Hopefully I survive the trip and rejoin the forum September 1st, unless I check into a place with WiFi.
3 Members
like this post.
Login to Like.
I made it back, only barely, limping 500km back on a thin spare tire through wild places along HWY 37 which was in terrible shape in some sections - even hit the bottom of my car in the middle of the lane!
Being on my own means I make all decisions - how fast I go, where I go, when I stop and turn back. Of course there is a downside - if I forget something, there is no possibility of a partner having the item handy. If I am in doubt, there is no one to consult to hopefully make a better decision.
Spent some time camping - turned out I brought a kids' tent, where I could hardly fit - my feet were touching the entrance while my head was touching the opposite side of the tent!
Spent time at motels. How would you like it spending the whole day hiking, covering two difficult hikes from bottom to top and back, returning to your motel late at night, only to find out your reservation has been inadvertently cancelled!
Walked up and down long trails to go to a fishing spot. Long, means precisely 10 kilometers one way gaining hug elevations over the lake and then dropping down. Repeat on the way back. One day I come back in the evening, next day I leave for the spot again in the morning and there is fresh grizzly scatt in three spots along the trail. But the grizzly did not want us for dinner.
On the way back I am driving down the Alaska highway from Teslin toward the BC border and there is this big piece of metal flying into my windshield out of nowhere! What was that! Turns out the logo of my 21 year Saturn did not want to come back to BC and remained in the Yukon!
a few pictures below. I found out I looked terrible - tired and old; almost have no idea how I achieve those incredible hiking results looking like that! My dog is way nicer in a picture.
10 Members
like this post.
Login to Like.
Wow, another awesome trip! I'd love to be able to do something like that. but I doubt my Honda Civic would ever make it! Nothing like that around me anyway!
Great pictures! It's nice to see that part of the country. Thanks for sharing them.
Peter
Login to Like
this post
Spectacular images!
Login to Like
this post
10:42:15am
Approvals
Absolutely gobsmacking Jules!
Was that a caught salmon and foraged mushrooms for dinner or did you find the last A&P in the wild woods?
Login to Like
this post
Peter, I am sure nobody who has a Porche , Ferrari or even a Ford Mustang will make it on that road. A prime example that less is sometimes more.
Dave, the fish in the pan is a lake trout. Turned out those are hard to catch because they stay very deep. Only one heavy jig head with a white twister tail was able to reach them. After two fish I lost the jig, then used a lighter one with the second and last white twister tail I had and the first laker that grabbed, bit off the tail of the lure. That was the end of my success with lake trout. But I caught and cooked grayling and a large rainbow too. Came back with half of my food supplies intact. The mushrooms are wild ones. I ate these for the first time. Although I knew they are good, I never tried them until that day. Among the most notable encounters on the road was a lynx that I saw both on the way up north and on the way back, 10-12 days later. Also saw a whole heard of bison, but being stupid, I drove after them to position myself in a better spot and they disappeared in the bush one after the other before I could take a single shot. Last came out a big bull, ran around the car and followed the heard. All I was left with was the smell of bison and the sound of cracking branches some 50 meters away from me.
(Montana Mountain by Carcross, YT)
(a lake trout)
(the creek flowing into the lake had large rainbows and grayling in it, the lake had northern pike and large rainbows)
(Windy Arm of Tagish Lake by the Klondike highway going south to Skagway, AK)
(Looking down at Tagish lake from the top of Nares mountain)
(Creeks are ice cold and a nice source of water)
6 Members
like this post.
Login to Like.
Lovely pictures and looks like a great trip. My son did a four day hike with camping along the Pacific Coast trail section near the Snoqualmie Pass in Washington during Boy Scouts that was incredible. There were pictures of them hiking across snow fields in the summer (my son, of course, is pictured just wearing a t-shirt during most of the pictures as he didn't think he would need a coat!). He does tend to enjoy cooler weather rather than warm weather though. 
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.
The closest I've been to you is sailing from Victoria, taking the Inside Passages in to Bella Coola. Stunning scenery all around. Sailing alongside islands on the way back, the wind was calm, but between islands, it was absolutely ferocious!
Login to Like
this post
WOW! I'm speechless.
Tad
Login to Like
this post
"More! More! More!"
Well, I have more, of course .... I always take the perspective of a stamp collector, knowing I can create an endless amount of images, at no extra cost
A few more with some added details..
(a favorite river for arctic grayling on the way up north. There were many fish in this spot, but I quit fishing after releasing 5 of them)
(one of the 5 grayling)
(Montana mountain by Carcross. I like the red leaves and the snow capped peaks. One can just absorb the views around and feel way better)
(I did not make it much higher than this on Montana mountain. Elevation was 1,800m as per my GPS unit. I am yet to see how much I walked that day and what elevation I gained between the two hikes for the day combined. Got back to Whitehorse at 9PM to find out I have no place to sleep! Took me another two hours of searching and driving till I checked into the DaysInn and straight into the bathtub I went)
(This grouse was in plain sight by the road I walked, but Charlie passed right by him. I did not miss)
(Took a picture at the Haines Junction sign as last year. My car is bit cleaner now and the wheel caps are all in place)
(the Kathleen river. Fished it only the first evening for an hour; caught two nice grayling and never went back again)
(on my way to the fishing spot at Kathleen lake. About 6 kilometers of trail are behind me, 4 more kilometers left. I have to make it to the opposite side of the forested peninsula and walk down a creek to its mouth at the lake)
(Otter Falls - I read the image of the falls was on an old $5 Canadian note, but I don't think I have seen the note. Happy to have seen the waterfalls though. )
(Above Otter falls, there was a small provincial park by a lake, right where the creek was coming out of the lake. There was nobody around and it started raining. I already had one set of wet clothes and shoes in the car, so I started a fire in this shelter, pulled out my lunch case and a bottle of red wine. My supplies were probably lacking in many areas, but I had a good selection of both white and red wines in the car. Found a piece of cardboard and put it on top of the oven, then my wet shirts on top. I stayed in there till the rain stopped. That lake did not produce a single fish; not even a bite. On the way back, I saw a different lake which looked fishy. In this I was right.
4 Members
like this post.
Login to Like.
Hi Jules
They are absolutely fabulous photographs and so is the narrative that goes with them
Nothing like the great outdoors
John
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.
Cougar - what an awesome trip! Looks like your dog enjoyed it too.
Thanks for sharing your photos.
Sally
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.
09:08:05pm
"Otter Falls - I read the image of the falls was on an old $5 Canadian note"
Here is the note.
Used with various signatures from 1954 to 1969.
It is discussed on the "Otter Falls Cutoff" website:
http://www.otterfallscutoff.com/otter-falls-the-old-five-dollar-bill/
Roy
5 Members
like this post.
Login to Like.
Roy, thanks for showing me the note and also for that video. On the note, the falls are unrecognizable. There must have been a lot more water going over them back then, which all starts to make sense to me now.
The lake above the falls had a small dam wall, signs denying access to guys like me and there was apparently a hydro power plant, which I believed to be very small. It seemed odd, they will do that right by the recreation area.
Looking at the note, those guys may be diverting a lot of water from that river!
But there were still a few rainbows left, mostly in the lake below. I caught one on a fly and three more on a spinner, when trying to catch a pike.
6 Members
like this post.
Login to Like.
Just like last year I am heading out North again solo with my old car and my dog. We will be roaming the high grounds.
Hopefully I survive the trip and rejoin the forum September 1st, unless I check into a place with WiFi.
3 Members
like this post.
Login to Like.
re: Cougar - going into the Yukon wilderness till Sep 1st.
I made it back, only barely, limping 500km back on a thin spare tire through wild places along HWY 37 which was in terrible shape in some sections - even hit the bottom of my car in the middle of the lane!
Being on my own means I make all decisions - how fast I go, where I go, when I stop and turn back. Of course there is a downside - if I forget something, there is no possibility of a partner having the item handy. If I am in doubt, there is no one to consult to hopefully make a better decision.
Spent some time camping - turned out I brought a kids' tent, where I could hardly fit - my feet were touching the entrance while my head was touching the opposite side of the tent!
Spent time at motels. How would you like it spending the whole day hiking, covering two difficult hikes from bottom to top and back, returning to your motel late at night, only to find out your reservation has been inadvertently cancelled!
Walked up and down long trails to go to a fishing spot. Long, means precisely 10 kilometers one way gaining hug elevations over the lake and then dropping down. Repeat on the way back. One day I come back in the evening, next day I leave for the spot again in the morning and there is fresh grizzly scatt in three spots along the trail. But the grizzly did not want us for dinner.
On the way back I am driving down the Alaska highway from Teslin toward the BC border and there is this big piece of metal flying into my windshield out of nowhere! What was that! Turns out the logo of my 21 year Saturn did not want to come back to BC and remained in the Yukon!
a few pictures below. I found out I looked terrible - tired and old; almost have no idea how I achieve those incredible hiking results looking like that! My dog is way nicer in a picture.
10 Members
like this post.
Login to Like.
re: Cougar - going into the Yukon wilderness till Sep 1st.
Wow, another awesome trip! I'd love to be able to do something like that. but I doubt my Honda Civic would ever make it! Nothing like that around me anyway!
Great pictures! It's nice to see that part of the country. Thanks for sharing them.
Peter
Login to Like
this post
re: Cougar - going into the Yukon wilderness till Sep 1st.
Spectacular images!
Login to Like
this post
10:42:15am
Approvals
re: Cougar - going into the Yukon wilderness till Sep 1st.
Absolutely gobsmacking Jules!
Was that a caught salmon and foraged mushrooms for dinner or did you find the last A&P in the wild woods?
Login to Like
this post
re: Cougar - going into the Yukon wilderness till Sep 1st.
Peter, I am sure nobody who has a Porche , Ferrari or even a Ford Mustang will make it on that road. A prime example that less is sometimes more.
Dave, the fish in the pan is a lake trout. Turned out those are hard to catch because they stay very deep. Only one heavy jig head with a white twister tail was able to reach them. After two fish I lost the jig, then used a lighter one with the second and last white twister tail I had and the first laker that grabbed, bit off the tail of the lure. That was the end of my success with lake trout. But I caught and cooked grayling and a large rainbow too. Came back with half of my food supplies intact. The mushrooms are wild ones. I ate these for the first time. Although I knew they are good, I never tried them until that day. Among the most notable encounters on the road was a lynx that I saw both on the way up north and on the way back, 10-12 days later. Also saw a whole heard of bison, but being stupid, I drove after them to position myself in a better spot and they disappeared in the bush one after the other before I could take a single shot. Last came out a big bull, ran around the car and followed the heard. All I was left with was the smell of bison and the sound of cracking branches some 50 meters away from me.
(Montana Mountain by Carcross, YT)
(a lake trout)
(the creek flowing into the lake had large rainbows and grayling in it, the lake had northern pike and large rainbows)
(Windy Arm of Tagish Lake by the Klondike highway going south to Skagway, AK)
(Looking down at Tagish lake from the top of Nares mountain)
(Creeks are ice cold and a nice source of water)
6 Members
like this post.
Login to Like.
re: Cougar - going into the Yukon wilderness till Sep 1st.
Lovely pictures and looks like a great trip. My son did a four day hike with camping along the Pacific Coast trail section near the Snoqualmie Pass in Washington during Boy Scouts that was incredible. There were pictures of them hiking across snow fields in the summer (my son, of course, is pictured just wearing a t-shirt during most of the pictures as he didn't think he would need a coat!). He does tend to enjoy cooler weather rather than warm weather though.
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.
re: Cougar - going into the Yukon wilderness till Sep 1st.
The closest I've been to you is sailing from Victoria, taking the Inside Passages in to Bella Coola. Stunning scenery all around. Sailing alongside islands on the way back, the wind was calm, but between islands, it was absolutely ferocious!
Login to Like
this post
re: Cougar - going into the Yukon wilderness till Sep 1st.
WOW! I'm speechless.
Tad
Login to Like
this post
re: Cougar - going into the Yukon wilderness till Sep 1st.
"More! More! More!"
Well, I have more, of course .... I always take the perspective of a stamp collector, knowing I can create an endless amount of images, at no extra cost
A few more with some added details..
(a favorite river for arctic grayling on the way up north. There were many fish in this spot, but I quit fishing after releasing 5 of them)
(one of the 5 grayling)
(Montana mountain by Carcross. I like the red leaves and the snow capped peaks. One can just absorb the views around and feel way better)
(I did not make it much higher than this on Montana mountain. Elevation was 1,800m as per my GPS unit. I am yet to see how much I walked that day and what elevation I gained between the two hikes for the day combined. Got back to Whitehorse at 9PM to find out I have no place to sleep! Took me another two hours of searching and driving till I checked into the DaysInn and straight into the bathtub I went)
(This grouse was in plain sight by the road I walked, but Charlie passed right by him. I did not miss)
(Took a picture at the Haines Junction sign as last year. My car is bit cleaner now and the wheel caps are all in place)
(the Kathleen river. Fished it only the first evening for an hour; caught two nice grayling and never went back again)
(on my way to the fishing spot at Kathleen lake. About 6 kilometers of trail are behind me, 4 more kilometers left. I have to make it to the opposite side of the forested peninsula and walk down a creek to its mouth at the lake)
(Otter Falls - I read the image of the falls was on an old $5 Canadian note, but I don't think I have seen the note. Happy to have seen the waterfalls though. )
(Above Otter falls, there was a small provincial park by a lake, right where the creek was coming out of the lake. There was nobody around and it started raining. I already had one set of wet clothes and shoes in the car, so I started a fire in this shelter, pulled out my lunch case and a bottle of red wine. My supplies were probably lacking in many areas, but I had a good selection of both white and red wines in the car. Found a piece of cardboard and put it on top of the oven, then my wet shirts on top. I stayed in there till the rain stopped. That lake did not produce a single fish; not even a bite. On the way back, I saw a different lake which looked fishy. In this I was right.
4 Members
like this post.
Login to Like.
re: Cougar - going into the Yukon wilderness till Sep 1st.
Hi Jules
They are absolutely fabulous photographs and so is the narrative that goes with them
Nothing like the great outdoors
John
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.
re: Cougar - going into the Yukon wilderness till Sep 1st.
Cougar - what an awesome trip! Looks like your dog enjoyed it too.
Thanks for sharing your photos.
Sally
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.
BuckaCover.com - 80,000 covers priced 60c to $1.50 - Easy browsing 500 categories
14 Sep 2021
09:08:05pm
re: Cougar - going into the Yukon wilderness till Sep 1st.
"Otter Falls - I read the image of the falls was on an old $5 Canadian note"
Here is the note.
Used with various signatures from 1954 to 1969.
It is discussed on the "Otter Falls Cutoff" website:
http://www.otterfallscutoff.com/otter-falls-the-old-five-dollar-bill/
Roy
5 Members
like this post.
Login to Like.
re: Cougar - going into the Yukon wilderness till Sep 1st.
Roy, thanks for showing me the note and also for that video. On the note, the falls are unrecognizable. There must have been a lot more water going over them back then, which all starts to make sense to me now.
The lake above the falls had a small dam wall, signs denying access to guys like me and there was apparently a hydro power plant, which I believed to be very small. It seemed odd, they will do that right by the recreation area.
Looking at the note, those guys may be diverting a lot of water from that river!
But there were still a few rainbows left, mostly in the lake below. I caught one on a fly and three more on a spinner, when trying to catch a pike.
6 Members
like this post.
Login to Like.