Kluane also offers about 160km of backcountry trails, ranging from five-day treks to half-hour cakewalks.

BBC: Kluane, Canada (Credit: Parks Canada/Fritz Mueller)

Kluane National Park is one of the most beautiful and isolated places on Earth.

BBC: Kluane, Canada (Credit: Parks Canada/Fritz Mueller)

Kluane National Park, I later learned, has the highest concentration of grizzlies in Canada.

BBC: Kluane, Canada (Credit: Parks Canada/Fritz Mueller)

So I headed to the tiny airstrip in Haines Junction, the closest village to Kluane, and climbed aboard a six-seat Cessna 207 aircraft.

BBC: Kluane, Canada (Credit: Parks Canada/Fritz Mueller)

Since Kluane lies on a major fault line, the rubbing of the two plates constantly drives the mountains even higher, so they rise at a rate similar to the speed of growing fingernails.

BBC: Kluane, Canada (Credit: Parks Canada/Fritz Mueller)