Tag: yukon2008

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canada general trip reports

yukon, ho!

Yukon River paddling. Drifting along in the current. Serenity. Eagles. Splashing paddles. A deserted island (except for the Swiss). Camp. A beaver! Marauding insects. Dinner. Hanging food out of reach of animals. Can bears swim? Random haircuts. Cards. Ever-present sunlight. Sleeping bag. Sleep. Sleep-in. Lake Laberge. No more fast current. Tail wind. Wind blown waves. Paddle paddle paddle paddle. Shuttle to Whitehorse. Icecream. Aeroplane. Home.

 

Mum and Emma
 

 

Me in a boat – I got to sit in the back, and hence got control of the rudder, fun!
 

 

The morning view from our island
 

 

Rougher paddling on Day 2
 

Categories
canada general travel trip reports

66° 33′ 39″ (in which we breakfast at the arctic circle)

There were no polar bears at the Arctic Circle. There was no snow. No seals, or ice, or igloos. All in all a fairly disappointing experience.

 

 

We stopped for breakfast there though, and revelled in the Northness. And to be fair, the lack of snow or polar bears made it a lot easier to sit around on the ground eating muesli than it would have been otherwise.

 

 

Fireweed lined the road as we drove to and from Eagle Plains to the Arctic Circle. But after our morning trip up north, we turned around and started the trip back down towards Whitehorse.

 

 

Stopping along the way in Tombstone Territorial Park, which had some of my favourite scenery from the bits of the Yukon I saw (although all of the Dempster Highway was lovely). We went for a hike up Goldensides Mountain.

 

 

Its sides were sort of golden, and it had ground squirrels. And it was a lot further to the top than it looked from the bottom.

 

 
Tombstone mountain

Categories
canada general travel

your life or your lupins, my lord

Memorable events from my first day in the Yukon, in order of happening:

    * A German girl playing Abba’s song S.O.S. on the piano in the Bed and Breakfast we’d stayed at, thus inspiring me to start learning how to play the piano (I’m easily excited).
[This was followed by an uneventful period in which we picked up a rental Subaru, looked at a gorge, picked Emma up from the airport, purchased food and camping things, then drove up towards Dawson City – which really isn’t a very exciting drive.]

 

 

    * Testing the bear spray in calm air, leading to a cloud of spray which slowly dissipated in all directions. This lead to much coughing and sneezing and teary eyes and cursing of Megan by everyone concerned.

 

 

    * Finding lupins in Moose Creek Campground (LUPINS!!!.. She’s bloody dying and all you bring us is lupins).

 

 

(So not that much happened – it’s quiet up there!)

Categories
canada general travel

a moose! a moose! (two mooses actually)

After about a year in Canada, I finally saw a moose while up in the Yukon. Two mooses. Conveniently located at Two Moose Lake, along the Dempster Highway.

 

Moose Two
 

Moose One

More tales of the Yukon coming soon, once I’ve had a little more sleep.