3. The Trench

Route of flight: CYZY-CAP6-CAJ9-CYQH

June 8, 2008

Mackenzie is the decision point for the route north to the Yukon. There are three options: the AlCan, the Cassiar, and the Trench.

The Canadian Rockies

The AlCan route is 540 miles long following the AlCan highway along the east side of the Canadian Rockies. There are sizable towns with fuel along the way. The Alcan is mostly paved nowadays and traffic is still relatively light. The weather on this route is said to be relatively reliable, and when it isn't at least there's a decent place to land below you the whole way.

The Cassiar route is 530 miles long from Prince George to Watson Lake through the Cassiar Range between the Canadian Rockies and the Coast Range. Much of the route follows the Cassiar Highway. It is said to be very scenic route with a couple nice towns to stop for fuel and a bite to eat along the way. Weather can be an issue, but like the AlCan, there's a road below you the whole way which can provide emergency landing options if it came to that. (It’s worth noting that from where we were in Mackenzie, it would be an 80mile backtrack to get to the Cassiar.)

The Trench route is a 340 mile valley running straight NNW between the Canadian Rockies and the Cassiar range. It can be done in one shot on a single load of fuel. However, it's a one way trip. There are no fuel stops between Mackenzie and Watson Lake. There are also very few options for landing. The logging roads end approx 50 miles North of Mackenzie, the last airstrip is at Fort Ware 150 miles north, and the pass is at 190 miles. On this route it's possible to run into poor or deteriorating weather conditions at a point where it’s too far to turn back.

Kechica River and the Cassiar Range

Of the three routes, the AlCan is considered the safest. The Trench is known as most direct, but also the one which leaves you fewest options if you run into trouble. The Cassiar is somewhere in between.

The weather was forecasted to be stable and improving later in the day. The wind was from the WSW; slightly favoring our route but likely to be turbulent as it rolled over the mountains. There was an overcast layer at 6000-8000' which put ceilings along the route at around 4000' and down to 2500' in the pass. This isn't a ton of room in an airplane (where altitude = options) but doable as long as things were trending for the better. Which they were, so we opted for the trench and after a late breakfast we headed north for Watson Lake.


Up the Trench

The first 100 miles of the route is directly over Williston Lake. The lake was low with wide beaches on either side. There was some logging and few dirt roads but they petered out pretty quick. There were a few back-country strips along the shores, and a few cabins out there too. We passed over the orange Citabria parked at the end of one of the last airstrips on the route. We figured he stopped for lunch, or maybe a little fishing. Soon after, all signs of people just petered out. Just past Fort Ware the roads stopped, the river became a winding braid through the forest and even the occasional cabins petered out.

Hidden valley off the Trench

Tributaries flowing into the Finlay River offered glimpses of wild green valleys tucked behind the mountain ranges on both sides. I wished we had more fuel so we could go exploring. As we moved farther up the trench, the mountains closed in on either side. Mountain tops were obscured by the low ceiling of clouds and the terrain rose below us. There was a fresh dusting of snow on the Rockies. It was beautiful. It was the most scenic and remote terrain we'd ever flown.

Fresh snow in the Trench

And it was bumpy. As we cleared the pass and the way started to open up ahead of us, we also began to physically feel the strain of the flying. The wind coming over the Cassiar Range burbled into the trench and up the other side. We ran up the east side, catching lift wherever we could, but still getting tossed around a bit. Between the constant motion and the altitude (though not all that high, it still had an effect on us sea-level dwellers) we were starting to feel a little rough.

At the pass in the Trench

We passed more stunning terrain; large cornices of rock at the confluence of the Kechika & Gataga rivers (marking the entrance to a dangerously inviting box canyon on the south-bound route).

Sheer cliffs marking the fork to the Gataga River

North of the pass there were mineral lakes glowing emerald and turquoise, some surrounded by areas blackened by wildfire. It was honestly more than we could take in.

Mineral lakes

At long last the valley opened up to a vast wooded plain and finally there was a road. We reached the AlCan Highway and turned NE to Watson Lake. We landed, happy to be on the ground and not moving for a change. We fueled up and then parked at the north end of the airport where there was a gazebo with a wood stove, running water and a lake full of fish. What a welcome to the Yukon.


Watson Lake

Yes, the fishing was great. The air was calm. The fish were cold and hungry. We caught a grayling, two lake trout and a big old pike in the afternoon. The trout made for a tasty dinner along with fresh dandelion greens sautéed in butter.

The Citabria arrived. He'd started out a few hours before us but had to put down on his way up the trench due to low ceilings and fog. Not wanting to fly the pass at 500' he'd set down to wait for the clouds to lift. After he saw us go by overhead, he decided to wait an hour. If we didn't come back by then, he'd follow north. Now, since the skies had cleared out and there was still light, he took off again heading west. It was a good evening for flying, but we'd had enough of that for the day so we went fishing instead.

Watson Lake

It seemed like the sun set forever. Rosy tones for hours. In the evening we caught a couple more trout and more pike. We used spinners and the medium sized black one with the yellow spots seemed to be the one everyone wanted to eat for dinner.

the dinner spinner