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

Success in the night sky!

As on our first trip, we found Boya Lake to be one of the most beautiful places we’ve seen. The turquoise lake, left over from glacier action is hard to believe at times and I have hundreds of pictures to try to capture it. 

We also decided to try for Northern Lights one more time and were rewarded. This time, we sat alone on the lake shore at 10:30 pm and for an hour and a half, watched the green wave move up and down, duplicate, intensify, disappear and reappear. Success!! 

 

On line in the King Edward Hotel, Stewart, BC

Since leaving the Yukon we’ve been travelling south on the Stewart Cassiar Highway stopping at Boya Lake for two nights and Stewart, BC tonight. The highway is much narrower than the Alaska Highway and has more rock and rolling. It is better than first trip up here but still has had enough doozies that we’ll put on our crash helmets before opening cupboards. 

The highway has growth right up to the tiny (or missing!) shoulders which means more possibility for wildlife (and crashes!) To prove the point, a black bear stopped and looked at us while grazing on the shoulder and a sow and her cub looked up and bounded into the bushes, a few miles later we saw two more black bears. They are all skittish which is good. 
Our RV park has wifi but we were told it might not work since there are so many clouds! So we are having fish and chips in the King Edward Hotel in Stewart - theirs works well and the fish is great!

Rockin' and rollin'

Cassier Mountains - rain is coming

Goodbye!

Who says no to a billy, part ll

So the day is far from over….

We heard, while talking to the Mexicans on the river (!) that they had seen Northern Lights the night before and that they were supposed to be better tonight.... 

Lots of discussion revealed the secret: go to Fish Lake. Many questions from other “authorities” (i.e. guys on the street) told us that you travel on Fish Lake, a gravel road, until you get to the end. Another wise young man said “You then walk about an hour to get to the lake." 

Never one to walk away from a challenge, we bundled up, took blankets, hot water in a flask, books, snacks and off we went at 11:00 pm. The road was gravel but not bad - two hand-printed signs warned us that “Dog sleds, horses and carts travel this road all year long”. 

After the 15 km suggested by the most people, we rounded a corner and burst out laughing. There in front of us was a tiny lake (we only knew by the reflection of headlights) and lining its shore, a single row of lawn chairs with lumpy, bundled people hunkered down in the now 2 or 3 degree temperature. Checking the bright big dipper and little dipper (with all stars in the handle clear as day), we agreed that they were pointing in the right direction. Off in the distance was what looked like a halo of light reflected off a big city in the distance. After an hour we realized it was indeed northern lights. At midnight the lineup of people bundled back in the van that had delivered them and left. 

The halo had a tinge of green and over the next hour sent shots of faint Hollywood spot lights up now and then. One halo became two - all changes subtle and momentary and sort of interesting. By 1:10 the nanny goat had had enough excitement for the night and we drove off. 

Once home, Bill said, “Well that was great!”, Ei said, “No it wasn’t!” and he laughed and agreed “No, actually it was pathetic.” 

Guess what? The website predicts a better rating tonight. We’ll see you lakeside around midnight….

And, btw, I've signed Bill up for a two-day quilting workshop with me tomorrow...

Row of tourists from far, far away waiting patiently for the famous Aurora Borealis

Who says no to a billy (read earlier reports)...

Bill went for a 20 km bike ride in the am and stopped in Whitehorse to pick up bear spray (way too many bear-in-the-area signs!). While in the adventure store, he saw a notice about a four-hour canoe trip on the Yukon. He has been thinking about getting onto a river for our whole trip and here was our chance. My strong preference is for feet-on-the-ground adventures but why not indulge him, right? 

So, after signing our life away (will not sue in spite of rapids,drowning, animal attacks, tipped canoes, hypothermia….), we were outfitted with pfd’s, given a map (our history with hand-drawn maps has never been good) and taken down to the river. The one strong admonition was head out 45 degrees up river and paddle hard to avoid getting caught in the eddy and crashing into the cement barrier on shore upriver. No prob. We were soon heading downriver and liking the strong current which meant not too much heavy paddling. 

To cut the four-hour story short, the map was accurate in hind-sight, the 20 km trip was looong, the scenery was interesting for the first two kilometres and the same after that and neither one of us ended up with repetitive stress injuries… To be fair, we did see a bald eagle nesting area with immature eagles dotting many of the trees. That was cool. 

What was not cool was the guy picking us up at the end of 20 km forgetting and us waiting for an hour and fifteen minutes for the return ride. Others were there too, including a tour from Mexico who were not prepared for the challenge of the river (Bill ended up teaching a very tired and frightened young woman the mysteries of the J stroke to keep her canoe going straight). While waiting for our ride, they complained that after four hours of paddling, they were hungry! Many apologies from owner later, we stopped by Tim Horton’s for chili and home. 

Yukon River by canoe

Two of probably twenty eagles

Bear Buffet

We were only too aware that we were wandering along paths filled with bear treats! Bill and I had detailed and philosophical discussions whenever we ventured past bear-in-the-area signs. Non-stop talking filled the air.... It worked. No bear sightings although we probably sent the bears into early hibernation with our conversations...

Bunchberries

Ripening juniper berries

Crow berries

Ripe bunchberries

Plant life in the fall

Took me a while to realize what formed the fields of red along roadsides and under the golden trees. Turns out that fireweed, the territorial flower, changes its purple flowers into white fuzz on the top, then the flower stalks disappear and brilliant red leaves take over.

Dwarf birch is common further north and on higher altitudes

Cotton grass fills roadsides. 

A Rock Glacier in Kluane National Park

Rock glaciers are more evidence of the power of the movement of ice as the glaciers scoured the earth's surface. Lichens reveal the age of the rocks and tiny alpine plants have appeared under the worst possible conditions (dry and hot in short summer) and cold in winter.

You can see Bill up at the top edge of glacier. I take much longer - have to take pictures of every alpine plant and some lichen! 

View over Dezadeash Lake

Beautiful little alpine plant. 

Rock pathway built by 'conservation corps'. Huge stones form steps. 

Virtually every rock is covered with lichen - like a map of the ages. 

Our last few days in the Yukon

We just returned to Whitehorse (feels like home) for a few days before returning to BC and beginning our trip south. We've been in Kluane National Park for two days and once again marvelled at the  beauty of this World Heritage area. We revisited spots we stopped at during our first trip in the spring but it feels new to us with the fall colours. There was less snow on the mountains at first but it started appearing on the peaks overnight. The trees are full out in their golden and orange glory but I noticed the leaves steadily falling this morning. We also woke up to minus temperatures (Bill wondered if I was planning on coming out from under our down quilt. I was too...) but it still warms up during the day. We've managed to time our departure just right. It is truly heaven up here. No wonder planes full of Europeans (mostly Germans) arrive every week. They outnumbered the Canadians we met by far. And they consistently talk about how few people there are here compared to Europe. We are very lucky.

Kathleen Lake - national  park campground in Kluane

Kathleen Lake shoreline

Fall colours on mountain behind lake - taken in the evening just before sunset.

Hope you have an enjoyable visit and by the way, bears like it here too! This sign is attached to the picnic table.

Frost on the picnic table this morning

Prime Grizzly Bear Habitat

Last night we stayed at Congdon Creek campground which, it turns out, is located on the wildlife corridor (think Grizzly) between the mountains and Kluane Lake. Tenting is only allowed behind an electric fence. Believe me, I was very careful when I stepped outside at 2:00 am to check for northern lights (Clouds of course. And no sign of bears....)

Entrance to tenting area.