Good to be home.....

Time for reflecting.....Time for adjusting to reality of retirement....This is going to be a tough act to follow....What an adventure I've had.....In talking to friends since my return, I recognize that perhaps many would have not had the courage to set off on a trip such as this....As I said before, we don't realize how vast this country is until you drive for 3 hours without seeing a single vehicle, farm, cabin or garage....and the fact it takes you 5 days to get to your destination (Heather's speed). Now comes the question, what do I do with this blog.....Certainly archive it somehow....I have started to print it off, because it has become my journal or record of memories of my trip......as I print I realize there was already some things I had forgotten.....laughs or smiles along the way.....a photo will trigger a memory..That's whats important about photos....its a record of a life or lives.....baby's births, birthdays, special events....My wee ones will have memories when they grow I will make sure of that.....I have also ensured this interest is passed down the generations, Jody is an excellent photo taker and has collected an impressive number of photos herself ;-) and each one of the girls now have small digital cameras for their own use....Maddissen is coming over today to get me to help her download her memory card.

I do not expect anyone to have to sit and watch all 2200 photos I took on my trip....All the company would be asleep in 20 min. if that happened.....but I will have a slide show on the TV as guests are over......and the odd one that is noticed will create a story to tell.....because that's just what photos do.......;-) I have received such positive feedback over this blog, it must have been a great idea....I know it was fun to do.

I must though recap my trip home.....it was another big decision which at times I doubted that it was the smartest thing I had ever done....

Day one I travelled to Whitehorse only 4 hours but it allowed me time to shop for lunches etc. because I knew there was going to be no where to stop along the way.....Phyl called me that evg. because she had heard the route I wanted to take (Stewart/Cassier highway) was closed due to mudslides......I was very disappointed as I had reservations along the way and so wanted to see the Grizzleys feeding on the salmon in Stewart BC. When I arrived at the intersection to turn south....here is the sign "ROAD CLOSED single lane traffic 11 AM to 2 PM

My questions????where????when????why??? This road requires two days travel to Stewart.....where was it closed? I went into garage to try and obtain more info.....and found out there were two or three washouts that were currently being worked on......!!!! I decided to try it.......immediately doubted my decision because right at the start there was construction on the highway and I had to follow a grader for miles as he chewed up the highway......Oh well I had committed....and obviously the decision worked out wonderful....Yes there were some hairy moments with large loose gravel and three washouts....The first day there was not much traffic at all.....but after my stay in Dease Lake overnight and meeting another couple from the states pulling a tent trailer and doubting their decision making processes, we had brekkie together and hit the road again along with numerous motor homes that I assume had been stranded in Dease Lake for a few days....Oh well at least I wasn't alone on the road if I had difficulty....

My little CRV ran beautifully for me the whole trip, even gave me great gas mileage. but I was worried about flat tires on this road so took it slow and easy. I realized I must have been stressed without realizing it as I didn't take any photos!!!!!! Wasn't until I passed the washout and was on my way to Stewart on the 2nd day I was stopping along the way.

This just may have been the nicest rest stop along the way. I also noticed campgrounds along this portion of the highway were beautiful, impeccably groomed, large sites and of course perfect views...and empty!! probably due to road closures....Oh for a little motor home.. ;-)))))

On to Stewart, I had done a lot of research with going to Stewart, they have an excellent web-site for tourists. Stayed at the Kate Ryan Inn part of the Ripley Creek Inn group. Stewart I'm told received 12' of snow per year. I think that does a number on paint.....As I drove into town the first thing I seem to notice is houses that need paint....It is a charming town with its own character....When I made reservations their only request in accommodating Oliver was that he be kept on a leash as there was chickens running through the yard.....

The room was delightfull.....hugh bathroom, cool tile floors, down filled comforters, verhanda overlooking the garden and chicken coop....Oliver and the roosters got along just fine, he lay on the step not taking his eyes off that rooster after giving one polite "ruff". The rooster continued telling him whose coop this belongs to the entire couple of days.....A macho thing!!!

Now on to my bears.....the reason I came to Stewart....In August the grizzleys come to feast prior to their winter hardships. Right next to Stewart you travel across the U/S border to Hyder Alaska "America's friendliest ghost town"

One main street and little else, another place filled with character. But the site for viewing the bears was great. There is a large long boardwalk built against the mtn. over the salmon stream probably over 1 block long. My first visit was in the morning and was lucky enough to see two grizzleys....One straggly loner and then "Monica" came with her three cubs.....They entertained me for well over an hour...She caught three large salmon and the cubs fought, argued over these salmon very loudly....

Momma caught all the fish...cubs are attempting but not succeeding at this point..

In the morning there were few people on the deck viewing the grizzleys...but in the evg. when I went back the picture changed...After viewing a hugh, beautifully colored rust grizzley for quite a while I noticed there were about 200 people on the deck. Time for Heather to leave and enjoy other sights....

Which also was not a tough thing to do....I was glad I had decided to stay two days in Stewart thinking I needed a break in the driving but I needed the time to see everything....I took the time to take some side roads and walk with Oliver up the boardwalk onto the tidal basin.....It is a beautiful spot in the world....

On the road into Stewart there is endless shows of glaciers along the highway....and a "Valley of Tears" named because of the fact there are so many waterfalls.....

Not the best time of day to be taking photos...

Valley of tears

At the beginning of my trip when creating one of the first blogs....I remember asking Would I do this again? At that time I said no.....what I meant was I probably would not drive again....I had seen the countryside, sights, etc. and it would certainly be cheaper to fly....I have had discussions with others.....about other options....perhaps flying up and renting a motorhome.....retiring the old van up in the Yukon.........so I am leaving my options open....one trip does not show me all the sights.....;-)))) I will be back...

I'm home

Remember the measure of summer?When the tip of the fireweed is blooming, summer is over....I watched the fireweed as I drove all those miles and in some places it is blooming at the tip...and if you look hard enough, in the shady areas, it still has a long way to go....So I'm going with the shady......Again as on the way up, it was cloudy and rainy as I was going through Prince George. I saw a sign on the side of the road that said "Original Forest" and also remembering how important it is to get off that highway and find the treasures, I turned around and went into a hole in the forest. The road immediately turned into a off-road trail stewn with boulders....my mind was telling me, I didn't need a flat off the highway for no one to see me.....so I stopped and took a beautiful break.....I was looking for a photo that showed the fading fireweed and I found one that included the misty mountains....How perfect....Never did see the "Original Forest" though......I was also curious as to how far the fireweed travels south? This trip has made me much more aware of the wild flowers of Canada. I have to admit I had taken them for granted. ...I enjoyed the sights of a hillside covered with Old Mans Wiskers...enough to bring them home to enjoy in my own garden....That is one flower I only saw in the Yukon on my quad trip up Sunshine mtn. ....a wee one hovering in the shelter of a rock...I brought home so many flower seeds....my next couple of weeks is going to be busy. Leaving so early in the year, a lot of spring garden work did not get completed...I am going to be busy catching up...and loving every minute of it...holidays are great but coming home feels real good also.....;-)



I now remember what draws individuals to the Yukon. The traffic started about Prince George and continued through Jasper National Park all the way home.....Now I did happen to pick the Sat. of a long weekend to arrive home, which happens when your retired, you forget long weekend stuff.......The traffic actually came to a complete stop on the trans Canada just after Lake Louise....My immediate thoughts were, "I don't want to see an accident, or an animal hit" as I came closer and closer to the bottleneck. It was a bear sitting nonchalantly on the other side of the wire fence on the side of the highway, with at least 200 people running up and down the ditch taking his photo....One car in front of me came to a complete stop craning their necks to see what they were missing....I gave a polite beep on the horn just to remind them they were travelling on the trans Canada highway....only to be completely ignored.....!!!! I waited, impatiently, I must admit remembering all my opportunities to observe wildlife throughout my trip.....and none were behind a wire fence.....How lucky I have been.....Lets also be thankful there were not crowds of people up in the Yukon running in the ditch to take photos....I hope that never changes.....I hope I always have some space to travel to.....I love my little nest in Calgary, but I need my open spaces and quiet also......



Hey.....there has been enough blither on this blog and not enough photos....
I have 5 days to catch up on.....

The trip to Stewart and my decision to travel on a
Road Closed section of the highway....
The highlight of Stewart of course the bears feeding
on the salmon....and the beauty of the Stewart highway.
So glad I followed my gut feeling and
ignored the sign.....

Haines/Juneau/Skagway Ferry

It was foggy/cloudy on the trip to Haines and it rained all the next day but our ferry ride the sun came out in all its glory and gave us a spectacular ferry ride....On this particular Sunday there was not a direct trip to Haines/Skagway so we just compromised and went along to Juneau just to see....A wee bit more expensive but 5 hours of sightseeing. No whales or dolphins visited the boat but we did see glaciers and wee light houses....beautiful....
The trip caused a little bit of adjusting at the Juneau...the ship loads at one end and unloads at the other...so when we were in port we had to run downstairs and turn the car around on the car deck...but I had the whole empty deck to do so...The area around the mountains of course was a little behind Faro being at a higher altitude...So the flowers were just in their prime.
the Harebells were peeking out under the guardrails...










I didn't catch the name of this glacier, there were numerous along the route...










Skagway seemed to be the mecca for the cruise ships. They are geared to the influx of people so much more so than Haines...We saw no ships at Haines at all but in Skagway at times I remember 5 ships at a time. There are enough shops, to handle all the people and what was nice was I could drop Phyl off at any shop in town and get a parking spot right in front of the store. We had lunch at Jewell Gardens in Skagway Salmon Quiche & salad in the greenhouse...and shopping in the gift shop....(bought more seeds)
One of the reasons for wanting to return to Skagway was to see it out from underneath all the snow...and it proved to be worth the effort......

We had another cloudy day right down to the highway at times...but still beautiful to drive. Formerly the lakes were invisible, covered with white blinding snow....I hear that some of the ponds captured in little hollows become quite warm with the sun and can be used for swimming.....(not on this day)


Do you remember the original photo I took with the reflecting puddles in the ice....A much different picture on this day coming back from Skagway.....beautiful in itself..but showing you have to be in the right spot at the right time...I have been so fortunate to be here for so long because it has given me those exact opportunities....




Windy Point...appropriate....I lost the original reflection on my original trip but now could compensate with the fireweed in the foreground...;-)






This gem was completely invisible on my first trip...what a pleasure to see it in all its glory....(note the clearing skies the closer we got to Whitehorse)





All of a sudden on the Atlin Road I found another old log cabin with the required fireweed in front of it....The light was terrible the hottest part of the day.....but the best I could get....




































Hello there......wellcome....to the Yukon...;-)))

Back home in Faro the little cross fox missed me and the following morning he came right into the yard looking for brekkie....By the time I ran for the camera he was on his way out over the wood pile....saying goodbye Heather for this year....

I am leaving in the morning...I have had such a good holiday. It was supposed to be an adjustment to retirement period...but it felt like a holiday and the time has gone so quickly.....
It feels good to be going home though...can't wait to nest in my little spot again....
I am stopping in Stewart BC and Hyder Alaska to see the grizzlies...There was a wildlife photographer in town for the wild meat BBQ yesterday and I looked at everyone of his photos.....including the grizzlies......I am planning to stay for two days for a break in the driving....Plan to arrive home Sunday evg.....I'm almost sure I will find more photos on the way home...so stay tuned in the next couple of weeks to see what I find....It has been a pleasure......

Haines, Alaska

Good morning. On one of my final days (for this trip!) here I am working on what has become a routine on my visit here. I am sitting looking out Phyl and Doc's view over the valley, with my morning coffee and my blog.....The valley is full of fog with the sun shinning brightly on the tops of the mountain on the other side....beautiful....I also am making plans to start off for home...making reservations in Dease Lake and Stewart BC. I am headed off Monday morn for Whitehorse..have decided to take the long way around as the Campbell highway (or shall I say road) is a little to long and remote for this city girl.....and besides what's the rush???
If I stay an extra day in Stewart as planned, I will probably arrive home Sat. evg.....
But not wanting to leave behind any memories,, I shall tell you about Haines/Skagway....
This journal has been very helpful to record memories, its surprising when you are so busy what you can forget...
Haines, we found looked quite waterlogged like most parts of the world these days...The Chillkoot river never did come over the road, but at times I was very surprised.
The entrance to Haines is an eagle sanctuary, with the largest influx in Nov. feeding off the smelts and salmon in the river. The water is quite warm in the cold Alaska winters and that is what attracts the eagles.

I have to admit this is Phyl's photo (why didn't I think of that??) but as usual we are sharing ;-) It rained all of the first day we were there...Our motel room did not have a window view of the harbour, but did have a veranda surrounding the building but alas we were unable to make use of it due to the rain. So we compromised and drove from one end of the trail to the other and I found some beautiful rain forest campgrounds with no people in them!!!!!! I could not believe they were empty....we would so love that near Calgary, you have to drive a few miles to find that in our area.
Again I found myself fantasizing about having a small motor home and the ability to drop anchor and take advantage of the opportunities.....It was beautiful...The
green grass growing on the approaches
showed me no one else had been there for quite a while...peaceful There was one family with the kids racing about their lot it reminded me of yrs. ago camping with the kids on Vancouver island by Tofino. (remember the whale on the beach guys?)










At the western end of the trail there is a river strewn with large boulders, a popular fishing spot, hip waders up to their chins standing in waist deep swiftly running water and very successfully catching what I think was very large salmon...

Chilkoot Lake at the source of this river was
beautiful with the low clouds and windless
reflections. We found ourselves finding excuses to take a drive back out here to just enjoy.









This does not look real does it? Its going to be one of those photos that I will be able to use for my rocks or cards or framing. No skill in taking this photo I just had to stand there and drink it all in.













For the life of me, give me a boulder and a horizon and I cannot get the horizon straight...I must life life a little crooked ;-))))
I have tried to compensate, it never works!!!

The residents of this lovely spot in the world show they so appreciate their area by the art work, whimsical gardening etc. in front of their homes. One we came across was especially inventive.
What better use for old boats??












I have so many photos and so many stories...I may have to wrap up when I get home and organize, but I have one more morning here to tell you of the ferry ride from Haines-Juneau-Skagway. See you in the morning. ;-)

Alaska trip

Son of bear?









We were taking a break on the side of the road on our way to Haines, Alaska and this fellow in a truck pulled up with a smile on his face....It was a fellow from Oregon, also freshly retired, he had chosen to sell everything, gave half his furniture to his daughter, half to his son....bought a truck and camper and said goodbye...didn't know where he was going, didn't know when he would be back....and having the time of his life....He stopped to talk because he saw Oliver behind my car and swore from a distance he looked like a bear cub....by the time he approached us he was smiling at his mistake....one that created quite the conversation at the side of the Alaska mountain.....a pleasure.... We also could have had a conversation with a grizzly and her cub if so inclined....on the side of the road, she obviously was very used to the paparazzi and ambled quietly to the opposite side when she was ready....















Our focus for this trip (other than having a great time) was to find some white fireweed. We had seen it in the books but could find none around the area....Photo in book said Alaska...so we were on the look and found it....Halfway between Haines Jnct. Yukon and Haines Alaska...





It was just a wave in amongst a bank of regular fireweed....beautiful...I stopped of course to get closer and smiled as someone else had already been there and trampled all the horsetail fern in front getting the perfect shot....I wasn't the first!!!!!








The road to Alaska against the Kluane park was my perfect highway drive...I felt like I had been there before...I couldn't put my finger on it....was it Hawaii?BC? or the top of Alberta somewhere? but I felt comfortable.....The weather was typical of this summer, started off cloudy and eventually rain for a full day....I at first thought I'm not seeing the peaks but the cloud was so low it was fascinating driving up to and through the cloud banks....visibility sometimes down to about 50'... I loved it....want to do it again.....
There was not a lot of traffic, a real
casual drive....It supposed to be a couple of hours drive....but we stopped in Haines Jct. for lunch and then arrived in Haines about 5:30 pm and of course had halibut fish & chips for supper.....
I stopped at a neat place along the way called Million Dollar Falls.....they had stairs built along the cliff side to get the best advantage point...rock face covered with twin flowers and Dog wood....



I constantly have to take a moment and remember where I am..in the middle of a vast expanse of very limited population. When I do see a cabin out in the middle of nowhere, I have to wonder what brings people to this isolation. They have picked a perfect spot.









Haines appeared to be flooding as are many areas in Canada are this year...The Chilkat River was right up to the road...The residents are gearing up for the salmon/smelts run with fishing camps and very unusual fishing gear tied to the guardrails on the side of the road. We saw eagles but were not as quick as they were and I walked away with no photos...
A few times in my visit to the Yukon I have wished for a motor home. The ideal way to see the country would be to travel with everything you need and stop whenever an opportunity arose. One of those times was Haines. At either end of the Chillkoot trail were my ideal spots to hide for a few days. Tomorrow I will share.

Wrap Up

White Mtn. Moss Heather....One of my great finds on Sunshine Mtn. Yukon It was in the Yukon flower books, but I couldn't find it....
There it was right up at the top huddled in a depression away from the wind and rain....
This is not a perfect shot....I have a lot to learn with focus on closeup's and when your at the top of the mountain on a quad trip there is no second chances...



There were other flowers also....ones I cannot identify.. but no matter their name they make a pretty picture.










I think it may be a violet of some kind, the leaves around it may not belong to it!!!! I will have to leave this to the experts..There were others of course.




Northern Monkshood
I found this in the outfitters corral where we spent an hour having lunch...


















Yesterday the company left for Dawson Yk. so Phyl and I set off back to the log cabin on the North Canol Rd just 20 min from Ross River Yk. I wanted photos of the cabin with the fireweed blooming all around.....It didn't happen....the fireweed is there always was, but its not blooming!!!!! But of course I still found some photos.


A nice surprise of Tall Bluebells against the shady side of the log cabin.


Remnants of a sod roof....How many yrs. old?









A forgotten trophy left in the lean to on the side of the sod roof cabin...













Fireweed not blooming..........yet???????








I have had the luxury of being up in the Yukon almost three months now....What that has done for me is seeing almost a full season cycle. I saw blinding white snow in Jasper and Skagway...I saw the first signs of spring in the lupine, all the flowers lining the roadways including Yellow Dryad's with their little nodding heads...At this time of year they have gone to seed in a most interesting way....not unlike a dandelion the seed forms a puff that floats away in the winds (unless captured in a plastic bag in the back of Heather's CRV) and left with a cute little twist, all exactly the same. I thought I had never seen this little gem before but Sam just sent me photos of his latest hiking trip with Alister and there they were all lining the path he was walking on....good to know they are at home for me....
















I have spent this quiet rainy afternoon catching up with my blog....Phyl and I leave for Haines Alaska and back to Skagway on Thursday, so I'm not sure when I will get that opportunity again.
I am also heading home after that trip...taking my time to see the rest of the country...stopping at Stewart BC to see the grizzles feeding on the salmon....The excitement of seeing Stewart perhaps makes leaving this wonderful spot in the world a little easier.