What was your favourite part?

We asked ourselves the usual end-of-trip question: 

The flight to the ice fields in Kluane is a definite first but what about Boya Lake with its walk through grizzly-marked country to the huge beaver dam? And the Northern Lights over the lake that night! But then there was our canoe trip down the Yukon River or the wonderful soak in LIard Hot Springs. I loved hiking the Northern Klondike Trail on the tundra in Tombstone with our French-Canadian guide, Tommy. Bill loved his kayak trip on Boya Lake. 
We enjoyed many conversations with Europeans - mostly German which made us even more appreciative of our beautiful country. We loved the conversations we had in the indigenous cultural centres - these educated young people taught us lots. 

The fall colour was spectacular and there were no bugs until the very end when swarms of tiny flies appeared once or twice. We survived the cold (coldest was -5) and were thankful for our Hutterite-made down quilt that kept us toasty. I was thankful for Bill being first up to turn up the furnace and make a pot of coffee. Bill will have driven about 9000 miles with no complaints and never a scary moment. He dypsy-doodled into tiny crevices at some campgrounds and we actually developed an arm-waving communication that made me feel useful at times. 

We are saying good bye to our Yukon adventure and are now focused on getting to Nelson by Saturday where we will attend a funeral and say another goodbye. This time to a good friend. 

Spring or fall?

And a comparison between our two trips?  If you are lucky enough, I’d suggest you go both times. The bears lying in dandelion fields in the spring, the freshly green boreal forest, and the blue skies lasting almost all night, make up (almost) for the bugs. 

But the colours in the fall and the night sky will make you gasp. And the freedom from bug spray or hats is a definite plus. The constant warning about bears was nerve-wracking and the lack of seeing them a relief and disappointment. 

Of the 70,000 Yukon moose and multiple warnings on the roads, we saw one and a half (cow and calf) and couldn’t stop or turn around for a longer view. Of the caribou highway crossings we crossed, not a hair of a caribou was seen but we did see a lynx, three foxes, three coyotes and two herds of bison and hundreds of stone and dall sheep - all wonderful to see.

Wilma lives again!

Runner-up in the star animal category was the pine squirrel. Every park campsite we’ve stayed at had a resident pine squirrel madly running across the clearing - often with huge treasures in his mouth and occasionally letting us hear its over-the-top reaction to some unknown offence. 

We also see them taking kamikaze runs across the highway as if they are in training for squirrel olympics. They made the finish line every time and with Bill and I screaming encouragement. 

Now on the Yellowhead

We left Hazelton after a night in Ksan. It was drizzling and overcast and demonstrated how lucky we have been with the weather for our whole trip. Nothing is as much fun in the rain. 
I looked at our 2014 pictures and you can see for yourself!

Today - mountains? What mountains?

June 2014

We left the Stewart-Cassiar highway at Kitwanga and joined the Yellowhead highway. It felt like we were leaving the wilderness behind. The Yellowhead has passing lanes, shoulders and towns with Subway,  KFC and A&W. It cuts across BC from Prince Rupert to Jasper. 

The trip was still beautiful following the Skeena River to its confluence with the Bulkley at Ksan. Both huge, mighty rivers. Bulkley Valley alternates boreal forest and rolling farmland with logging active in the background if the passing trucks and land sorts are any indication. 

Star animal - The Beaver!

While at Boya Lake, we walked the 3 km beaver dam hike and revisited the tree with the grizzly bear claw marks we’d seen three years ago. Turns out it is a favourite sharpening spot and many other gouges have been added - all about seven feet up the tree. But all of them seemed old enough that Bill kept his bear spray in the holster…

The beaver dam must be tripled in size and is now holding about five feet of lake behind it. An amazing feat for the furry, orange-toothed creatures. 

Later Bill went for an evening kayak and had three of the beavers play acting as great white sharks circling his boat and trying to convince him to leave. He took the hint in order to avoid stressing them and didn’t tell the one that his fake dorsal fin had slipped off.

Really, like the bears lying in dandelion fields on our first trip, the beavers were the star attraction this time. We saw them a number of times in a number of places, usually on evening walks, as well as closeups of successful and unsuccessful long-toothed wedges they left behind.

I feel proud of this Canadian symbol. Peaceful, determined, and hard-working, when you look at the product of their efforts, it seems they are always optimistic if at times unrealistic. As WMR says, "They punch above their weight." 

Beaver Dam - lake behind dam is about five feet higher

Dang! I hate it when that happens!

No! Not that way...

From the King Edward....

I've set up my 'office' in the King Edward Hotel restaurant - computer on one side of me, corned chowder on the other! Really good internet here so this is a chance to upload pics before we head out into the wilderness again. We stop at Hazelton next and don't expect to have services - just beauty!
We are in Stewart now but went across the border into Hyder this morning in the faint hopes we'd see grizzlies gorging on salmon. Turns out that although bears have been here recently (and are still around town raiding gardens) their main meal,  chum, arrive as early as July here so we are out of luck.
But we are finding it interesting anyway. We are in the middle of west coast temperate rainforest - the trees are dripping with lichen and old man's beard, clouds are low on the mountainsides and in no time there will be big snows - the average is 18 feet. We asked the woman at the border (Canadian) about living here - she likes to snowmobile!
Hyder (the American side) is literally falling down but Stewart is doing better - there is a port here (furthest north port that stays open year-round) and mining and logging. But the waitress and woman at the desk of the hotel are both out of here at the end of the week - they say the town will be deserted by then.

Bear-viewing platform sans bears

Stewart side - Hyder is worse

Bear country

The Beauty that is Boya Lake

View from our doorstep

Sunset

Morning - heading out for hike