True North to Alaska... the journey begins! We are on our way, beginning a one month road trip to Northern BC, Yukon and Alaska. We have no itinerary other than a 5 day excursion via Kodiak Island into Katmai National Park to photograph the world's largest land predator, the grizzly bears of Katmai ( www.katmaibears.com). The first half of our trip will likely be centered around the coastal areas of southeast Alaska, while the latter half will take us up the Dempster Highway in Yukon as fall begins its wonderful colours in Tombstone Provincial Park which has been described as the Patagonia of the north.
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Our accomodation on wheels, Debbie's FJ Cruiser topped by Tim's Maggiolina tent. Here were spent our first rainy night in Banff.
First Nations fisherman of the Carrier tribe fish from the weir at Moricetown Falls in Northern Britich Columbia
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Journal entry July 31:
It is with excitement, anticipation and trepidation that I begin this journey. Excitement arising from embarking on my first real road trip without horses! Excitement that I will spend my 50th birthday not at a horse show, but somewhere in the wilds of Alaska, a dream spawned about 10 years ago, while sitting with clients at my 40th birthday dinner at the Evergreen Horse Show in Washington. Anticipation of experiencing the wild beauty of yet to be seen landscapes and wildlife and the potential photographic opportunities that await. Trepidation at leaving my horses and dogs in the care of a capable but just turned 17 year old student, Andrea, knowing all the possibilities for Harley to get into trouble, and with the onset of strangles (equine distemper) just beginning its tour through the ranch. Trepidation also in the concerns of being confined with my partner in a tiny camper for an entire month. While we share much in common in terms of our love of nature and photography, we are complete opposites in many other ways. Our circadian rythyms for example: I am usually up at the crack of dawn and Tim is usually up at the crack of noon. My most energetic moments happen in the morning while Tim kicks into gear around midnight. It is now 8am and I have been up since 5:30 taking photos, eating breakfast and now making this journal entry while waiting for the 'beast' to rise from our roof-top tent. On the other hand, by the time 9pm rolls around I am 'toast' and looking for the sleeping bag, just as Tim is becoming inspired and energized. Another way in which we are opposite is in the field of 'planning'. I am a list maker, planner extrordinaire, while Tim prefers to 'wing' it'. I have my gear 99% organized prior to the trip and have spent countless hours reading about the locations to which we are heading. Tim likes to shop along the way (5 hours in Jasper buying bits and pieces argh) and learns about a location once he has arrived by talking to the locals! We are careful to be both tolerant and appreciative of one another's differences!
Thus far the trip has been rather mundane photographically as the weather is typically overcast. However, yesterday an interesting stop near Smithers at Moricetown Falls gave us the opportunity to watch the local fisherman tag and catch coho and springs. The men from the local Carrier tribe stand in precarious places along the rocky sides of the waterfalls or on the weir with nothing more than a single rope around their waist while scooping the salmon from the roiling water with nets attached to five meter long poles.
We are now camped at Dease Lake, the last place to fuel up for the next leg of the trip - the Alaska Highway. Ahh, I hear the beast stirring... more later.
Evening at Dease Lake, BC just off the
Cassiar Highway, our stopping point for the
third night along the way.
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Journal entry August 3rd:
We are now in Whitehorse at an internet cafe, and I am hurriedly pulling photos off my flash cards and uploading them basically 'as is'. It is difficult for me to take the time to type and send photos, as I am constantly anxious to see what is around the next corner. We are now travelling the Alaska Highway and it seems that around every bend is a picture to be remembered. Hundreds of little lakes with gorgeous reflections that would normally make me stop for hours, are passed by as there are too many to consider. I can only stop so many times, and it seems that the photos I am posting are just little morsels of the true landscape. We stayed overnight at the town of Teslin, Yukon and enjoyed the Dawson Peaks at sunrise by Teslin Lake. The locals say that this is the first sunny day of THE YEAR and that they have had snow every month. If they get snow in August it will be a record of sorts and they are almost hoping for it!
Carcross
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After Teslin we decided to choose between a detour to Atlin or Skagway and since Tim had already seen Atlin we chose the latter. At my first glance of Skagway I was began to regret this choice, as this dreary and once thriving mining centre and port is now not much more than a tourist stop for the big cruise lines that come up the west coast. However, as we persevered to discover its inner charms we were pleasantly surprised. The historic town, although at that moment was overrun with passengers from a huge Holland-America ship, was lined with boardwalks and interesting artifacts from the goldrush days. We had a fantasticly healthy lunch at a local cafe, bought souvenir t-shirts and then headed to the area known as Dyea, once a rival mining outpost, now a campground and trailhead for the famed Chilkoot Trail. We took a drive down to the tidal flats and as we forded the Taiya river we saw spawning salmon leaping out of the way of the FJ! After hiking in the bush to photograph some of the flora, Tim spent some time chatting with some local fisherman and I busied myself photographing the proliferation of mutant-sized mushrooms and other fungi near the trail, although bear warnings and obvious signs of recent bear activity caused me not to dawdle too long in this pursuit (sorry Cynthia!)
Last night we camped at the Takhini Hot Springs, took a dip in the springs and had a 'sleep-in' day. Now its time to head off towards Haines Junction and the next leg of our journey 'into the wild'.
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Dawson Peaks
Black bear feeding
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FJ fording
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Little Lake
Teslin Bridge
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Fireweed
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Journal entry August 4th:
Yesterday was a long drive through muskeg, black spruce and lake areas bordering Kluane National Park. From Haines Junction to Tok on the Alaska Highway reminds me of taking the Drake Passage to Antarctica, lots of 'heaves'! Kind of like riding at bad-mover while cross-cantering! We overnighted in Tok and gave ourselves the treat of getting a hotel room when a last minute cancellation came up at 11:30pm. Tok is the proverbial 'gateway to the wild', and from here on the scenery promises to be spectacular. Good bye for now to the Yukon!
 Kluane Lake
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| Alaska: Denali Highway and Denali National Park - August 6th and 7th
After considering our options to get to Delani National Park, we decided to take the little used Denali Highway. This dirt road runs from east to west about halfway between Anchorage and Fairbanks, ending near the gates to Denali Park. We were teased the entire way by broken clouds and partial mountain views along with some distant moose sitings. It rained almost constantly and we hardly passed any vehicles along the way on this is a long desolate road with no sevices for 140 miles. We camped overnight on a roadside trail anticipating better weather for our planned excursions into the National Park. However, the morning was socked in with more rain so we decided to head to south of the park enticed by an exerpt in Lonely Planet of spectacular views of Mount McKinley from a little known road to Peters Creek. This backroad frequented only by ATV nuts, soon became a hairy ridgeside trail. I now began to appreciate the capabilities of my Toyota FJ, as creek fording became a necessity, not a photo stunt! Way off the map, we ended up hours beyond the marked road and into the tundra. Here we came across a set of cabins owned by some retired folks trying their hand at gold mining. When we asked about the 'views of Mount McKinley' we were informed that "Nope we havent seen him this year at all. Rainiest year we can remember." Even though the road went for another seven miles, we elected to turn tail before getting stranded by the incoming weather. We were able to get some nice photos of the last of the wild irises blooming on the open tundra.
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| One of the notable things about photography north of 60 in the summer is that sunrise and sunset times mean little sleep for those of us behind the camera. Sunset is 10:30pm and sunrise 5:20am! So as we left Peters Creek making our way back to Denali Park, the sun began to throw stunning light on the surrounding mountains. We scrambled for some locations to get a good foreground and were treated to some amazing evening light and even old McKinley made an appearance in the distance. Finally at 11pm, happy with our evening photo shoot, we were on our way to look for a suitable pull-off to put up the tent, when some hikers flagged us down. One fellow had been injured on the trail and they were looking for help. Our vehicle was jammed full, but we somehow managed to re-arrange our gear to get one hiker onboard and delivered him their vehicle at the next trailhead. Somewhere in that process we lost the crank that erects our roof-top tent, so on arriving at our campsite exhausted, we had no means of getting our tent up. Luckily Tim is a mechanical wizard and improvised a turning crank with a socket and drill bit contraption and the rain stopped for just long enough to allow me to make pack lunches and organize gear for the next day. 1:30am and finally we bedded down for the night. |
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5:15am came quickly as we hurriedly packed up and headed for the Wilderness Access Centre where we had booked a ticket on the early bus into Polychrome Ridge. Access to Denali is highly regulated in order to preserve the pristine nature of the 6 million acre wilderness area. Words can not describe the vast expanse of wilderness that exists here. We travelled down the same valley that Chris McCandless did when he took his fateful trip "Into the Wild", although we did not attempt the pilgrimage that many do to the bus where he lived the last four months of his life.
Wildlife is bountiful here, as our first day gave us of views of several grizzlies, moose, caribou, dall sheep, lynx and fox. But in the end it is the endless landscape that leaves one breathless. By the way I celebrated my 50th birthday by taking panoramic photos atop Polychrome Ridge!
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 | August 8th:
Mount McKinley popped out of the clouds for a few brief moments yesterday and I quickly captured its north peak from Polychrome Ridge. The 'great one' as it is referred to by locals, is not the most photogenic mountain, but gains its fame as being the highest mountain in North America. It is 20,320 feet high, 18,000 of which rises above the plateau compared with Mount Everest, the world's highest mountain, but which only rises some 11,000 feet above its plateau. Our last excursion into Denali National Park consisted of rain, sleet, snow, flat light and a 12 hour bus ride to Wonder Lake and back. Wonder Lake was completely anti-climatic particularly with the elusive Mount McKinley completed cloud-engulfed. However, it was the highlight of the trip for me, as the local alpha-male of the wolf pack near Sable Pass trotted down the riverbed right beside us. His scarred face and shoulder are testament to the warrior like existence of these creatures whose whole lives revolve around getting enough food to survive, and protecting their ranges. As well, breeding season for the ungulates is nearing and the caribou are beginning to form small herds. We also observed several more grizzlies along the way. As a result of the bad weather this year the berries are going to have a very brief season and the bears are having a tough time getting enough to eat. The bears in Denali do not have the luxery of their coastal counterparts to feed on salmon in the rivers. In Denali they rely 80% on vegetation and a few arctic ground squirrels for protein. We observed a female grizzly and her cub chase a ground squirrel down its hole and then furiously dig after it. These bears are known to toss boulders the size of refrigerators out of the way just to get at their 2500 calorie squirrel snacks. Tonight we are going to attempt to find a place to dry out our gear and then head to Anchorage for the next phase of the trip.
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August 10th:
It rained all the way to Anchorage, and after hearing that the weather was better farther south, we continued on as far as Cooper Landing. Here we got a motel room, did laundrey, dried out our gear and reorganized the FJ and sure enough the next day dawned mostly sunny. We continued on down the Cook Inlet to the little town of Homer. Homer is a very unusual combination of tourists, fishermen and hippies. The weather is reported to be the best in Alaska, it has lots of great restaraunts and is the jumping off place for many who wish to head to more remote areas of the Alaskan coast. In this area the mountains and glaciers meet the ocean in a way that reminds me much of Ushuaia, but much prettier. |
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| This is where Tim and I go our separate ways for 6 days. Tim has no itinerary, I have just boarded the "Tustamena", an old ferry that runs to Kodiak Island and then beyond to the far reaches of the Aleutian chain. This leg of my trip is a 13 hour ferry ride, which departs at 10:30pm and arrives at 11:30am in Kodiak. I will then take a bush plane to where the refurbished tugboat "Waters" is anchored near Katmai National Park. The Waters will be my home over the next four days. As we pull out of the terminal, the sun is just setting on Kechamak bay. Since cabins are limited and I booked this leg of the trip quite late, I am now camped out ion the floor of the 'solarium' with my sleeping bag and thermarest, my camera bag as a pillow. This solarium is a partially enclosed part of the top deck of the ship and is equipped with radiant heaters and has large glass windows. I am one of perhaps 6 people to be camped out here. Time to grab my camera and take some sunset shots as we depart.... |
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August 11th:
It was a highly uncomfortable night, due in large part to the ship's horn blasting me from my sleep everytime we entered a fogbank. However, as dawn arrived we rounded Kodiak Island and the wild and rugged coastline, dotted with a few fishing settlements, came into view. Upon arrival in the port of Kodiak I was whisked away immediately to Andrew Airways where the owner flew me in his de Havilland Beaver to Kukak Bay where my bear tour ship was anchored. My home for the next few days would be "The Waters", a 1944 vessel originally built as a tug to escort tankers out of the Valdes Harbour. It was refitted as a 'live-aboard' and used primarily as for research teams and private charter and then bear viewing. It is a rustic but functional ship captained by a 29 year old woman named Menkin. She is an attractive strawberry blonde with an air of authority beyond her years. Co-captain and guide Bill, and cook Kathy round out the small crew. After a brief meeting with the crew and only 3 other 'bear viewers' we headed out in the skiff to our first bear viewing. As we rode to shore I was wondering how I would react to being so close to these huge and powerful animals. It did not take me long to find out as we walked about a hundred feet onto the beach and along came our first bear. We sat down in the sand (which to the bears means you are non-threatening) and proceeded to watch a very old bear who the guides have named Pythagoras because he has a triangle shaped scar on his hip. Pythagoras is huge and very cool with people, so a good 'first bear' to encounter. He walked by our little group, no more than 30 feet away, nonchalantly scanning the stream for salmon. I cant begin to explain the awe that I felt being in such close presence with this magnificent animal. Soon there were three large males, who share their territory more or less amicably, fishing from the stream. The bears are so unconcerned about our presence that they go about their foraging and fishing with little more than a glance in our direction. Observing the behaviour and body language is absolutely fascinating. I am more worried about the monster knats that are trying to devour me. We sat on the river bed for about three hours before loosing the evening light. What an amazing beginning! Here's hoping tomorrow is as fruitful. |
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August 13th:
The bad weather really hit as it poured with rain all morning. It tapered off a little by mid-day so we ventured out around 1pm with the plan to stay out until late evening. The small group of people aboard this ship are all-weather nature lovers and not easily deterred. With an extra layer of rain gear we headed out in the skiff. On our way to shore we passed a group of sea otters floating on their backs. They are very shy of small boats so we were not able to get really close. It seems that the tidal flats of this bay hosts only male bears who are most active later in the day. As we were a little early for the evening bears we walked many miles and crossed dozens of streams scanning the riverbed for bear activity. The bears however remained elusive until near the end of the day. Finally just as it started to rain, the bears came out to fish. Beach Boy appeared and was sitting beside the stream watching the salmon swim by, but was unable to actively fish because of his injuries sustained the night before. It was terribly sad to watch him hobble across the river, unable to chase down the fish. We are all concerned that if he does not eat soon he will become weak and unable to defend himself. By the time evening arrived it was raining hard, but we had three bears within close proximity and the viewing was just to good to abandon our post sitting on the rocks between the braided streams. At this point it was almost impossible to take photographs, the wind had become quite a factor and was blowing the rain all over our gear. But it was all worth it when one of the dark brown bears wandered up the stream where we were sitting and passed less than 20 feet from us! I kept him in my zoom lens until he was too close and then I just had to ignore my camera and admire this outstanding animal. I had loaned my little point and shoot camera to a fellow passenger and had asked him to video the next close encounter. The bear passed him only 17 feet away. I hope to upload this on youtube when I get home. This type of bear viewing is only possible in a handful of places in the world. Katmai is completely unique and with the help of our experienced guides, we are in no danger. The guides are experts in bear behaviour and we go unarmed save a bear flare to ward off a potential threat. The Katmai bears are only interested in the abundant fish and humans are bearly worth a sideways glance. Humans pose no threat as the bears here have not been hunted here since the 1920's, and do not connect people with any food source. Knowing all of this does not stop your heart from pounding when these 1000 pound bears comes in such close proximity. It is truly the thrill of a lifetime! We arrived back at the ship, soaked, cold and totally ecstatic from the days events. |
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August 12th:
The weather report had predicted a storm overnight, but it blew by further out to sea. As the morning dawned, the bay as flat as glass, I was the first person up on deck to capture Kukak bay in the morning light. Again our little group of seven donned our hip waders and headed out in the skiff for the mouth of the river where the bears often feed. We didnt need to go far from the landing zone to find several males fishing. By now I was also getting more adept at crossing fast moving streams in the hip waders and not slipping on the slimy rocks. My best motivation was in trying to make sure my two camers stayed semi-dry. Often we crossed the rivers in pairs, holding hands, in case someone slipped. I should mention that the landscape scenery around Kukak Inlet is gorgeous. There are rock bluffs covered in wildflowers and glaciers hanging above us. There are also four active volcanoes in the immediate area, and the hills are shadowed with ash from past eruptions. The bears could not have chosen a more picturesque area. Our favorite bear character of the day was a young healthy male with a very light blonde patch of long hair around his ears and neck. We named him 'Beach Boy' and watched him in action for quite some time as he ran after the fish and pounced on them with his paws. It was a formidable sight! Just as we were about to leave for the day Pythagoras and Beach Boy crossed paths farther out on the flats. Apparently Beach Boy did not perform the appropriate reverential posture as he passed the older more dominant bear and the two ended up in a terrible battle. Both bears stood on hind legs and battled ferociously and eventually the older bear prevailed, body slamming the younger one to the ground and pinning him. The young bear was quite injured and unable to move for some time. Old Pythagoras sauntered off, leaving his injured victim to lick his wounds. Eventually Beach Boy got up and hobbled away limping badly on his left hind leg. We hoped the injury was not serious, as he would quickly become prey for strongers bears if he became disabled. We left the beach and headed back on the skiff with mixed emotions about the events we had seen. |
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| August 14th:
Our morning excursion to the river's mouth brought us upon two young males. They were either siblings or had partnered up after being kicked out by there mothers. They came up the river, skorkling underwater, looking for fish along the way. They were full of energy and gave us a full display of 'play fighting'. Both boys were up on their hind feet boxing each other and roaring! There was no evil intent this time, so it was fun to watch them play. When they were done, they both walked bast our group very close, and in the photo you can see our captain walking over to us from the skiff. Shortly after this a day-tour group showed up so we elected to head back to the Waters and find a new location. We decided to take a side trip over to Ninagiak Island, a place where Puffins make burrows in the sea cliffs. The other photographer on board, a young man from Germany named Johannes, accompanied me to the puffin viewing spot, in the tall grasses of the shoreline. The daily routing of the puffins consists of fishing all day and then at some undetermined point they return to their burrows in the evening. We sat in the grass for two hours and the puffins only circled overhead. There were hundreds, if not thousands of them flying a huge counter-clockwise circle above us. Then finally at 7:30pm they all began to land on the rocks above us, sometimes 15-20 puffins on each rock. Agile and bullet-like in the air, they reminded me of little mig-fighters. However, once on land they were really awkward and frequently fell off the rocks or landed with a face-plant! They reminded me much of penquins, and I quickly learned why they are referred to as the clowns of the bird world. |
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August 15th:
Hallo Bay is the 'eden' of the Katmai Coast. Meadows filled with wildflowers and tall grass, incredible rocky islands with towering sea cliffs and the Hallo Glacier feeding the bay. The river from the glacier to the shore is prime feeding grounds for the local bears and so our first excusion was an early morning run in the skiff to catch the low tide. The Katmai coast has a 25 foot variance in tide level which makes for fast running tides and huge tidal flats. It was on one of these flats that we set up amongst a group of 5 bears. A fog bank rolled in shortly after we arrived so we could only hope for some 'artistic' shots, but the bears gave us such a performance anyway! One blonde female found a piece of wood about 4 feet long and used it to scratch her head with. When that failed to suffice she picked up a piece of driftwood that was 18' feet long and used that to scratch her neck! The only male bear on the flats was cartoon like in both appearance and character as he sat in various yoga-like positions beside the stream waiting for fish to go by. He was also infamous for stealing fish off of the younger bears and had been dubbed Bandit. We watched him in action as he allowed the young female to catch a big 'silver' and then chased her down. She put up a short fight but then was forced to drap the fish, whereupon Bandit grabbed it in midair and walked off with his breakfast. After the next fish she caught she made a beeline for the meadow and galloped into cover so as not to loose another meal. Apparently sometimes these young bears will come and sit next to the humans to eat their fish so that the older bears will stay away. Another enormous male appeared on the scene that was the largest bear we had seen so far. He was a new bear to the area as far as the guides knew and he was not fully aware of the 'rules' where humans are concerned. Normally males will walk by and not show any interest in humans, but this one got within 20 feet and was exhibiting body language that our guide (Bill) did not like. Bill immediately stepped between us and the bear and stepped towards him saying "That's far enough bear." in a firm voice. The bear considered his options for a moment so Bill 'bluff charged' for a few steps and the bear changed course and headed away. Bill said in ten years of guiding he has only used his flare 4 times. Our hearts were pounding none the less. |
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| Our afternoon excusion was a special treat as were met up with guide and photographer Kent Fredrickson. Kent camps at Hallo Bay for two months each summer and has an intimate knowledge of the area and wildlife. He took us to where he knew the females would be hanging out on a bend in the river. The females, he explained, loved having humans around because it made them feel safe from the older males. He also explained that when they have cubs, they occasionally will use humans as a baby-sitting service and leave the cubs with a trusted human while they go off fishing. I have read this in accounts of other people such as Charlie Russel and Timothy Treadwell, and it appears to be true. In any case, he explained that the bears were quite lazy today as the tide was not great for fishing. We sat and watched them dig 'belly holes' to sleep in the beach. One 12 year old female named Paula was so comfortable in our presence that she decided to take a bath in front of us. She looked like a lady in a day spa and kept glancing over to make sure we were watching her. Kent has kept track of the bears in Hallo and has known many of them for their entire lives, from cubs to 12 years old. He explained that there were no cubs on the coast this year as they did not make it through the winter or were killed by male bears. He expects a large number of cubs for next year as a result. This in itself will be reason to return. |
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August 16th:
A long and rainy drive from Anchorage to the Yukon boarder gave me much time to reflect on my week with the Katmai Bears. I come away with two main thoughts. One is that I have just witnessed something that will impact me forever, the behaviour of the brown bears in their natural habitat and the beginning of an understanding of these strong, intelligent and often gentle creatures. At the same time I am struck by a new level of respect, and yes, maybe fear, at having seen what they can do when provoked to full fury. I know clearly that the behaviour the Katmai Bears have towards human is unique and can not be applied to bears elsewhere. Therefore I am even more wary than before about hiking in the wilderness and parks with known bear inhabitants. I have learned so much about how bears interact with one another in a habitat undisturbed by hunting and human interference. I am thoroughly intrigued by their body language, facial expressions and antics which in many ways are so similar to horses. Secondly I am impressed by the dangerous and precarious life that the bears lead. As the world's largest land predator one might believe that because they are at the top of the food chain, that their lives are quite mundane. On the contrary, I have seen that almost every bear has been scarred or injured by battle with other bears. The boars kill cubs regularly and the sows fight to protect their young. The young bears fight for a chance to breed and the old bears fight to maintain their status as alpha-male. They often battle with each other over the food that will sustain them over the long winter months of hiberation and give them the ability to birth healthy cubs in their winter dens. Recently I read a book that I would recommend to anyone interested in learning about bears. It is a true story called "Grizzly Heart" by Charles Russell and Maureen Ens. I must admit that until now I thought much of the book to be embelished. I now can see that it was not and can see why people become 'bear addicts'. I am only a few hours away on the Top of the World Highway and already I miss the bears.
The photo attached is for Harley who managed to find a porcupine at home while walking with Andrea. I found this one in the Yukon this morning! |
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| August 17th
We arrived in Dawson City and the weather finally broke so we took the opportunity to spend a few hours restocking our groceries and again drying out our gear. We cruised around this strange little town which seems to struggle in its attempt to appear as it did in the Gold Rush Days. We then started our journey up the Dempster Highway, first stop: Tombstone Territorial Park. Tombstone is said to the the 'Patagonia of the North' with granitic mountains similar to that of the Mount Fitzroy Range. When we reached this area of the park it quickly becoming engulfed in an evening fog, so we took a few photos and decided to camp overnight and hope for better views. The only thing we were rewarded with in the early morning was more fog and the strange voices of a flock of willow ptarmigan whose constant conversation right next to the tent was an eerie way to spend our last few hours of sleep. The fog lifted slightly but, for now we would have to be content with seeing the smaller mountains near the highway which were an explosion of fall colour. A tapestry of red, orange and yellow, sewn everywhere with riverlets, this area was very scenic in a panoramic way, but lacked any really stunning peaks or formations. We decided to continue north in hope of better light. |
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August 19/20th
We continued on up the Dempster and arrived at Eagle Plains where we got gas for $1.78/litre and two burgers and drinks for $35.00. The locals told us that the Porcupine Caribou herd had begun their fall migration just north of the Arctic Circle. This migration is one month early which may indicate an early winter here. We caught some nice evening light at 66 degrees 33 minutes north (the Arctic Circle) and were buffetted by strong, cold winds. We opted to camp in a gravel pit, very common in this area, to escape the worst of the howling wind. Our coldest night so far in our little tent, -1 Celcius, was spent in three layers of clothes, a down mummy bag and extra down quilt. The tent is amazingly wind- and rain-proof, but a little chilly at night! When we went to sleep at midnight the sky was still light. We awoke the next morning to a frosting of snow on the surrounding hills, had a quick oatmeal breakfast, a few morning photos and then on our way. I had really hoped that we would see the caribou, but that was not to be. We did see two young grizzlies playing around on the tundra near the road, one with a caribou antler in his mouth! Well, at least I got my 'bear fix' for the week. The Ogilvie Range and then further north the Richardson Range provided some nice landscapes, especially at Wright Pass, the border between Yukon and the Northwest Territories. Having gone this far and the roads being in fairly good shape we decided to make a run for Inuvik. We crossed the Peel and McKenzie Rivers by ferry and from there on the road was dead straight (sometimes doubling as a landing strip) and nothing but stunted black pines, willow and marsh all the way to Inuvik. As I write this entry, it is a half hour past midnight and the sun is still up, but at least it is a balmy 8 degrees here! |
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| August 22nd
Inuvik is one of the most forgetable places I have been to. It seems the town makes little effort to entice travellers to stay. It is difficult to find decent food, everything is overpriced and (other than a nice visitors centre) there is no interesting landscape. A lot of people take a flight tour from Inuvik to Tuktoyuktuk, but we decided to save our money for more interesting scenery, bought a "I Drove the Dempster" t-shirt and proceeded to make our way back south on the Dempster Highway. The weather for the next few days was quite nice with warmish temperatures and broken clouds. We saw a herd of about 100 Barrenground caribou near the NWT-Yukon border, and a small group of females and babies near the road but nothing that produced good photos. We saw more several grizzly bears, the inland version looking quite a bit different from the coastal Katmai bears. Of the bears we saw there were two sub-adult females, probably sisters. One was particularly bold the other quite shy. The boldest of the two had become quite habituated to people and is destined for trouble. We found her scratching herself on a road sign and when we stopped she marched right up and touched our car as well as jumping up on the RV in front of us. Later that morning we came back to the same spot and found them again, this time being fed by two older tourists driving an SUV. These two men were taking big chances getting out of their vehicles to photograph the bears. A 'bear-jam' soon followed and several of us tried to reason with these men to get back in their vehicles and quit feeding the bears, but they seemed oblivious. I was not the only one that reported them to the local ranger later than night. It is hard to believe that in this day and age, people are still feeding bears at the side of the road. This is exactly the type of situation that produces negative bear-human encounters, which often end up badly for both parties. |
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| We put the FJ in 4WD and drove up on the shale hills to get off the main highway. ATV tracks were everywhere in these hills, where First Nations people hunt caribou and other game year-round. There had been a First Nations caribou kill on the nearby tundra and a sub-adult male grizzly had laid claim to the remains of the kill. He had buried most of it and was laying on top to lord over his prize and we watched him with amusement. A group of 5 or 6 ravens were tag-teaming the bear trying to get bites of the prized possession and the young bear was swatting at his antagonists. We camped on a dry riverbed that night at Windy Pass and as we sat around the campfire waiting in hopes for some northern lights, a red fox came over to check us out. He circled us with curiousity for about 5 minutes before trotting off down the riverbed. |
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| August 23rd
As we proceed south back to Tombstone Territorial park we were disappointed but not surprised to find that some of the better hiking trails and campsites had been closed due to the amount of bear activity. However, the clouds at least had lifted enough that we were able to see the peaks of Mount Tombstone and Mount Monolith in the distance. Since the trails up the North Klondike river were closed, we hiked up Mount Goldensides on the east side of the Dempster and were treated to spectacular 360 degree views. The side of this mountain was home to several pikas and marmots and as we decended the mountain I was lucky enough to have a gorgeous hoary marmot pose for me. We camped that night at Tombstone, but the next day brought rain and snow, so we took to the road again - south on the Dempster and then the Klondike Highway. The rain got heavier and continued most of the way to Whitehorse where we arrived late and decided to get a hotel to catch up on some sleep and emails. |
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| August 24th-28th:
We carried on south with the feeling that we really did not want to be heading home. After one month on the road we were really into the rythym of traveling and the simplicity of the outdoors. Tim suggested we stop at Atlin Lake, a slight diversion to the route home. Tim had visited Atlin several years earlier and had been impressed by both the scenery and the artistic community. I remembered my father taking a hunting trip near Atlin back in the 60's and had childhood memories of stories and photos that led me to believe that this was indeed a place not to be missed. What initially was meant to be a short visit to Atlin, turned into a 4 day layover, as Atlin and its surrounding Park was a unique and wondrous place. Full of eccentric and artistic people, the town strives to maintain a historic look and manages to pull it off in a way most communities fail to do. It has an authentic, but not 'touristy' feel, at the same time exuding the wild nature of the place. While gold and silver mining was clearly an important aspect of the history of this area, the land has recovered and does not show the intensive scarring and destructive carnage of places like Dawson City. Much to our elation the old mining roads are still open and with a decent 4WD vehicle, can be explored to heart's content. |
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The next day we checked into the Atlin Centre for the Arts, run by artist Gernot Dick. Our timing was impeccable as Gernot invited us to stay in his new "5-star Cabin" which he was just completing after several years of construction. Gernot, a 70+ year old with the energy of a 25 year old, had built the 'luxury cabin' from ground up with his own hands. We then arranged for a day-trip led by Gernot on his jet boat the "Atlin Quest", accompanied by artist Dominik Modlinski ( www.paintingjourneys.com ) and another local resident, Nan, who was a character worthy of a whole chapter. We jetted across Atlin Lake, pausing at the base of spectacular Cathedral Mountain, continuing through the 'second narrows' a photographer's playground of tiny islands and beautiful reflections. Our brief stop was just a teasing of the photographic possibilities that are available in this pristine area. Much too quickly we proceeded on to Copper Island where we landed and prepared for a hike to the 1000 foot summit. It was quickly apparent that Gernot had a hiking speed that none of the rest of us possessed. Tim and Dominik managed to keep up, but I baled out half-way in exhaustion, knowing that I could not manage a straight ascent at this speed. I opted to take the bear spray and wait at the half-way point, a sunny slope with amazing vistas, while they continued the climb. I was content to munch on bumbleberries, photograph the surrounding mountains and unusual cloud patterns, while for the first time in weeks, I could peel off a few layers of clothes and relax in the sun. Gernot is locally famous for his 'runs' up various mountains and his annual cross-country ski excursion where he does a 75km lap around Teresa Island in anywhere from 5.5 to 10 hours! For anyone visiting the area, a stay and tour with Gernot is a must. ( www.atlinart.com ) We ended our jetboat excursion with a brief stop for lunch at 'Peggy's Cove' . Peggy (Nan's late mother) was locally known for her life as an artist aboard a homemade barge which was often anchored in this secluded nook of wilderness. A memorial marker stands where her ashes are scattered in this serene setting. As our tour of the lake ended, I sensed that this is a place that one could return to many times, not only for its charming town, people and landscapes, but as the perfect location (100km south of Whitehorse) from which to venture to other great photographic locations like the Alaska coast and Kluane National Park. |
| We spent the next two days testing the FJ's off-road capabilities, exploring the old abandoned mining roads, crossing creeks and tundra-climbing around Steamboat and Vaughn Mountains. The fall colours were just beginning to turn, and the few caribou that ranged here challenged the scope of my 300mm lens. The weather was erratic as we faced cloud, fog, rain and snow all within hours. Unlike most areas where old roads are closed off and inaccessible by vehicle, here there were miles and miles of abandoned mining roads to venture along and in two days we only saw one other vehicle. Vowing to return again soon, we took our leave of the mountains and headed back to the cabin for our last night and dinner with our new friends. It is with a heavy heart that we depart from Atlin and I am not sure if it is because of the magnetic appeal of this place and its characters, or a reluctance to end the trip and head back to our daily routines. Perhaps a little of both. |
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August 29th-30th
Since we had delayed our return trip by staying in Atlin, we had to make miles to be back home as quickly as possible. We journeyed back through Liard Hot Springs and the Muncho Lake area and Stone Mountain National Parks and unable take time there to explore we marked it as another place on the 'must return' list. We sighted many bison, deer, black bears and moose along the highway as we traveled down through Fort Nelson, Chetwynd, and over-nighted in at Gwillim Lakes Provincial Park which resulted in some nice misty morning photos and Tim having a great photo shoot with a beaver. We then detoured through Jasper and down the Icefields Parkway hoping for some last minute photo ops, but the rain kept coming and we spoke little as we sadly came to the end of our month long journey. |
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 | September 7th:
After more than a month of travel in wild places, it was quite an adjustment getting home and straight back into a five day horse show at Spruce Meadows. Tim and I proved to be quite a good team on the road, which actually seemed much easier than our routine at home, and other than Harley's porcupine incident all had gone well with Andrea and the horses. |
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 | Some parting thoughts as I end this story.... the unforgettable bears were the highlight of the trip for me and they will undoubtedly earn a large space on the wall of my next exhibit, as well as a bear-sized space in my heart. I will return to photograph the Katmai Bears, that is a certainty. For now we are waiting for the fall colours to catch up here in southern Alberta, for the larches to turn gold, and the first snow fall to dust the eastern slopes. Kananaskis, Banff and Jasper for me still remain some of the most beautiful places on the planet and I feel fortunate to live so near. But, the simplicity of life on the road, the smell of a campfire and the peaceful sleeps in our little roof-top tent are enticing me already to plan the next journey. December in Atlin perhaps? I will keep you posted....! |
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| Addendum: Not long after our road trip Tim and I made the decision to part company. Tim has returned to Victoria to continue his artistic pursuits and I have moved to a little acreage just south of Turner Valley. Tim and I continue to be friends, but our journeys have taken us on different paths.
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