The Stikine has been described as one of the world’s forgotten wonders, but it’s unlikely to become a tourist attraction anytime soon. The weather is cold and gray on a good day, downright mean on a bad. The surrounding wilderness covers an area twice the size of France, with a human population numbering in the low thousands. Grizzly bears, meanwhile, are everywhere. Yet the wildlife and wildlands are just sideshow attractions. The canyon is the real show: a vast gorge carved by a ferocious torrent, some sixty miles of colossal Class V+ whitewater: twenty-five “Holy Mother of God” rapids,
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