• After the second flying leg of our journey from Vancouver to Whitehorse we picked up a cheap rental-car...

  • Pete, Steve, Laetitia, and Steve on the long journey from the UK to Canada's North West Territories

  • Our first night was spent in a Vancouver airport hotel - we enjoyed some Yukon beer even though we were in British Columbia at this point

  • Crossing over Greenland was exciting - first a few icebergs in the northern Atlantic, then the icecap - awesome scenery!

  • Arriving at the luxury of Inconnu Lodge

  • A seven hour drive from Whitehorse saw us arriving at Finlayson Lake

  • The next leg was a very short hop from Finlayson Lake to McEvoy Lake where Warren Lafave's amazing Inconnu Lodge is located

  • We went to bed with a beautiful red glow in the evening sky, isn't the saying "red sky at night, shepherd's delight"?

  • The bar at Inconvnu Lodge - Warren briefing Ted and Steve about the next leg of the journey, theflight to Glacier Lake

  • Laetitia and Ted ready to leave Inconnu Lorge for the Cirque of the Unclimbables

  • Turning in to the basin of Glacier Lake with the Cirque beyond

  • Ted, Steve, and Pete disembarking from the beaver float plane at Glacier Lake

  • The beaver float plane leaving Inconnu Lodge

  • There's an awful lot of water in the Yukon, and that means there's an awful lot of green, trees, and rivers, many of which have crazy meanders!

  • Pete, Ted, Steve, and Laetitia on board the beaver float plane

  • Pete, Laetitia, Ted, and Steve with massive packs just about to leave Glacier Lake for the tough hike up to Fairy Meadows and the Cirque of the Unclimbables

  • The hike to Fairy Meadows passes through thick woods passing beaver dens and dams, fierce wasp nests (I was stung repeatedly), and heads up very steep ground to eventually reach the meadow

  • Awesome views from the hike to Fairy Meadows towards the Cirque of the Unclimbables

  • Our camp site in Fairy Meadows was a boulder overhung site towards the top of the meadow with views directly on to the Lotus Flower Tower, a bear proof food box, a neat area to set up our kitchen that we covered with a tarpaulin, and a lovely grassed area that caught all the sunshine going. Nice!

  • The open-air toilet! There is another newer, enclosed, toilet too. But you can't beat this one for the view!

  • The Cirque of the Unclimbables

  • The Lotus Flower Tower

  • Our tarpaulin covered kitchen area with a gang of climbers enjoying a sociable afternoon of sunshine. Richard, Dave, Christian, Ted, Pete, and Steve. A few moments earlier we also have Susan, Dave, and two Demetrius' visiting. A fantastic sunny spot with comfy grass and an unbeatable view of the Lotus Flower Tower

  • Here's what was a far more typical view for us of the Cirque! Still amazing and beautiful, but not great for climbing.

  • Laetitia climbing on the lower section of the Lotus Flower Tower

  • We were very comfortable laid up at Inconvnu Lodge, in the staff quarters, while we waited out the terrible weather!

  • To help try and keep morale high while waiting out bad weather we had planned a varied menu. Here is Laetitia cooking pancakes with cranberries for 2nd breakfast!

  • Laetitia poses as the Whitehorse river front electric trolley bus passes by

  • The spectacular off-grid Aurora Cabin

  • The luxuriously comfortable surroundings of Inconnu Lodge

  • The steam paddle boat, the Klondike, is a interesting (and free) tourist attraction Whitehorse with loads of information linking back to the Yukon gold-rush and how the Whitehorse - Yukon River - Dawson City frontier was developed

  • Pete on the finger crack of Jabberwocky

  • Steve and Ted catch up on some sleep in the comfortable Aurora cabin

  • Pete on the traverse of Wonderland

  • Rob Adie, Ben Wolstenholme, and Pete at the Shannon Falls car park

  • Ted, Steve, and Pete sheltering from the rain in the bandstand at our Squamish campsite

  • Laetitia on the perfect hands crack of Klahanie

  • May the Force be with you; Skywalker

  • The guidebook recommends the few minute walk above the top of Skywalker to see the awesome pools near the top of Shannon Falls - they were lovely (if a bit exposed on the downhill side) and Laetitia - of course - had to swim in them!

  • Laetitia on the fun traverse of Skywalker

  • Laetitia coming up the amazing layback corner of Diedre

  • River boat houses at Vancouver's fun tourist destination, Granville Island

  • Pete climbing the 5.9 variation of Crucifix at Whitehorse's premier (!) climbing destination, Rock Gardens

  • Laetitia on Banana Peel, a fun final eight pitch route for us at Squamish...

  • Pete and Laetitia on route to the Lotus Flower Tower

  • Vancouver City (Ajith Rajeswari)

Journey from the UK to Canada’s Yukon

Thursday, 13th August 2015

We are finally back from our massive adventure to Canada where we visited Fairy Meadows in the Cirque of the Unclimbables to attempt one of the world’s best alpine rock climbs, the Lotus Flower Tower. We also visited and climbed in Whitehorse en-route and at the world-class Squamish Chief.

This is the first post in a series that tries to capture the adventure. There are four posts, they are:

  1. The journey from the UK to Canada’s Yukon
  2. The Cirque of the Unclimbables
  3. Whitehorse and Yukon cragging
  4. Squamish rock climbing and a quick visit in to beautiful Vancouver

After leaving Cumbria our journey started out with a flight to Vancouver from Manchester. Being a daytime flight we got fantastic views of Iceland and Greenland as we flew across the northern Atlantic. (Why are these two places seemingly taking each others names?) As I looked out of the window I wondered what the little white spots were in the expanse of the blue Atlantic Ocean. Of course they were enormous icebergs breaking off the Greenland ice sheets. Soon the density built until the ocean was a crazy pattern of fractured ice, and then the view was filled with mountains and ice fields of inland Greenland.

Crossing over Greenland was exciting - first a few icebergs in the northern Atlantic, then the icecap - awesome scenery!
Crossing over Greenland was exciting – first a few icebergs in the northern Atlantic, then the icecap – awesome scenery!

We stopped in a cheap hotel (doss #1) not too far from Vancouver airport – we didn’t want to travel too far as the next day we were due to fly again, this time to Whitehorse in the Yukon. However, we did enjoy hot wings, a classic north American burger meal, and a few beers!

Our first night was spent in a Vancouver airport hotel - we enjoyed some Yukon beer even though we were in British Columbia at this point
Our first night was spent in a Vancouver airport hotel – we enjoyed some Yukon beer even though we were still in British Columbia at this point
Pete, Steve, Laetitia, and Ted on the long journey from the UK to Canada's North West Territories
Pete, Steve, Laetitia, and Ted on the long journey from the UK to Canada’s North West Territories

On arrival in Whitehorse we picked up a cheap rental car from Rent a Wreck – they aren’t really wrecks, they are just cars that have been part exchanged for new cars at a Subaru dealership.

We slept in another cheap hotel (doss #2) in central Whitehorse. Whitehorse is a weird place – a juxtaposition of depressed mining town and tourist gateway to the Yukon, and that’s not to mention sub cultures of native alcoholism and retailers such as Northern Hempisphere (have a look at what products they sell, despite the list of categories only one has any products! 😉 ).

After the second flying leg of our journey from Vancouver to Whitehorse we picked up a cheap rental-car...
After the second flying leg of our journey from Vancouver to Whitehorse we picked up a cheap rental-car…
A seven hour drive from Whitehorse saw us arriving at Finlayson Lake
A seven hour drive from Whitehorse saw us arriving at Finlayson Lake

We left the rental car at Kluane Airways depot on Finlayson Lake. It seems crazy to hire a car for over two weeks only to use it for two days – one driving out and one returning – but this is the cheapest way.

Kluane Airways is owned and operated by Warren Lafave. Warren also owns the luxurious fly-out fishing lodge, Inconnu Lodge. As part of the booking to be flown to the Cirque with Kluane Airways one enjoys a stop over at Inconnu Lodge. This is an incredible no-cost value add to the package. As we were to find out, if the weather is poor (read: heavy rain, thick clag, and zero visibility) and they can’t fly to the Cirque the Lodge provides a very comfortable place to hang out (doss #3). Plus, on the return visit it provides an amazing place (doss #6) to clean up, shower, and generally renormalise from unwashed smelly climber to civilised human being.

The next leg was a very short hop from Finlayson Lake to McEvoy Lake where Warren Lafave's amazing Inconnu Lodge is located
The next leg was a very short hop from Finlayson Lake to McEvoy Lake where Warren Lafave’s amazing Inconnu Lodge is located
Arriving at the luxury of Inconnu Lodge
Arriving at the luxury of Inconnu Lodge
The bar at Inconnu Lodge - Warren briefing Ted and Steve about the next leg of the journey, the flight to Glacier Lake
The bar at Inconnu Lodge – Warren briefing Ted and Steve about the next leg of the journey, the flight to Glacier Lake
The luxuriously comfortable surroundings of Inconnu Lodge
The luxuriously comfortable surroundings of Inconnu Lodge – this is where the lodge guests get to hang out all the time, we spent most of our time and ate meals in the staff quarters…
We went to bed with a beautiful red glow in the evening sky, isn't the saying "red sky at night, shepherd's delight"?
We went to bed with a beautiful red glow in the evening sky, isn’t the saying “red sky at night, shepherd’s delight”?
We were very comfortable laid up at Inconnu Lodge, in the staff quarters, while we waited out the terrible weather!
We were very comfortable laid up at Inconnu Lodge, in the staff quarters, while we waited out the terrible weather!

Finally after a massively frustrating four full days of watching the torrential rain we had a weather window suitable for the hour and half flight from the lodge out to Glacier Lake below the Cirque of the Unclimbables. Frantic re-packing and preparations ensued and then we were off on the next leg of the journey…

Laetitia and Ted ready to leave Inconnu Lorge for the Cirque of the Unclimbables
Laetitia and Ted ready to leave Inconnu Lorge for the Cirque of the Unclimbables

Series - LFT

  1. Journey from the UK to Canada’s Yukon
  2. The Cirque of the Unclimbables
  3. Whitehorse and Yukon Rock
  4. Squamish and Vancouver

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