Around Kluane Lake

Here we are, back at Destruction Bay on Kluane Lake, on the Fringe of Kluane National Park.  Back in 2016, we were all about Soldiers' Summit, red chairs, and Sheep Creek Trail.  This time we're going a little further afield.

One thing we are repeating today is a 4 km hike to the top of the "island" at the East end of the lake, opposite the Visitor Center.  We'll start with a selfie from there:

We're camped again this time at Destruction Bay Lodge -- pretty rustic with only Central water fill and septic.  But we have power and a pretty setting:

We took our first coffee walk down to the shoreline.  The lake looks drier and lower than in 2016.  We think it's the long term, cumulative impact from an earthquake prior to 2016 that had diverted the flow of one stream supplying the lake.  It may also have been due to the lighter than average snowfall this last winter.

After a stop at the Visitor Center to get oriented and ask about trails and grizzlies and peer through the telescopes at the Fall sheep with their nursing kids, we headed off to find the ghost town of Silver City, the site of a pioneering trading Post on the East end of Kluane Lake.  The road into Silver City is well maintained because a fishing lodge and B&B also shares the road:

Along the way, we saw maybe 8 cabins in various stages of decay:

One she'd still stands that is shown in an historic photo of the town on an interpretive board along the highway:

The view of the high Kluane peaks from Silver City is majestic:

Our next stop was the local airport --

-- to visit the Arctic Institute of North America, which is operated by the University of Calgary.  We were a little surprised at the modest headquarters for an organization with such an august name:

Admittedly, there is an entire compound.  This HQ appears to be the nerve center only:

The Institute is a multi-disciplinary research institute and educational organization located in the University of Calgary. It is mandated to study the North American and circumpolar Arctic in the areas of natural science, social science, arts and the humanities. In addition, it acquires, preserves and disseminates information on environmental, physical, and social conditions in the North. The institute was created in 1945 by a Canadian Act of Parliament.  It has offices at McGill University in Montreal and presences with the U.S. and Greenland.

Having satisfied our curiosity, we drove back to the parking lot for our jumping off spot for our hike to the island.

 idea of the institute began in the early 1940s when a group of Canadians disHaving satisfied our curiosity a out other t

It wasn 't long before we had scaled the height of the island.  We got beautiful, expansive views to the South up the Slim River Valley --

-- and east east along the Kluane Ra he toward Haines Junction --

-- and northwest across the lake:

Closer to the island, the Slim River wound it's braided way to the near shore of Kluane Lake:

We finished feasting our eyes and feasting on lunch and took one last look at the views before walking back to the Jeep.

Here is 360 degree video of Kluane Lake and the Kluane Range from our lunch spot on the island.

The weather seems to be favorable for at least two extended outings, so we hope to share more of this region before we leave here in five days.