Video-attempt to reach the Llewellyn Lake & Glacier Face

Hunkydory

After our ocean cruise out of Skagway, Alaska in 2010, I attempted to go up the Llewellyn River from Atlin Lake by Mokai to reach the Llewellyn Lake & glacier face. The Llewellyn River is the most recognized primary head of the mighty Yukon River & Atlin Lake straddles the border between British Columbia & the Yukon Territory in Canada. In a straight line Atlin lake is just 40 miles from Skagway, Alaska. The Juneau Ice Fields which Llewellyn Glacier is a part sit in that 40 mile stretch. Here's the video link.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uksb1acEAIg

Jay

AJF · Posted: Sat Feb 18, 2012 11:42 am Post subject:

An interesting side note to this video is the Llewelyn River basically diappeared this past year. You can read more about this at these links:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2011/09/02/bc-glacier-river-icefield.html
http://www.theweathernetwork.com/news/storm_watch_stories3&stormfile=glacial_river_dries_up_near__020911
http://glacierchange.org/2011/10/llewellyn-glacier-bc-recession-and-recent-disappearance-of-glacial-river/

The other thing I should mention is the dock that Hunky Dory is tied up to at the start of the video is the float plane dock, which I believe is privately owned. Do not tie up there with a boat it is not appreciated by the local pilots.

journey on · Posted: Sat Feb 18, 2012 12:08 pm Post subject:

That is an awesome trip. You must have had a bunch of thrills and fun. Loved the launch ramp.

How far did you go up with the C-Dory and how far with the kayak?

Loved it!!!

Boris

potter water · Posted: Sat Feb 18, 2012 3:26 pm Post subject:

Can medium sized adults fit into the Mokai? How does it affect the freeboard, and performance?

Do you tow the Mokai behind the CD often....how does it handle normal waves and wakes?

matt_unique · Posted: Sat Feb 18, 2012 3:36 pm Post subject: Wow

What great scenery. It sounds like you have a 350 engine on that kayak!

Hunkydory · Posted: Sat Feb 18, 2012 6:36 pm Post subject:

AJF, the links you added are very interesting indeed, being as the river I was attempting to go up was the very one the massive flood came down when the Llewellyn Glacier inner lake gave way & blocked off & dried up the other normally much larger river that empties into Sloco Inlet. I was planning an attempt on that river also, but weather was very warm & the flow out was extremely high. I would quess at least 10 times the water volume empting into Llewellyn Inlet with major rapids & ice burgs making it to dangerous. If the water would have come down while I was there it most certainly would have ruined my day.

There was no other place to dock the Hunkydory after launching or for preparation to put back on the trailer. While docked there a friendly pilot who’s plane was also tied up to that dock, spoke to us before taking off never mentioning we shouldn’t be there. In addition no signs saying not to use, so under similar circumstances, I would not hesitate to use it again.

Boris, glad you loved the video & yes, a lot of fun, with close to being too many thrills. I had the top & bottom of my Mustang Suit on with insulated neoprene boots , but that water is so cold & full of heavy silt that I was riding very high on my risk acceptance level especially doing it solo. While there on the bank after killing the jet motor from sucking in silt I noticed human foot prints on the shore & wondered how anyone else could have possibly made them. Later I ran into a young man whom I mentioned this too & he told me about a week before, he & another person had been dropped off by float plane on the lake in front of the glacier with rubber canoes. He said the stretch I had tried to go up in the Mokai they had to portage around being to them it was too dangerous to paddle. Sure answered my question about foot prints.

On your question of how far we went on the C- Dory & Mokai. The year this video was made we only spent one night on the Lake, so even though the lake is large (approximately 60 miles long) & we circled the upper part out of the town of Atlin it was only 108 miles on the Hunkydory & Probably another 10 or 15 on the Mokai. We have explored this & the other glacier lakes in this area extensively in the past, starting 11 years ago in this 12 foot RIB with 18 hp, 4 stroke Nissan motor.

During one day in 2001 we made 115 miles on Atlin Lake in this RIB & many more hundreds during our stay there. That year we also walked up the Llewellyn River to the Glacier Face.

In 2003 we explored the lake for the first time in our CD 22 & were also the year we went the 400 miles up & down the Yukon River from Carmacks to Whitehorse, explored the even longer narrower Tagish Lake & Teslin Lake & put the CD 22 on the ocean out of Skagway, Alaska. This photo from 2010 shows the Llewellyn River with the lake & glacier face I was trying to reach in the Mokai.

Harry, the Mokai’s max weight load is rated at 360 lbs. I weigh a bit over 200 & Jo-lee about 125. We fit very snugly with about an hour comfort level. This is both of us in 2007.

Has handled all wave conditions we have been in so far in the over 4000 miles we have towed it behind the CD but if you want to get an even better description, perhaps reading these accounts of our Alaska cruises in 2007 & 2010 would be a good idea.
http://www.c-brats.com/viewtopic.php?t=6392
http://www.c-brats.com/viewtopic.php?t=13945&start=15

Jay

AJF · Posted: Sat Feb 18, 2012 8:09 pm Post subject:

Hi Jay

The reason I mentioned the float plane dock; is were your boat is moored is where a friend of ours ties up his float plane. I know of the frustration he feels when he flys in and finds space on the float plane dock filled up with boats and he is forced to go out to First Island and tie up on the beach there until he can contact someone in town to come and move the boat off the dock (signs come and go off the dock). Though it seems a lot of the travel information says it is a public marina that is not actually correct. The marina was built by the local Brewery Bay Marina Association so that locals could have a protected place to tie up their boats. There is no real transient space there. Most of us who don't have moorage there will launch our boats off the ramp, then just nose them up onto the small beach area beside the ramp to load our gear. That is unless we have been able to contact the association to find out if we can use some of the dock space before hand. The actual public launch ramp is more towards the center of town and there is no real public docking space there either and if there is a wind blowing it is not an easy launch situation.

AJF

Hunkydory · Posted: Sat Feb 18, 2012 8:42 pm Post subject:

AJF, thanks for the very good clarification. Will not use the dock without direction permission in the future.

In 2003 we rented dock space from the Brewery Bay Marina Association for $20 per week. Bet it's way higher than that now if dock space is available at all. It was well worth the price just to have a place to dock when coming back to Atlin temporally off the outer lake.

Jay