the Juneau Icefield which straddles the Coast Mountains of northwest BC and southeast Alaska.  

We munched our lunch as the clouds danced and played over the glacier.

After lunch, we continued our journey. We stopped to check out Palmer Lake. We were amazed the old wooden culvert under Warm Bay Road was still in great shape.

Just beyond Warm Bay is Warm Springs. The warm water from the spring makes its way down to the bay, making this part of Atlin Lake just a little bit warmer than the rest. Thus the name, Warm Bay.

At the end of the maintained portion of Warm Bay Road is a lovely little Grotto. The ice cold spring comes right out of the rocks. The locals like to come up and harvest watercress, which grows in abundance along the stream as it makes it way down to Atlin Lake.

Having reached the end of the road, we turned around and stopped to explore the Warm Springs. We heard varying reports of whether or not the water was warm enough to soak in. We did bring our bathing suits just in case. However, when we felt the water, it was only mildly warm. With temperatures hovering in the low 50s, we didn't want to risk getting cold and wet.

We followed the outflow of the first spring as it was joined by several others and meandered across a verdant field.

After our drive along Warm Bay Road, we drove over to Spruce Creek to try our hand at gold panning. British Columbia has set aside several placer claims for the public to use to pan for gold. Spruce Creek in Atlin is one of those locations.

In order to use the public claim, you can only use a shovel and pan.

After about a half a dozen attempts, we had to call it quits as storm clouds approached. While it was disappointing that we didn't find any gold, just getting out there was an adventure. There are several active mining sites along Spruce Creek Road. Someone out there has a sense of humor.

Just as we made it back into town, the heavens opened up. 

Before driving back to Tagish, we stopped for gas and picked up some Taku Wild smoked salmon. The area around Atlin is part of the traditional territory of the Taku River Tlingit people. The Tlingit territory includes the largest undisturbed watershed in North America, home of the Taku River. We are looking forward to a smokey salmon chowder.

A few miles out of Atlin and the sun was shining bright. We had our first two-bear encounter. They were both crossing the highway at the same time. We thought we were going to witness a rumble, but a car came speeding up and broke up the staring contest.

The next bear we encountered was just quietly munching dandelions.

That was the second cinnamon colored black bear we saw today.

We finished our day with a great meal at Six Mile River Resort. We have a couple more days here. Not sure what tomorrow will bring, so stay tuned.