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Commuting in the Yukon- Can Ya Bear It?
2008-06-07 16:10:00
This photo is from Sleddog Stacie’s blog yesterday. While this is a brown-phase black bear, there have also been grizzlies seen regularly the past 3 weeks in the Dry Creek area between Spirit Lake and Carcross. Sure beats bumper-to-bumper freeway traffic, eh?     
More About: Commuting , Bear , Yukon

It’s a Dog’s Life
2008-06-07 15:39:00
I find it funny how this term that used to mean a hard, hungry life has now been turned completely around. While the number of rescue shelters around prove that many dogs still lead lives that suck, there are certainly lots who live very good lives. What started me thinking about that quote was watching Monty the past few days. As things have started growing around the property, and as he and Kayla now have about an acre fenced off for them, he is in heaven, mousing in the corral and then taking it easy at the top of the rock garden we’re building.    I was down to Carcross to see Michelle Phillips (YukonHuskies.com) yesterday, and saw more huskies who have fine lives. They get to meet people all day (Alaska cruise ship passengers, mostly), go for runs through the forest towing a cart full of those people, and get fed well. It’s a dog’s life? Bring it on!    Today there are many products using the good modern meaning of the quote, such as:    A Dog&rsqu...
More About: Life

World Naked Gardening Day
2008-05-27 22:14:00
Darn, missed the May 3rd celebration of World Naked Gardening Day again. I just can’t think about gardening when there’s still snow on the ground, I suppose. This incredible weather, though, prompted me to check the date - and I suppose as with many special days, celebrating late is better than not celebrating at all (I must remember that anniversaries aren’t included in that category - especially the first anniversary). Gardening in comfort, with no laundry to do and no tan lines - who can argue about the logic of all that? (today’s photos won’t be gettin’ posted! )

Late Winter to Mid-Summer in 48 Hours!
2008-05-26 17:19:00
What a weekend that was! Yesterday it hit 27°C (80.6°F), a new record for the day (the previous record was 26.1 in 1947). You could practically watch the trees leafing out, and the snow melting from Golden Horn. The two photos below were taken from our breakfast table 24 hours apart, yesterday at 8:00 am, and this morning. I expect there are a whole lot of people cringing as they put their clothes on over their sunburns today!   
More About: Summer , Winter , Late , Hours

A Beautiful Surprise
2008-05-22 20:09:00
At the cabin, the arrival of Trumpeter and Tundra swans at Lake Bennett were always the first sign that Spring was nearing. At our new property, we haven’t had any clear sign yet - faint tree budding and some mildly energetic sprouting on the ground but nothing significant. Until today. Some areas around the Yukon have had crocusses up for a few weeks now, but all of a sudden this morning we have lots in our now-damp forest.  
More About: Beautiful

Hey Yukoners, You Left Too Early!
2008-05-20 07:15:00
Driving down to Skagway with Cathy this afternoon (after 2 days of painting bedrooms), we met a fairly steady stream of Yukon RVs heading home after what had apparently been a pretty poor weekend weathwerwise. Check out the photo below to see what those folks missed, though - by 4:30 Skagway time it was 20°C! (click to enlarge the photo) We had a wonderful afternoon walking out to Yakutania Point, dinner at the Skagway Fish Company and then a drive to Dyea. A day of stunningly beautiful scenery with weather to match.    
More About: Left , Early

Photographing & Sharing Your Dream Trip
2008-05-18 16:06:00
Photographing your dream trip and sharing it with friends, as it happens or later, gets easier and cheaper all the time. Digital photography was the biggest change in that direction - where I used to always at least subconsciously ask myself if the photo I had framed was worth 50 cents, now I just shoot. The downside of that can be that many people posting photos online don’t know what makes a good photograph. First, they don’t know how to take a given scene and make it work (I had the photo to the right in my mind, for example, but had to wait 10 minutes or so for those hikers to come along).  and then don’t know how to edit their photos down to just the best before posting. Sorry, but I just haven’t got time to wade through the entire 1,000 photos you took to see the 30 best ones. It takes more than an excellent camera to get excellent photos, but if you’re up for a very good digital SLR, the Canon Digital Rebel XTi has probably bottomed out now - I...
More About: Dream , Trip , Sharing

In Search of Spring
2008-05-16 05:44:00
The wind has a bite to it, and most of the fence post holes I’m digging still get stalled when I hit solid ice a few inches below the surface, so today I took advantage of an opportunity to go to Skagway with my buddy Rob, who needed to pick up some UPS stuff at Wings. This is the time of year when we can often change seasons with that 2-hour drive, sometimes with bears as a bonus. Seeing Emerald Lake free of ice put the trip off to a good start.     The dramatic light and spindrift on Lime Mountain just south of Carcoss stopped us for a few photos. From here south, though, the wind was screaming - probably 70-80kmh. All of the lakes other than Emerald are still locked up in ice.     We got to Fraser just as a WP&YR train pulled in - no Spring here!     One particular tour guide in Skagway has been posting on online Forums for weeks that the flowers are in bloom there. Perhaps in his sister’s greenhouse they are - as you can see here, the trees are just star...
More About: Search

Digital Magazines
2008-05-12 18:21:00
Years ago it was said by some self-proclaimed pundits that the digital age would be the end of books, magazines and newspapers. While that hasn’t happened, there have been some major changes in the publishing world. I love the feel of books, and e-books will never replace them in my house. I seldom buy a newspaper anymore, though, because I get most of what I want online. I enjoy magazines for the content and colour of them, but I hate taking several pounds of them to Raven Recycling. Until this morning, though, I hadn’t found a digital equivalent. This morning I got an email from Zinio.com - they transform 850 print magazines into digital format. The same content, same design, with no downloads, software installation or plug ins required. You can access your library online from any computer, and have the option to download and read offline, too.  Add features like archive, search, bookmark and share, and the fact that you can browse the magazine stand in your pyjamas. ...
More About: Magazines , Digital

Renovation Progress
2008-05-09 18:30:00
It’s finally starting to feel like Spring, even though the wind still feels like it’s blowing straight off the glaciers. We’re in major renovation mode now. The wood I cut is almost all removed from around the property, though I have a lot of cutting-to-length, splitting and stacking to do yet. What used to be a closet at the back door has been cut down to counter height, to serve as a serving area for the dining room, and to let more light in (combined with a new glass back door). The barn is cleaned out and half of the interior wall cut out to allow for vehicle storage (the pickup for now, but who knows in the future ). The 50 or so wheelbarrow loads of straw and horse nuggets are spread over the septic field to help raise it’s level above Spring runoff. Yesterday the Home Hardware truck arrived with $6,000 worth of doors, decking and fence supplies, and I brought a pickup load down from the cabin where I’d stashed it when we moved from the city hou...
More About: Progress , Renovation

Magic Moments on the Stewart-Cassiar
2008-05-05 18:45:00
I had intended to post a fairly lengthy report about my trip home from Calgary, but there just aren’t enough hours in the day. I do want to show you a very special moment that happened during the trip, though. I left Stewart at 6:00 am (an hour before the only breakfast restaurant in town opened) and was at the Bear Glacier as the sun came up in a light-cloudy sky a half-hour later. On the way into Stewart this was a spooky spot, with avalanches coming down everywhere. This morning, though, it was -1°C so things were temporarily firmed up. There wasn’t a sound, and I sat there for quite a while soaking up all of the spirit of the place I could. Moments like this are why I travel. (click on the photo to enlarge it)
More About: Magic

Spam and Blogs
2008-05-05 18:10:00
You all know about email spam, but many of you won’t know that blogs are prime targets for spammers. Not just sex ads like the majority of email spams, but anything you can imagine, from travel agents to magazine sales. The only thing that keeps me relatively sane is a Wordpress plugin called Spam Karma 2. What would life be like without it? Well, in the past 24 hours, Spam Karma has caught 887 phoney posts!!! Obviously if I had to deal with that manually, this blog would have been closed a long time ago. In my perfect world there would be a minimum 2 year jail term for spammers and taggers…
More About: Blogs

Wolf Hybrids & Cats
2008-05-04 16:25:00
Kayla is a such a sweet dog I often chuckle at how she came into my life, and about the wolf-hybrid horror stories that circulate. She’s a registered wolf hybrid from a breeder in Ocala, Florida. When she was abandoned in Whitehorse, I took her in with the understanding that it would be short-term until I could find a suitable home for a dog “known” to be unpredictable and potentially violent. That was in 2000. It quickly became apparent that she was nothing like the legends suggest she would be. The photo below shows her with Latimer yesterday afternoon - I never let Kayla have puppies, but Latimer happily accepts that role     
More About: Cats , Hybrids , Wolf

Road Trip - Whitehorse to Calgary
2008-04-17 19:06:00
It’s time for a major road trip to see some of my family in Calgary and Kelowna. It was timed so that I could help my daughter and grand-daughters move when I reached Calgary. I left the house at 6:15 am on April 13th with the temperature at 0°C. When I turned onto the Alaska Highway I found it quite amusing to have the GPS voice tell me that the first turn I needed to make was 1,389 km away! That’s the roundabout at Dawson Creek, Mile 0 of the highway. Gas at Whitehorse yesterday had risen to $1.259 per liter at most stations, but SuperSave still had it on for $1.199. Once I lost Whitehorse radio at Jake’s Corner I fired up some classic John Lee Hooker on my iPod, putting me in a better marathon-road-trip mood Topped up my gas at the Yukon Motel in Teslin for $1.269 per liter. The photo below is southbound at Logjam Creek, Km 1165.   Rancheria Lodge was open and had a survey crew staying there - gas was $1.299. Reached Watson Lake at 10:55, with the temperatur...
More About: Trip , Road Trip , Road

Keep Fit by Photographing Polar Bears
2008-04-11 20:16:00
Or at least trying to photograph polar bear. This solo sport helps develop agility, coordination and mental acuity in survivors. It’s also great fun to take photos of the participating athletes. 
More About: Bears , Polar , Polar bears

Want More Winter? - Go To Calgary!
2008-04-10 17:09:00
I just pulled this image from the Calgary traffic cam site - it might be funny if I wasn’t leaving for Calgary on Sunday.  
More About: Winter

Digging our way into Spring!
2008-04-09 21:25:00
It’s not really Spring yet with well-below-freezing temperatures every night, but many folks in the North are digging their way into Spring, if not Summer. Up in deep snow country (the White Pass), the Yukon Suspension Bridge has the trenches dug into the property, now has to wait for Mother Nature to lend a hand.  At Spirit Lake Lodge, they got an early start and are now well into drying out.  Here at Mary Lake, I’m doing lots of digging. As well as getting the driveway dried out, I’d like to have the white stuff gone from a few areas when I get back from a road trip to Calgary and Kelowna (I’m leaving on Sunday) so I can get a permanent dog fence built, with gates so I can get my truck back to the barn and firewood shed. With a couple of huskies, I’m doing other digging as well - that’s a job that some people are able to find the humour in  What we really need now is a day or 2 of heavy rain - Spring arrives very quickly when that happens, ...

Does Progress Have to be Ugly?????
2008-04-02 18:36:00
I don’t think I’m a radical at all when it comes to progress - I understand the greys, not just the blacks and whites of issues. But Yukon Electrical seems to have carte blanche to do whatever they want in the Yukon, with no regulatory and/or public input, and that bugs me. When the Mayo-Dawson power line was built a few years ago, a lot of people raised hell about the location of it - right beside a highway that used to have some great views. The result of the complaints - nada. Now another power line is being built along the South Klondike Highway (and apparently along the North Klondike as well). There is a power line along the South Klondike now, but it’s mostly back in the bush, out of sight. I assume that this is an upgrade to the line. I’ve heard nothing about it - was anybody consulted? Did they go through the YESAP process that everyone else has to go through to do anything related to the land? I’ve haven’t been in touch with Yukon going...
More About: Progress , Ugly

Chain Saw + Sweat = Mountain View
2008-03-27 22:40:00
I love our new property. Most mornings, we have over 150 birds feeding at the 2 feeders or close by, and their sound filling the forest is wonderful.   Renovations have started on both property and house, though, and seeing if we could get a mountain view without losing any privacy was high priority. This was the view from the breakfast nook 3 days ago.    Another issue was that a tree had fallen against the barn, doing some minor damage, and a huge one that could do serious damage is leaning over the barn.     I got the view cutline figured out, and the first major sweat has been cutting down trees the past couple of days. Today I’m resting - that’s tough work for an old man!  This is the view looking back at the house from half way up the corral.    Tah-dah! Here’s Golden Horn this morning. I LOVE mountains, and having this view has made a huge difference to both of us.    
More About: Mountain View , View , Mountain , Chain

That Spring Feeling!
2008-03-22 02:20:00
When I posted last Saturday that Winter was over, I must have tempted fate, because Father Winter returned the next day and got the de-icing crews at YXY back to work.  We’ve had a good run of days now where the temperature gets above freezing for a while now, though, and the White Pass summit area is loaded with people enjoying what may be the best snow conditions of the year. I was down to Skagway yesterday - the summit had 4-6 inches of fresh snow, the temperature was -6°C, and there was a steady stream of RVs of all types coming down the highway. Playing hookey for half a day or so to get a good parking spot at the Summit or Log Cabin is almost mandatory with these conditions on what, for many people, is a 4-day weekend!  Cathy and I were out for a walk around the neighbourhood today, and saw a few pussy willows fully out, and many of the willows are swollen. It seems pretty early, but it’s great to see them - come on Spring !
More About: Feeling

Our Best Travel Aid
2008-03-20 01:36:00
The Washington Post is running an interesting poll on what readers consider to be the best travel innovation of the last decade. The leader by far at this point is suitcases with wheels, which is what I chose. But there are a lot of great choices. For our New Zealand trip, a GPS (one of the choices in the poll) was extremely handy. We bought a Garmin nüvi 350 at Amazon just before we left, and downloaded the New Zealand map set. Now you might think that a Web geek would think right away that a techno-thing like a GPS would be hugely cool, but it was Cathy who really wanted it. I was convinced that printed maps would do just fine, as they have for all of my trips over the past 40-odd years. That feeling began to die the first time I needed fuel for the campervan. Cathy just asked “Bitchin’ Betty” where to get diesel, and she said that there was a Mobil station 1.1 km ahead, on the left-hand side of the road right past a curve on the highway. The curve was tight e...
More About: Travel

Senior Sled Dogs Need Homes
2008-03-17 03:07:00
I just got this message from Michelle Phillips: I am writing concerning Thalina Tchulokvsky. For those of you that know her Thalina is a renowned bush woman. She has lived most of her life in the bush with her close companions - her sled dogs. Some of you might know Thalina also as Frances. Thalina has been diagnosed with ALS which is an extremely debilitating disease. So far she cannot use her right hand and is also having difficulty swallowing and speaking. She has 14 sled dogs right now. Majority of her sled dogs are older 10+ and they are just looking for retirement homes. There are three 4 year olds that have nice builds and lots of energy. I will be picking up her dogs on Wednesday and I am looking for homes for these dogs or fostering while I look for homes for them. Please contact me if you know of anybody that would help of if you’d like to help yourself. Take care, Michelle Phillips 867-399-4894
More About: Senior , Dogs , Homes

Sorting Through the Memories
2008-03-15 18:42:00
Back home - it feels so good! Particularly because Winter appears to be over (sorry about your luck, TamaraLyn!). Although it’s -25 at the moment, it’s a gorgeous day. My cold is worse, but our MIA suitcase is already sitting at the airport waiting to be picked up, so I’m heading out into the sunshine shortly anyway. I brought back 2 or 3 pounds of paper of various types as part of the journey documentation, and that’s now rough-sorted onto the dining room table. I’m looking forward to starting the detailed photo-journal (today?), because that’s when the real re-living of it happens for me. Huge thanks to Laura, Steve and Rachel for taking such good care of our home and family. We truly couldn’t make a trip like that if we still had to “warehouse” our fur-kids. And thanks to all of you who commented, made suggestions and asked questions during the trip - the blog has been great fun as part of the whole experience. The photo below...
More About: Memories , Sorting

Our Final HoliDay
2008-03-13 06:59:00
Today was all about kauri trees, the ginormous “fathers of the forest” that were all but eliminated by loggers. We saw one of the largest remaining (with a diameter of over 13 meters) in torrential rain, then visited the extremely good Kauri Museum. I all of a sudden developed a bad cold last night, so it wasn’t a top day to start with, and I’m very tired now. This is my last post from down under. My next post about the Far North will be about the one 17,000 km north of the Far North we were in yesterday
More About: Holiday , Final

A Day in the Far North
2008-03-12 07:04:00
Wednesday, March 12, 18:55 (our itinerary) Today we let someone else do the driving, and that decision gave us a much better experience than we could have gotten on our own. The tour was to Cape Reinga, New Zealand’s furthest-north point of land. Along the way we had a drive up 90 Mile Beach, took a close look at the $250,000 Snapper Classic (the adrenalin sport of fishing), went on a wild ride down a huge sand dune on a surfboard, hiked to the Cape reina lighthouse (where the photo below was shot), played in the surf…. and took about 250 pictures!       Tomorrow we begin the 6-hour run down the west coast back to Auckland (we don’t have to be in the city until about 4:00 pm) - there is, of course, lots to do along the way.
More About: North

Water & Wine
2008-03-11 07:01:00
Tuesday, March 11, 18:53 (our itinerary) Our “down day” was wonderful. The day began with rain, and showers were forecast to last all day, but after some indecision we decided to go back to Maitai Bay (note the correct spellng this time - our Lonely Planet guide spelled it Matai). A school group was there, but we hiked to the far end of the right-hand cove and were alone the whole time. On the walk we encountered the poor little stingray below, dead (very recently) just above the high tide line.    The tiny cove where we stopped now has my vote as the best all-round beach in New Zealand - the scenery, the water temperature and clarity, the ability to be alone, and the combination of great swimming and great snorkelling side-by-side surpass any other beach we’ve spent time at. The Free Beach Group agrees At about 2:30, we stopped in at the nearby Karikari Estate winery for lunch and a tasting. The food and 2 of the wines in particular were superb, as is the loc...
More About: Wine , Water

Lots of Exploring Still To Do
2008-03-10 09:35:00
Monday, March 10, 21:25 (our itinerary) When we board the plane home on Friday, there’s going to still be so much that we’d like to have done, but we’re trying hard to keep in mind that we’ve seen and done more than we dreamed possible a few years ago. Here’s a quick look at yesterday and today: This is the best dolphin view we got, and it just lasted a split second.        Darryl’s Dinner Cruise at Paihia was a lot of fun and the food was excellent.        A view of Matauri Bay from the side of the road.        The site where the document that essentially formed New Zealand was signed by Maori and British representatives in 1840 was a must-see.        We’re having a down day tomorrow, relaxing at Matai Bay (seen below) and the nearby winery.       
More About: Exploring

More Beaches - w00t
2008-03-09 20:24:00
Just a quick note as we head out. Th dolphin swim tour yesterday was a dud, the dinner cruise was great. Tonight we’ll be at Whatuwhiwhi, in the middle of “incredible beach” country, and the sun is still shining.
More About: Beaches

Glorious Sun and Endless Beaches
2008-03-08 19:11:00
Sunday, March 9, 07:10 (our itinerary) We’re down to our last week now, and have mixed feelings about that. We both miss our home, our family and our friends, but we are really going to miss New Zealand - the land and the people. The weather has turned gorgeous, with temperatures hitting about 24, and we’re passing by (and dipping into) a seemingless endless line of spectacular beaches. We’re sticking to back roads whenever possible - going 100kmh among lots of other vehicles is not our idea of a good explore. Our first major stop once we got off the motorway that took us through greater Auckland was the Goat Island Marine Reserve, where we finally got our snorkel gear wet (that’s Cathy in the picture below). This is a great diving/snorkelling location, with lots of large fish coming almost within reach (though illegal, apparently they get fed by many swimmers). We also took one of the better tour deals in the country, a 45-minute trip around the island in a ...
More About: Beaches , Endless

From Beaches to Caves, Rain to Sun
2008-03-05 09:51:00
Wednesday, March 5, 20:20 (our itinerary) We’re now wandering as the mood and weather dictate. Yesterday we started north from Wellington on Highway 1. We had hoped to take a boat trip to the Kapiti Island Nature Reserve, but it didn’t work out, so stopped at a charming roadside cafe (The Red House, at Te Horo) for a breakfast that included free range eggs with bright orange yolks and other ingredients that all tasted like they were harvested in the back yard of the place.  The weather started to clear, so we headed west a few miles to Waiketere Beach, where we had to share the 8 kilometers of beach with about 6 other people. A sign at the ramp onto the beach said that the beach is a road, so we drove 4 or 5 k down it - the fine sand packs down like concrete.     We tried to get some sun at Waiketere, but the wind was still howling so that didn’t last long, and we decided to go inland to Taupo, one of the most popular holiday destinations for Kiwis. The weather...
More About: Beaches , Rain , Caves