Journey North 9

7.12.23

After Salmon Glacier, I had done a quick search on nearby glaciers.. You know, because they’re AWESOME!

6AM wake up to make a 10AM Cessna tour of Kluane’s glaciers!

Was not expecting, but also not surprised, to pass by a wildfire on my way there. And then a light rain thunder storm.

Where is Stuart the pilot? I went in to the main airport area and the staff was perplexed how I ended up making my way into the ‘official’ area. I figured everyone would know each other here.

They said Stuart is reliable and if we had intent to fly today, he would be here. Turns out he sent a text to the wrong number - apparently someone in Saskatchewan and the weather was not going to clear for us. I suspected as much from the driving conditions I experienced.

We will wait for tomorrow.

Secretly glad because I am weary and tired. Off to go find campies!

Finally, a park that takes credit cards! It’s been all cash so far.

Rolling around with a stack of bills makes me feel like a drug dealer.

Making a warm sammie with the greens given to my by the BNB host and some fresh tomatoes and dill from the fancy hippie market I found in Whitehorse. Used an entire package of ham for this bomber bomb!

Back home for the night. Rainey makes a great excuse for a 4 hour nap. :)

Figured I would take the down time to figure out process for sending out GPS coordinates to my peeps, since there is little to no reception out here.

7.13.23

Still rainy and gray today, which is totally fine because I am extremely tired and not motivated for much at all.

Stuart, the pilot, also called and asked if we can wait until the following day and I said that I was fine with that.

At this point I have ample down time and am wondering what the point is to head to Inuvik and Tuktoyaktuk.

I heard the bugs get bad up there real quick

The bug jacket does not look fun to wear at all

It is 36 hours round trip from where I am now, and looking at my timeline, this means I have 2 nights max at any given interval of down time

Lastly, I heard that the swim up there is pretty warm and also the water is not as clean as one would expect because one of the major rivers releases out there and there is a lot of silt and dirt with that

I am realizing that this ‘mission mode’ mentality is not really aligned with the original intent of my trip which is quiet nature time.

I am giving myself the permission to punt on this portion of the trip.

Rainy day van project. Keep the books from sliding off the shelf while driving.

Kathleen Lake Campground

More awesome van food. I love it when I have my moments.

Dried berries and their seeds. Bear food.

There’s campfire talks held by the staff here, Thursday-Sunday, so I decided to meander and see what it was all about. This talk was all about grizzlies and their habits.

They bribed us to come out with hot cocoa. It was effective.

Canadian Jays

7.14.23

I set the alarm and was on the road for 8AM flight to see the glaciers, but Stuart called and said tomorrow will be even better visibility. I said sure. Afterall, I had decided to punt on the rest of the journey north and was enjoying taking it slow.

Excellent series of events right now. :)

Gassed up and explore mode on. Kluane lookout.

At this point, I am now keeping a mouse trap under my hood at all times and check every few days.

NATURE TIME! Hiking Oriole [sp?] trail

So many pretty flowers out here

Lick the wound

An Anty Complex

I like to joke that sparkling water was invented for the sober people.

Yes, I know that generally sparkling water is a natural occurrence. It’s part of the joke.

Hello glacial creek that has decided to take route directly on the hiking path… Wet shoes or barefoot? :)

It was about 1KM of water walking. It was so cold I needed to take breaks on rocks or mud patches before continuing on. I loved every moment.

We all point… This way!

And one day we will open up to be big puffies!

Big trail marker

A little shamanic work on the go. Talk with the land a bit…

“nope” markers

Long line of ‘nope’ markers

The erosion and banks really bring out the dynamic nature of this moving water

Hidey holes belonging to ground squirrels maybe

Had to traverse a little land slide to continue on my hike

I have reception up here and I am really liking the juxtaposition of big nature and being able to engage my lovely friends

What type of mushroom is this?

Lunch log

Columbine!

Poops! Black bear?

Prints

Learning to track is something that has been on my list for a very long time. I think it’s amazing one can tell an animals stride and physical health by the weight shifts of their tracks - big or small animals.

Lupine!

I love how many variations of lupine there are. There are some in Santa Cruz, CA where my most recent residence was. And when I had a horse training business in Santa Barbara, CA, there was Lupine fields I would gallop through.

Such a magical plant of memory for me. :)

I had fun playing '‘annoy the squirrel’ with this guy

Wild rose! Another familiar site! Amazing how far spread some of these plants are.

Yep, still cold

Reflection

Fantastic vibrant colors brought out buy the drizzle

I am SO PSYCHED on the Aspens up here. So gorgeous.

Hunting a burger

Success. The waitress was impressed I mowed my entire meal haha

It’s so cool when you roll into camp at 830PM after a full day of adventure and 2 Ontario Dykes try to steal your camping spot.

They claimed my camp tickets made no sense because the one on top said June. BRO - I am on vacation mind pardon my typo. If you really cared to not be total dickholes, you would have checked with the camp staff.

They were using my outdoor van mat and I am pretty sure took my huge box of Canada Dry too.

Sure took their sweet time leaving once the park staff told them to scoot.

I was secretly given the secret number to the duty officer in case anything else went down.

I got surprisingly really triggered by this event and realized I needed to work on some grounding!

Victoriously in my camp site with my recouped gray van mat!

I was going to give away the Canada Dry anyways. :D