I’m back – my first good road trip in 6 months
Well, my friends, I’m back. I found someone with the skills needed to solve my health mystery. I’ll tell you more about that at the end of this post. Yesterday was Day 12 of feeling better, and I did the final test – I drove out to Kluane Lake and back. It was a wonderful day, an exciting day.
I asked Cathy if I could have her Jeep for the drive – Bella and Tucker are much more comfortable in it than in my car. On my last refresh of the weather forecast as I was getting packed up, it changed from Sunny to Cloudy with Snow Flurries – oh well, I was going anyway.
We left the house at 09:30, with the temperature at -12°C (+10.4F). That’s the Alaska Highway ahead in the first photo, as we left Mary Lake.
The Jeep was filthy so I stopped at the car wash as we passed through Whitehorse. It was 10:08 when we reached the junction of the Alaska Highway and the North Klondike Highway to Carmacks and Dawson (Km 1437 of the Alaska Highway).
The open road at 10:26. I stopped here at Km 1466.9 to take a couple of photos and post one to Facebook.
At 11:20 we stopped for a walk at the Canyon Creek Bridge rest area. The log bridge was built on the original Kluane Wagon Road to the Kluane goldfields in 1904, then was rebuilt for the original Alaska Highway. You can see the old road climbing across the slope ahead.
Just north of the west end of the bridge is a log cabin that served as a roadhouse and store during the Kluane Gold Rush.
Approaching the big rocks of Kluane National Park, at Km 1554.
By 11:45 it was clear that the weather forecast was going to be wrong – I could see lots of blue sky ahead. Not mandatory for a good day, but very welcome.
The view ahead right at the Km 1600 milepost. I still don’t trust that I’m going to continue to feel good, and I was deeply enjoying this, stopping often.
Transitioning to sunny skies, with a layer of cloud above me but sun on the mountains.
The 400mm lens compresses the highway and brings the mountains even closer. I shot the next photo right at Km 1620.
Between me and that section of road is Christmas Creek. This was shot right at the Km 1630 milepost.
I had planned a major stop at the pullout at Km 1642.1, but wind was bitterly cold and the snow was deep. Bella was loving it, though. She was digging as if she was after something, then rolling as if she’d found something stinky 🙂
“What are you laughing about?”
Okay, let’s go, I’m cold!
The cabin in the next photo, at the foot of Sheep Mountain, belonged to Captain Alexander Clark Fisher, who died in January 1941 and is buried above the cabin. You can see more photos and the article that appeared in The Whitehorse Star upon his death, here.
There was a fairly high probability of seeing Dall sheep on the highway at Sheep Mountain, but no luck.
Still feeling good at 1:00 pm, my hope to go to Destruction Bay for lunch had turned into a plan.
I had an excellent burger at the Talbot Arm (saving some fries for my doggies), but as I was about to leave I saw a Facebook post about Tserber, the dog that’s been lost in this area for months. There was a possible sighting just past the airport. I couldn’t ignore a message like that – things happen for a reason – so instead of starting for home, I continued on another 25 km to the Duke River. All I saw, though, was some intriguing tracks just before the Duke River – the sort of tracks a nervous dog might make? The inch of snow last night made them too indistinct to ID. Poor Tserber… 🙁
At 2:30 I made a U-turn at the Duke River and started for home. The huge “gold pan” at Burwash Landing, repainted last year, looks great now.
We stopped for another walk at the Sheep Mountain interpretive centre. The wind was making great patterns in the snow.
There were lots of sheep visible, and they seemed to be making their way slowly down towards the highway, but I couldn’t wait for them to possibly reach the highway and I wasn’t dressed to hike up to them. A group of about 10 people had hiked up to them, and the sheep didn’t seem to be bothered at all by them.
Heading back into the clouds – looking east across Christmas Creek at Km 1630.6.
I love mountains and their infinite moods…
This awesome sundog stopped me for a few photos near Bear Creek summit. It was being caused by snow and ice driven off the mountains by the wind.
The clouds were broken and the light was beautiful on the way home, but I didn’t take any more photos. Tucker had asked to come up for a snuggle and I didn’t want to disturb him. We got home at 6:15.
I left my backpack on the table when I got home. What a nut! 🙂
So, what has happened with my brain injury? Well, just before Christmas, Brook Bouquot, the daughter of people I know, called and asked if she could come over and do an osteopathic session with me. Absolutely. My body’s reaction to that session, while very negative initially, made me think that osteopathy was a path I needed to follow. Unfortunately Brook wasn’t going to be back in the Yukon for a month, and it felt like weekly sessions were needed, so I sent emails to both osteopaths in Whitehorse, asking to be added to their lengthy waiting lists. I soon got a reply from Lindsay Charron, saying that she’d take me on and see if she could help.
My results from my first 3 sessions with Lindsay were vague. There was nothing I could really put my finger on, but for a couple of days I’d feel “lighter.” Then all of a sudden 13 days ago, literally overnight, I felt better. Not 100% but dramatically better. I cautiously began testing that. Trips to the grocery had been awful – that was now okay. Lunch with friends had to be short – now I could stay as long as I wanted.
My cognitive abilities have largely returned – I was able to go to a meeting about a complicated subject, and understand it. Creative photography is again possible.
For our 12th anniversary, Cathy and I went to The Cut Off restaurant and had a wonderful evening eating and listening to Steve Slade. I was able to stay for a couple of hours and had 2 beer. This was amazing.
So the drive yesterday was the final test. And my body and my brain showed no negative results. Murray is back.
Although very optimistic, I’m still very cautious about what’s going on. I’m seeing Lindsay for another session today – I still have neurological issues to work on. While I’m still trying to figure this all out, for now I’m going to rejoice at where I am. The past 6 months have changed me, no doubt. I will never forget how dark things got, with a wheelchair beside my hospital bed. Yesterday, though, Cathy booked a rafting trip in Chile for me during our Antarctica cruise in December-January.
Value every day, my friends.
About The Author
