Kathleen Lake Explained

Kathleen Lake
Pushpin Map:	Canada#Canada Yukon
Location:	Yukon
Coords:	60.5802°N -137.3019°W
Basin Countries:	Canada
Area:	3376ha
Depth:	52.2m (171.3feet)
Max-Depth:	111m (364feet)

Kathleen Lake (native name : Mät'àtäna Mǟn meaning 'something frozen inside lake')^[1] is a lake in Yukon, Canada, located south of the town of Haines Junction within Kluane National Park and Reserve. Located at Haines Highway Kilometre 219.7. It hosts a day-use area, a boat launch, a campground, and several hiking trails, including the challenging 3.1 mi (5 km) ascent to King's Throne, a natural, glacially-formed amphitheater overlooking the lake.^[2]

Kathleen Lake is characterized by exceptionally clear waters and the presence of kokanee salmon, a landlocked population of sockeye living and reproducing solely in freshwater bodies.^[3] Located at an elivation of 731m (2,398feet) it is the largest lake wholly within the national park's boundaries, with an area of 3376ha, a maximum depth of 111m (364feet) and an average depth of 52.2m (171.3feet).^[4]

Kathleen Lake was named for a girl from Berwickshire County, Scotland, left behind by William "Scotty" Hume (1868–1950), a North-West Mounted Police constable (Reg. #2259) stationed on the Dalton Trail from 1900 to 1902.^[5]

Notes and References

Web site: Kathleen Lake . Yukon Geographical Place Names . 2019-12-26.
Web site: index. Parks Canada Agency, Government of. Canada. Pc.gc.ca. 28 March 2017 . 29 June 2018.
Web site: Kathleen Lake - Kluane parks and places - Kluane, Yukon things to do - eh Canada Travel. Ehcanadatravel.com. 29 June 2018.
Osborne . Clive . Creel Census of Kethleen Lake and River, Haines Junction, Yukon Territory, 1990. . 1991 . Fish & Wildlife Branch Report SR-91-1 . Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada . Yukon Renewable Resources.
From etymology information obtained in 2012 from memos at the Haines Junction Da Kų (Our House) Cultural Centre. "Kathleen" may have been a diminutive for Catherine; there were very few people in Scotland at the time with the formal name of Kathleen. Hume was born and lived in Berwickshire County until 1884 (age 16), when he immigrated to Canada without his parents. In 1889, he joined the N-WMP. By 1911, he had married a Southern Tutchone girl, had had three children, and eventually left numerous descendants in the Haines Jct. area, including a few who worked at the Cultural Centre.