Yukon Tour 2

     My heart is pounding, my lungs gasping, my legs are burning as I slowly ascend the moderate trail above the Canadian Parks Service visitor center beside the Dempster Highway at Tombstone Park in the Yukon. I was advised by a 20-something, fit looking man that it would take my guests and I about half an hour to reach the top of this trail. What the H... does he know? I was young too, once, and full of hill-climbing vigour and optimism. I still have the optimism.

It Isn't the top of the World, but it is a Significant Victory

     We are a group of four men, two over 60 one just under and one 40 something. I am the tour leader heading towards Inuvik, N.W.T. and beyond. Our common bond is our love of the wild places and wildlife photography.

     We met a few days ago in Whitehorse, Yukon and have a good start on a month long tour of the Yukon Territory, some of British Columbia and ending at Edmonton, Alberta. It is early September and the aspen are brilliantly shrouded in their golden finery and tamarack are beginning their color change. Berry bushes and shrubbery range from brightly crimson to a fine red wine and burgundy colour. It is a great time to visit Yukon; past mosquito and black fly hordes, into bright autumn colours and few tourist clutters.

Moss and Lignon Berries

The further north we go, the less leaves are on the shrubbery. Weather is crisp in the morning, sometimes even frosty but has warmed nicely by early afternoon. There is a fresh dusting of snow above treeline to remind us that it could drop down to highway level any day. We hope for a nice spell of Indian summer.

Begin the Dempster Highway

     This morning, as we begin the Dempster Highway, we decide that a bit of fresh air and exercise will be good for our constitutions after a late night photographing northern lights at Dawson City’s “Midnight Dome.”

Midnight Dome

     We meet two young, Swiss sounding girls coming down the hill. They give us the once-over and cheerfully natter in passing, “15 minutes to go, it is well worth it.” They are being nice to us I’m sure. One half hour later we wheezed and panted to the top.

The Trail Winds Up and Around

     It is pretty good scenery but our biggest victory is that we made it. We made it to the top and back down without having a heart attack or breaking a hip. With a profound sense of accomplishment and relief, we each savour our own victory. As I follow my shadow down the hill I proclaim to it; “We are men, we can still do fun things!”

My Shadow Leads

 

     I bet we enjoyed ourselves more and remember this trail longer than those youngsters who have yet to feel the senses of doubt and fear that we are getting past our prime and will soon be confined to the arm chair in some nursing home with our kids wiping the drool off the corner of our mouths saying. “There, there Dad, you have a good day. I’ll see you next week.”

 

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Yukon Tour 1

     It is great to be alive! Once again, I am privileged to be able to enjoy Mother Nature's great bounty. I left Edmonton and drove to Whitehorse in Yukon Territory over the past two and a half days. Tonight and tomorrow I will meet my guests who will be travelling with me through this spectacularly beautiful land.
     On the 2000 kilometer drive north I enjoy many fantastic sights that make a long journey so enjoyable. Once again I am proving that the destination is not the thing so much as the enjoyment of the journey. I miss many opportunities that time and daylight do not allow more perusal but, I enjoy much.
     Just west of Grande Prairie, Alberta, I come upon a field of sunflowers, something I have never seen before. They are beautiful, especially with the late sun shining through brilliant yellow flowers. It will be very soon that this field will be alive with seed loving birds of all descriptions but for now grasshoppers click and scatter from my footsteps.

Sunflower Field west of Grand Prairie

     As I drive the famous Alaska Highway enjoying the scenery, I think of the hundreds of trips that my Dad made up and down this trail in various trucks. From the dusty, muddy, snow covered and often icy track winding around corners, up and down hills and across narrow bridges in the 1950s through the 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, and 1000s; six decades of successfully delivering loads of passengers, freight, fuel and mail. I marvel at the changes this highway has gone through in those years. Look at the lodges and garages, once vital, that are now closed. One of them that he knew well was Summit Lake Lodge, at mile 392, where I worked for a summer in 1970.

Summit Lake Lodge

     It was a happening place back then and I am sad to see it now with broken windows, neglected roofs and smelly, crap covered floors. This place was once someone's pride and dreams. In my mind, I can still hear the juke box crying out the hit song by Doug Kershaw, Diggy Diggy Lie, Diggy Diggy Low, played over and over whenever the waitress got a tip. As I paused, I can hear echos of an old Jake Brake barking as a Canadian Freightways truck rumbled around the corner, thundering past the old shop, chased by a cloud of dust around the lower corner and out of sight and soon, sound. The highway is now paved and straightened, not nearly as challenging as it once was. Today, the trucks are also much more powerful, comfortable and capable of pulling urgent loads of freight to the north country and back.
     I drive through a recent burn where I can still smell freshly burned wood and duff. Several miles burned off, renewing the forest landscape. The whole forest I drove through has, at one time or another, been burned off and rejuvenated into diverse habitat for flora and fauna. It is beautiful now, in a harsh way.

Fresh Forest Burn

     I enjoy seeing caribou, moose and bison along the road in many places. It reminds me to slow down and pay attention to the road, especially at night. Wildlife can be everywhere.

     Autumn has arrived, more brilliant as I travel north. Golden aspen, crimson fireweed, muted in places by furry seeds, dark red shrubbery and the many greens of sunny or shaded coniferous forest lining the mountain sides and river valleys.

Autumn Colors Sept. 3/ 2015

     I pause at the Tlingit village of Teslin on the 70 mile long lake of the same name. Pulled up on the sandy shoreline are two native canoes, not carved from a tree, but rather, made of lighter fiberglass. A carved one sits on display in the nearby boat shed.

      I enjoy talking to the native museum receptionist who is trying her best to celebrate and honor the Tlingit way of life but cannot do so because of the lost salmon run. Over fishing has reduced the numbers of salmon that survive the arduous journey up the Yukon River to their lake where they traditionally had plenty of salmon to preserve. Now they must purchase fish from neighbors near Atlin. I find it sad to see a way of life lost with little hope.

Cow Moose Grazing

I look forward to the next three weeks in this magnificent land. It is so much.

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