Yukon – Day 4 – May 27th, 2015
This morning we woke up on the road. Bill woke up at 2:30 am and started driving. I am so thankful for Bill and all he did for us. He is such a real trooper, and I definitely couldn’t do that! It’s a real physical and mental game and I can’t imagine how strong he is to power through this all :) Anyway, we drove for about 7 ½ hours. I slept the entire night through and very well. Actually, I think I woke up once because I was cold or something, but overall a good sleep. By then, I was really getting pumped for our final destination—Tombstone Territorial Park!!! I knew we were getting close when we saw the beginning of the Dempster Highway. We got out of the bus there and took a ton of pictures! I am really happy that we were allowed to bring cameras because they capture tiny moments and large ones, but I’m also happy for my mental camera. It is like every time I blink, I have a picture of what I see in front of me. It’s weird to explain, but I guess it’s another way to say memories. Memories pretty much fuel the world, if you think of it. Memories are what books are created by- people’s recollections of thoughts, findings, and experiences mixed into giant books of knowledge. People feed off of these books like sponges with water. Those are everything we know. Even if we didn’t learn from a book- let’s say from an elder- you are feeding off of those memories. Education turns into jobs- those jobs that save people, help people, do wrong, do right, pass on more memories, those jobs get us food (in the modern world). It’s like in the book, “The Giver”, The Giver passes on all the memories, stories, teachings, places, things-everything- to Jonah, and then Jonah becomes the new Giver. It’s hard to explain, and you have to know the book, but it’s pretty neat-o.
Anyway….at the sign, I walked around a little and I thought about how we were in the Yukon. Like seriously, who can say that they raised $25000 + to arrive at the Yukon, not only to see amazing sights, but to protect amaze-beans watershed that is at risk. No one can! We are so privileged to be able to embark on a journey like this one, and I hope that we can help the Peel and actually made a big change for them. I just can’t get over how awesome it is that we’re here.
We hopped back onto the bus and headed for Tombstone! I think it took us about 2 hours from Dempster Highway to Tombstone, but I could be a lot off because I didn’t bring a watch (ha ha!) When we started to get closer, I started noticing the trees lessen. It looked more and more like SK, but add in mountains instead of sunsets. I remember thinking at one point that ½ the time I saw Mexico in the trees, and ½ the time I saw Alaska. I’m not sure how I saw Mexico, but I guess something sparked that. Finally, I saw a ‘Tombstone Park’ sign and I was thrilled! This was our dream, and we made it. We fought to get here…look at us now! We made it to our camping spot at 10 AM, and it was gorgeous- trees everywhere, no sign of society, just peace. I thought of Tam’s sleeping mask that says “Peace at Last”, and I felt that so much. We set up our tent and I struggled to get the pegs deep enough into the rock-hard ground. I found a nice rock and pounded away. This method worked wonderfully, which was awesome. Everyone’s rocks clanged at the same time at one point, and I felt like a musical would start! Once we finished setting up camp, I took a great big gulp of fresh air. It was so pure and clean. It smelled like pine, mixed with fire, mixed with dirt, mixed with air smell- this is kind of what nature smells like, but better! J I looked around our site and noticed a very fast rushing river! I loved to look at it and compare it to the still-water creek at my lake…imagine being swept away by that! The river itself makes me think of one Milman reunion in Red Deer, AB when we went to the river thing. I always smile thinking about my cousin Jorda floating down the river with dad chasing after her. It sounds dangerous, and mean for me to laugh at that, but it was a very playful moment; no danger involved! :) Back to the river here…the rushing waterfall noise it makes can put me to sleep in a minute. It just looked so magical/majestic. It was really pretty, and a peaceful cherry on top of the view in front of us already!
We trekked down to the Mess Hall (love the name, by the way!) We ate lunch, and then headed down to meet Lolita for a Bear Aware presentation. My mom was a bit paranoid about bears, so she will be glad to hear about that! I thought the presentation was pretty good. I knew a lot of it already, but I liked he refreshers. Then, Lolita told us that we were going on go on a Grizzly Creek hike! I thought it was supposed to be on May 28, but I didn’t really care- I love adventures! I got my hiking poles ready and I was good with them now, and headed for the trail! We walked into this forested area and walked for awhile. The area was so enchanting – it looked like the cabin in Twilight! We kept walking and walking up the uphills and I started to notice lots of dead tree trunks. I wondered if the park was doing some logging, but then Lolita told us that there was a huge windstorm that plowed the path for a long time. We walked for about another 100 m, and I noticed how many fallen trees looked like bear calves! If a bear did live there, he probably wouldn’t be the comfiest, but I still made a little extra noise there. We came across an amazing, amazing creek that sounded/looked just like our one back at camp, but we could get so much closer to the water itself! I was really boiling by this point, so I dipped my buff into the water. The water was cool and swift. When I put my buff on my head, I was instantly cooled down! J It feel as cool as the Hubbard Glacier in Alaska, and water dripped down my back. By the time we left to go higher, my buff was already ½ dry! I was getting more tired but I was never stopping. We kept going on and on, and I started noticing more rock in the terrain. That only meant one thing- that we were getting closer to the summit! The smell of the air was so sweet and fresh, I could almost taste it. Probably one km into the hike, the inclines started to get more difficult. They weren’t too hard that I was hardly breathing, but my heart rate picked up a tad. We just kept climbing and I thought about my ‘keep on keeping on’ shirt. It was really neat to think that we were hiking up on a huge mountain…in the YUKON! I still cannot believe that we are in the Yukon and we got here ourselves. It just blows my brain into pieces. It amazes me how strong, courageous, powerful and amazing we are. We have done so much in this world to help out the land and people, and I’m never going back. I love this wildlife lifestyle and being with nature really excites me. Why would I go back if I’ve had such a great time getting here? I imagined the Yukon as a lot more snowy, with a lot more wind and tundra for some reason. I guess it was very cold not too long before we arrived.
Anyway, we made it to a very rocky area. I was getting tired as I kept going higher and higher but I knew I was never going to stop going up. A bigger area with no trees came around the corner and I saw the summit. It looked pretty intimidating, but I didn’t really care- for goodness sakes I was climbing a mountain! We made it to our first lookout point and it was so beautiful, sitting there on the ledge. I really loved reflecting and looking at the view. I wrote this thing- a bit of a reflection and a bit of poem/prose thing. I called it, “I’m on top of the world, eh!” and I wrote about how high up we were, how amazing of an experience that was and I added a bit of what I thought was poetic at the moment (It probably isn’t that cool, but I was tired, okay?) We sat and took it in for about 20 minutes and then we had the option to go up to a second summit! I told myself that I would regret it, if I didn’t go on it, so lo and behold, I went up! I was already exhausted, but I was fired up! Up the trail we went, and I noticed the rock had white, black and green chunks on it. Someone told me that that was lichen (like-in) and I thought that it was neat. Lolita was saying that in the fall, the real colors come out, which I think would be amazing! I guess all those colours are what you see in the Tombstone pictures. Color is super neat and I remember when we were in Beaver Creek with Kenton, he told us that everything in the world was actually grey, white and black- we just see how the different light interacts with the chemical thingies in the air. I just thought it was a cool, nerdy science thing- that color is kind of our imagination.
Anyway, we made it to the top of the 2nd summit and it was extremely rocky and steep. The view was golden, though. I could see everything for miles and miles. It is impossible to describe, so you just had to be there- let’s say. You could barely see the sun setting behind the mountains, and it was probably +20 outside…some people didn’t even have a buff! Once we were finished taking multiple pictures, we headed back down. It was soo steep, I felt like I would face plant any second. There was this nude guy we saw, and I wondered why the heck he was doing this! I didn’t see the guy, but it was still super weird!! The rocks were very loose so poles were the best invention at that point! Going down was a lot easier, and I remember telling someone, “It’s all downhill from here!” – but in a good way. If we were at a normal place, people would think that’s not good but hiking makes it sound awesome! Eventually, we made it to the creek again. I dipped in my buff into the creek for the last time, and it was so cold and fresh again. We walked more and more, and eventually we made it back to the mouth of the trail. I really enjoyed that hike, and though it was difficult, I will never regret taking the risk to go up to both of those peaks. That hike was a very humbling experiences for me and I am soo excited to go on more throughout the trip.
We went back to the camp and set up for supper. Adia and I had the meal of the entire trip…LASAGNA! It was soo delicious and a real treat compared to our flaky sauce and spaghetti. It was nothing compared to my mom’s or grandmas homemade lasagna though. Anyway, it was really tasty.
Today was a very adventurous day for me, and I can’t wait for more things to come! I had so much fun and made many memories- like climbing my first mountain. It was a fun day! J
This morning we woke up on the road. Bill woke up at 2:30 am and started driving. I am so thankful for Bill and all he did for us. He is such a real trooper, and I definitely couldn’t do that! It’s a real physical and mental game and I can’t imagine how strong he is to power through this all :) Anyway, we drove for about 7 ½ hours. I slept the entire night through and very well. Actually, I think I woke up once because I was cold or something, but overall a good sleep. By then, I was really getting pumped for our final destination—Tombstone Territorial Park!!! I knew we were getting close when we saw the beginning of the Dempster Highway. We got out of the bus there and took a ton of pictures! I am really happy that we were allowed to bring cameras because they capture tiny moments and large ones, but I’m also happy for my mental camera. It is like every time I blink, I have a picture of what I see in front of me. It’s weird to explain, but I guess it’s another way to say memories. Memories pretty much fuel the world, if you think of it. Memories are what books are created by- people’s recollections of thoughts, findings, and experiences mixed into giant books of knowledge. People feed off of these books like sponges with water. Those are everything we know. Even if we didn’t learn from a book- let’s say from an elder- you are feeding off of those memories. Education turns into jobs- those jobs that save people, help people, do wrong, do right, pass on more memories, those jobs get us food (in the modern world). It’s like in the book, “The Giver”, The Giver passes on all the memories, stories, teachings, places, things-everything- to Jonah, and then Jonah becomes the new Giver. It’s hard to explain, and you have to know the book, but it’s pretty neat-o.
Anyway….at the sign, I walked around a little and I thought about how we were in the Yukon. Like seriously, who can say that they raised $25000 + to arrive at the Yukon, not only to see amazing sights, but to protect amaze-beans watershed that is at risk. No one can! We are so privileged to be able to embark on a journey like this one, and I hope that we can help the Peel and actually made a big change for them. I just can’t get over how awesome it is that we’re here.
We hopped back onto the bus and headed for Tombstone! I think it took us about 2 hours from Dempster Highway to Tombstone, but I could be a lot off because I didn’t bring a watch (ha ha!) When we started to get closer, I started noticing the trees lessen. It looked more and more like SK, but add in mountains instead of sunsets. I remember thinking at one point that ½ the time I saw Mexico in the trees, and ½ the time I saw Alaska. I’m not sure how I saw Mexico, but I guess something sparked that. Finally, I saw a ‘Tombstone Park’ sign and I was thrilled! This was our dream, and we made it. We fought to get here…look at us now! We made it to our camping spot at 10 AM, and it was gorgeous- trees everywhere, no sign of society, just peace. I thought of Tam’s sleeping mask that says “Peace at Last”, and I felt that so much. We set up our tent and I struggled to get the pegs deep enough into the rock-hard ground. I found a nice rock and pounded away. This method worked wonderfully, which was awesome. Everyone’s rocks clanged at the same time at one point, and I felt like a musical would start! Once we finished setting up camp, I took a great big gulp of fresh air. It was so pure and clean. It smelled like pine, mixed with fire, mixed with dirt, mixed with air smell- this is kind of what nature smells like, but better! J I looked around our site and noticed a very fast rushing river! I loved to look at it and compare it to the still-water creek at my lake…imagine being swept away by that! The river itself makes me think of one Milman reunion in Red Deer, AB when we went to the river thing. I always smile thinking about my cousin Jorda floating down the river with dad chasing after her. It sounds dangerous, and mean for me to laugh at that, but it was a very playful moment; no danger involved! :) Back to the river here…the rushing waterfall noise it makes can put me to sleep in a minute. It just looked so magical/majestic. It was really pretty, and a peaceful cherry on top of the view in front of us already!
We trekked down to the Mess Hall (love the name, by the way!) We ate lunch, and then headed down to meet Lolita for a Bear Aware presentation. My mom was a bit paranoid about bears, so she will be glad to hear about that! I thought the presentation was pretty good. I knew a lot of it already, but I liked he refreshers. Then, Lolita told us that we were going on go on a Grizzly Creek hike! I thought it was supposed to be on May 28, but I didn’t really care- I love adventures! I got my hiking poles ready and I was good with them now, and headed for the trail! We walked into this forested area and walked for awhile. The area was so enchanting – it looked like the cabin in Twilight! We kept walking and walking up the uphills and I started to notice lots of dead tree trunks. I wondered if the park was doing some logging, but then Lolita told us that there was a huge windstorm that plowed the path for a long time. We walked for about another 100 m, and I noticed how many fallen trees looked like bear calves! If a bear did live there, he probably wouldn’t be the comfiest, but I still made a little extra noise there. We came across an amazing, amazing creek that sounded/looked just like our one back at camp, but we could get so much closer to the water itself! I was really boiling by this point, so I dipped my buff into the water. The water was cool and swift. When I put my buff on my head, I was instantly cooled down! J It feel as cool as the Hubbard Glacier in Alaska, and water dripped down my back. By the time we left to go higher, my buff was already ½ dry! I was getting more tired but I was never stopping. We kept going on and on, and I started noticing more rock in the terrain. That only meant one thing- that we were getting closer to the summit! The smell of the air was so sweet and fresh, I could almost taste it. Probably one km into the hike, the inclines started to get more difficult. They weren’t too hard that I was hardly breathing, but my heart rate picked up a tad. We just kept climbing and I thought about my ‘keep on keeping on’ shirt. It was really neat to think that we were hiking up on a huge mountain…in the YUKON! I still cannot believe that we are in the Yukon and we got here ourselves. It just blows my brain into pieces. It amazes me how strong, courageous, powerful and amazing we are. We have done so much in this world to help out the land and people, and I’m never going back. I love this wildlife lifestyle and being with nature really excites me. Why would I go back if I’ve had such a great time getting here? I imagined the Yukon as a lot more snowy, with a lot more wind and tundra for some reason. I guess it was very cold not too long before we arrived.
Anyway, we made it to a very rocky area. I was getting tired as I kept going higher and higher but I knew I was never going to stop going up. A bigger area with no trees came around the corner and I saw the summit. It looked pretty intimidating, but I didn’t really care- for goodness sakes I was climbing a mountain! We made it to our first lookout point and it was so beautiful, sitting there on the ledge. I really loved reflecting and looking at the view. I wrote this thing- a bit of a reflection and a bit of poem/prose thing. I called it, “I’m on top of the world, eh!” and I wrote about how high up we were, how amazing of an experience that was and I added a bit of what I thought was poetic at the moment (It probably isn’t that cool, but I was tired, okay?) We sat and took it in for about 20 minutes and then we had the option to go up to a second summit! I told myself that I would regret it, if I didn’t go on it, so lo and behold, I went up! I was already exhausted, but I was fired up! Up the trail we went, and I noticed the rock had white, black and green chunks on it. Someone told me that that was lichen (like-in) and I thought that it was neat. Lolita was saying that in the fall, the real colors come out, which I think would be amazing! I guess all those colours are what you see in the Tombstone pictures. Color is super neat and I remember when we were in Beaver Creek with Kenton, he told us that everything in the world was actually grey, white and black- we just see how the different light interacts with the chemical thingies in the air. I just thought it was a cool, nerdy science thing- that color is kind of our imagination.
Anyway, we made it to the top of the 2nd summit and it was extremely rocky and steep. The view was golden, though. I could see everything for miles and miles. It is impossible to describe, so you just had to be there- let’s say. You could barely see the sun setting behind the mountains, and it was probably +20 outside…some people didn’t even have a buff! Once we were finished taking multiple pictures, we headed back down. It was soo steep, I felt like I would face plant any second. There was this nude guy we saw, and I wondered why the heck he was doing this! I didn’t see the guy, but it was still super weird!! The rocks were very loose so poles were the best invention at that point! Going down was a lot easier, and I remember telling someone, “It’s all downhill from here!” – but in a good way. If we were at a normal place, people would think that’s not good but hiking makes it sound awesome! Eventually, we made it to the creek again. I dipped in my buff into the creek for the last time, and it was so cold and fresh again. We walked more and more, and eventually we made it back to the mouth of the trail. I really enjoyed that hike, and though it was difficult, I will never regret taking the risk to go up to both of those peaks. That hike was a very humbling experiences for me and I am soo excited to go on more throughout the trip.
We went back to the camp and set up for supper. Adia and I had the meal of the entire trip…LASAGNA! It was soo delicious and a real treat compared to our flaky sauce and spaghetti. It was nothing compared to my mom’s or grandmas homemade lasagna though. Anyway, it was really tasty.
Today was a very adventurous day for me, and I can’t wait for more things to come! I had so much fun and made many memories- like climbing my first mountain. It was a fun day! J