Episode 4 and

Day 13 June 6

The day starts with a fine breakfast in the Lodge restaurant. One of the features of the place is the array of hats stuck to the ceilings and the walls everywhere. Reminds me of a cottage we rented a few years ago which had similar decor. In this case the official tally is now up to 6735 hats! No, I didn't contribute one.

tip o the cap to Toad River

The morning is cool and crisp, perfect for my last day on the road. I wonder if my luck with wildlife spotting will continue. Ummm the answer is a resounding yes, these guys are were half a kilometre down the road, then the mule deer, a young elk, three more sheep and then... but we'll get to that later.

Salt seeking sheep

The scenery is spectacular as the snow capped mountain illustrates. Mountain creeks and rivers swollen by the snow melt as temperatures are unseasonably warm.

Muncho Lake strikes me as a particularly beautiful spot in the morning light. I am enthralled by the combination of sky, water, mountains and snow. This is the North that fuels my desire to return to this area.

Muncho Lake, B.C.

And then the bison appeared.

There have been signs warning motorists to be on the lookout for these magnificent animals. As if on cue I see something ahead, a brown hump at the side of the road, then another and another and a 4,th 5th, 6th ,7th, 8th!!! I guess they really are a herd animal! They eat the grasses along the verge or lie down, completely relaxed. I take a number of photos but they all look pretty much the same. I continue past the concentration in almost disbelief and then round a corner and three more stand very close to the road. I pass them without touching the camera. On I go, less than two kms and there are two trucks parked on the shoulder. They are firefighters taking a break. What is extraordinary is that one guy is standing beside the cab and not more than ten feet away is a huge bull and he is gesturing towards it! The bison ignores the men and simply enjoys its own meal break. Beyond them is a herd of seven or eight more cows and calves. I slow but do not stop, worrying that the least disturbance might add more risk to a risky situation.

Bison and lots of them...

Fire!

As I approach Liard there are visible signs of fire. The forest is blackened on one side of the road, then a bit further on both sides of the road have been touched by the fire. A short distance beyond that trees are still smouldering and there is a sign man indicated that I should stop. He explains that a pilot truck is on its way to guide vehicles through the next area because of the ongoing concern over flare ups. It would be about a twenty minutes wait while it does the circuit. I strike up a conversation and find that the man's family home is Haines Junction in Yukon. He is Southern Tuchone now living in Ft. Nelson. I mention the incredible amount of wildlife I have seen and he thinks the fire has moved animals south. He says the fires were pretty intense, surprisingly so for this early in the year. The truck appears and off I go, feeling better about having a radio in the convoy.

Once clear of the fire area there is still a significant amount of smoke in the air. So much so that it obscures the mountains for a while. Eventually it dissipates and I am in the Yukon, able to see it in all its glory. The mountains and lakes are more familiar as I spent more time in these parts. I feel the anticipation of viewing Whitehorse rising at the end of this long trek.

Now entering forest fire area, still some smoldering going on

there is a mountain in here, honest.

Pi

lot

tr

uc

k

I am finally here and I feel a great elation in completing my journey. I am also viewing a place which captured my heart many years ago and that feeling is still there.

This is it though not its best side but you get a sense of Whitehorse nestled in the valley, the Yukon River weaving through. It is the view I see every day on the way to work.

Since my hosts Lesley and Jonathan are supposed to be canoeing, I have time to... give yourselves a pat on your back those of you who guessed... go to the public library... (and then the liquor/beer store). Not just to use the internet but to also look around my old workplace as the Archives had been part of this building. It seems an appropriate starting point on my nostalgia tour. I am scheduled to have internet time in fifteen minutes so I wander through the stacks, check out the Northern Section and stand in awe of the gigantic stone fireplace in the middle of the reading area. Ah my time is starting. I contact as many family and friends broadcasting the news of my arrival, not quite conquering Everest on a solo climb but still its something I feel is a notable accomplishment.

The next part of the blog will be an update on what has changed, what stays the same in the Yukon.

Here are some snapshots of the best bits to be seen along the Klondike Highway between Whitehorse and Skagway.

Tutshi Lake

Bove Island, my favorite spot.

Alpine vegetation clinging to a very inhospitable environment

A very unique landscape past Fraser, B.C.

Mountains of the White Pass

Just a small bush on a pathway to work. It seems as though the leaves have started an enormous tattoo project. I don't see any piercings though. I'm going to guess snail tracks but I will need to conduct some research before offering the answer.

[Editor's Note: Thanks to Rob Ingram, Yukon resident and noted amateur mothologist for this clarification. "The “snail tracks” on the aspen leaf are actually the burrowing caterpillar of the Leaf Miner moth. This spring, they were so thick in the air they looked like late snow. "So there you have it. An even better source on the bug and the blog's second footnote, happy times! http://www.gi.alaska.edu/ScienceForum/ASF17/1753.html ]

OK, let me present a bit of entertainment provided by Pumpkin, one of the three cats under my charge at my first house sitting job. First night there I was getting ready for bed and as I entered the bathroom to brush my teeth, there was Pumpkin standing front paws in the basin. I studied this for a moment and then thought what the heck and turned the water on. Here is what happened next.

Stay tuned for further developments.