Yukon, into the wild
Mountain chains as far as the eye can see, the Mount Logan, the highest summit in Canada, glacial expanses and lots of lakes, these are the key features of the Yukon. Floriane Macaire, head of ergonomics for the Quechua connected hiker division, takes you on a journey of complete immersion in this land completely covered in snow.
For the 10th issue of the Hiking on the Moon’s magazine, Floriane share with us her great adventure in Yukon, with Guillaume Faussurier and Claude Vallier, her two friends who are mad about the mountains.
“After a backcountry ski trip in the Yukon snow, Guillaume and I returned to this Canadian region on the border with Alaska. This time, we headed to Kluane National Park and its countless glaciers. We were met at the foot of the park by Sian and Lance from the Arctic Institute of North America, and then we flew off into this wild and untouched world.
Kluane, into the wild
After a few minutes, there were only traces of the aircraft marks left in the fresh snow. And the silence. Deafening. Walking through heavy layers of powdery snow we reached the big tent in the shape of white tube which will soon be used by scientists from the Arctic Institute of North America. Guillaume and Claude, the local French on this stage, carried the equipment up to the door, where I was buckling down to clear the 70 cm of accumulated snow.
An hour later, with skins stuck to our skis, we headed directly North towards the Most Beautiful Peak which really is a beautiful peak and a superb slope, perfect for our first outing. In this grandiose setting and with no prominent landmarks, crossing the glacier seems to take forever. The more we move towards it, the more the mountain seems to move further away. Finally we reach the summit, with our skis on our backpacks and crampons on our feet.
On the narrow ridge the view is overwhelming: 360° of glaciers and even more glaciers. Mount Logan is facing us at a height of almost 6,000 meters. 60 km away as the crow flies, you could almost touch it and easily think “Shall we go there? It’s easy! “.». Claude very quickly sets us straight: “Forget the Mont Blanc massif and the landmarks that you had. In Kluane, everything is bigger, further away, higher, and more difficult than everything you know! ». At least that’s clear.
We put away our crampons, put on our skis and the descent is a pure delight: the spring snow has barely been touched for the beginning of July. What more could you ask for?
Midnight sun
We return to the camp under a blazing sun and fortunately the wind refreshes the atmosphere a little bit. A “sunscreen” break is required. Suddenly we hear a “wouhmmmmfff”. Under our boards the snow collapses a few centimetres. Nothing more, but a bit scary. “It’s a layer of snow which is settling”, explains Guillaume. Which reminds us that, if anything happens out here, we’ve only got ourselves to rely on.
When we get back to the tube tent, a cup of tea and Chinese pie serves as a meal. Our sleeping bags are calling. “Here, there’s hardly any night in the summer, recalls Claude. So you sleep when and however you can. If it’s too hot during the day, you can ski at night”.”
To read the full version of Florian’s travel go page 13 of the 10th issue of Hiking on the Moon!
