Category: Hiking

From Winter to a snow-free hike at Skagway

I’ve been watching the weather forecasts to make another try to get to Skagway, and yesterday, though not great, was the best day in Skagway for 10 days or so, and was forecast to get as the day progressed. in both Skagway and Whitehorse. The day turned out to...
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Hiking through history on Montana Mountain, 1991-1995

My focus recently has switched back to scanning my files. While doing that a couple of days ago, I found some hike reports from 1993-1995, written as I was researching the historic mines on Montana Mountain for my first book, “Fractured Veins & Broken Dreams.” I carried a notebook,...
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Getting high on Grey Mountain

I’ve started a couple of blog posts since my last one but have been unable to complete them and finally gave up on each and deleted them. Maybe I can finish this one. Although we haven’t had any hard frosts yet and daytime highs are still 10-12°C, Fall is...
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First visits to Caribou Lake, Yukon

A few months ago a friend asked if I’d like to go to a lake that neither of us had been to before. Caribou Lake is easy to access from the Alaska Highway but neither of us knew anything about it beyond what we see on maps. Click here...
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A Whitehorse Copper Belt railway hike

Last week, Tim Green offered to take members of my Yukon History & Abandoned Places group on a guided hike of the Copper Mines Branch of the White Pass & Yukon Route railway. On July 2nd, 8 people and a St. Bernard joined him – we walked a total...
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An excellent day – new flowers and old mines

I have some very good reasons to say “no” to most activities. But yesterday was an excellent day because I said “yes” to two. The first one was quite easy. Spring hasn’t really arrived at Whitehorse until I’ve been out photographing the first Prairie crocuses (Anemone patens) – that happened...
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Sunny-day walks on the Whitehorse airport trails

We’ve been having some lovely weather lately, with sunshine, and highs nearing the freezing point. The light is starting to have a Spring feel to it, so on Monday and Wednesday I pulled myself away from this box and went for walks on the trails along the Whitehorse airport....
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A walk along the WP&YR rail line to Watson River Falls

In my last blog post, I mentioned that I didn’t think that anyone canoes the Watson River that I posted a photo of. A friend of mine in Whitehorse said that she canoed it many years ago, and that there was a canyon to portage around, with a lovely...
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Writing a Chilliwack-area trail guide, 1988-1990

When I lived in BC (the first 40 years of my life), I spent an ever-increasing amount of time in the spectacular Chilliwack River and Skagit River valleys. In 1988 I had an idea that a trail guide would be a useful addition to BC bookstore shelves. By the...
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Another hike to the upper Venus silver mine

As I get older, the Yukon’s historic Venus silver mine (the primary subject of my first book) has become my fitness test. On Wednesday, I made my third attempt in a month to reach it. I made it. At 71, it was my slowest ever for the steep climb...
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