Kinaskan Lake

Kinsman Lake is such a lovely spot that we decide we will stay another night, and use the time for a bit of admin, sorting and cleaning.

We cook brunch on the fire outside and then depart for a trail about 5 miles down the road to Cascade Falls. The trail is again very woody, mossy and in parts so swampy that the rangers have put in planks to form short boardwalks. The wood is very silent, without even birdsong, the only noises being the rather eerie whines and creaks of the trees rubbing together. There are plenty of signs of life - large deer like droppings and tracks, owl pellet and an as yet undetermined scat - but we don’t see anything.

After an hour’s walking, we hear the water before coming to a clearing right on the edge overlooking the fast flowing and shallow Iskut River. The river is divided by an island and cascades down gullies on both sides of the island. We briefly see a bald eagle overhead, but otherwise apart from the rush of the falls, there is no other sound.

Returning along the trail, we head another couple of miles back southwards to a forest track which goes down to the river. There are lots of overhanging branches of new growth of willow (the track is called Willow Creek Road) and Neil has to jump out and use his knife and chainsaw to clear the branches away. After half an hour or so of this, and very slow progress, we come to clearing where we decide to retreat as there is too much to clear.

On our way back to the campground, we spot a large moose in the vegetation at the side of the road - a large lugubrious animal, and he disappears as soon as we slow down, nevertheless, we are very excited about spotting our first moose, and we can also probably safely say that the large deer like poo and tracks in the woods belonged to him!

Back to the campsite for tea followed by grilled steak.

Miles today: 9

Miles Total:

Sundown: 10.26pm

Grizzly Bears: 4

Brown Bears: 16

Marmots: 4

Mousse 1

Bald eagle: 1