Camping and playing in Pine Lake, Haines Junction, Yukon

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We tried a different technique than the cone for Java (he got fixed last week) to keep him from licking himself... He wasn't impressed...

Cooking bannock over the fire.

Harvesting spruce tips to make a medicinal syrup.

Collecting spruce pitch to make salve.

Kayaking on Pine Lake

We just love Pine Lake campground! It's far enough from town (90 min North of Whitehorse) for us to feel off the city hook and close enough to so many great hikes that we never get bored. There is a nice beach for warm days (and a clay pit!) and the lake is simply amazing! Paddling on a turquoise lake while being surrounded by the Kluane Mountain Range is high on my list of "how close to perfection can you get?".

Pine Lake is a territorial campground that is located only 10 min from Haines Junction and Kluane National Park. It is actually a nicer (and cheaper) campground than Kathleen Lake's (in Kluane National Park). If you are in the area, don't miss the amazing Visitor Center in Haines Junction.

Hiking up King's Throne, Kluane National Park, Yukon

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This is a steep trail up to a spectacular cirque -- the "seat" of the King’s Throne. The hike up to the cirque (and return) is 10 km (6 mi). If you keep going up to the summit (unmaintained, unmarked trail on steep scree), it is a 16 km (10 mi) hike. The hike to the summit is extremely steep and hiking sticks are highly recommended (slippery moraine most of the way). Elevation gain is 548 m (1,800’) to the cirque and 1 442 m (4,729’) to the summit. If you want to try the summit, assess the weather carefully, it can get very windy very quickly. Not a good thing on an exposed ridge. Clouds can also descend rapidly and make finding the route difficult.

As usual, be very bear aware. Kluane is home to the most important concentration of grizzlis in the world. We had been informed that there was a mama grizzli and cubs in the forested part of the trail, so we were very loud and stuck very close together, with an adult up front (with a bear spray) and an adult behind (also with a bear deterrent).

Kluane National Park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and is over 22,000 km2 in size, and 82% of it is covered in mountains and ice. It’s home to the St. Elias Mountains, the most massive range in Canada, and the second highest peak on the continent, Mount Logan.

Hiking up Sheep Creek, Kluane National Park, Yukon

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A tad bit windy!

A curious Dall sheep looking at us.

The children ate Bearberries flowers along the trail.

It was so windy on Kluane Lake that there was some dust from the dried lake bed section flying everywhere. So much so that we wondered if there was a forest fire.

 

We had planned on hiking Sheep Mountain Trail, but found out it is much more strenuous than the Sheep Creek trail and that you can’t turn around because of the very steep climb in the moraine. Since it is a 16 km hike and it was noon already, we decided to hike up Sheep Creek, where we could enjoy a view of the Slims River and Kaskawulsh Glacier. From Sheep Mountain Trail, you have a view of Kluane Lake (Yukon’s largest lake) and can see sheep from up close. Interestingly enough, this trail is virtually snow-free all year.

We stopped at the little visitor center and could use the binoculars and telescopes to see the many sheep on the mountain. It is baby season, so we were lucky to see many 3 weeks old Dall sheep babies! What a treat!

Sheep Creek Trail is a 10 kilometre (6 mi) return hiking route with an elevation gain of about 430 metres (1400 feet) reaching an elevation of 1281 metres (4200 feet). For more information about that hike and the driving directions, check this site.

A grey hike on Grey Mountain

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Picking forgotten cranberries from last fall. They are now pretty sweet... for cranberries!

Happy Yukon dog!

Java had a blast playing in the snow!

These late nights of light are hard on sleep... Catching up on rest in the moss and lichen...

Spring is about a month behind on top of Grey Mountain and the crocuses are just opening!

We clearly didn't pick the best day for catching up on the past year, Josée and I! Between the yelling to keep the bears at bay and the howling wind, it really wasn't conducive to chatting, but the view from the top of Grey Mountain is always amazing. So we went back to the warmth of her beautiful home, wrapped ourselves in blankets, poured a glass of wine and it was the perfect end to a beautiful Yukon day!

On Yukon Time

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Yes, you can fill your water bottle in the Yukon river and drink it! No filtering required!

10:30 pm and still plenty of light. There is still a month before the Solstice, so the days will get even longer!

Every time I drive back to the Yukon in the spring, my brain goes into high gear. I never know if it’s all the things to do all of a sudden because we’re back home (I have to buy a calendar just for my time in the Yukon!) or the super long days of light, but I feel totally caffeinated and hyperactive.

I don’t think you can really understand how wild this place is until you visit it. You truly are a guest here. For instance, there is a grizzly mom and her two yearlings living very close to our friends’ house right now. So, every time we go out of the house to get to the bus or vice versa (which are literally 50 feet from each other), you have to make noise so as to not surprise them. The other morning, as I drank my coffee by the lake, there was a golden eagle just on the shore. A canister of bear spray is a mandatory piece of equipement for our bike class, and it goes in the water bottle holder on the bike.

I also think that you can’t fully experience the wildness of the North by coming only for the summer. Winter is when the North is in its full element.

I love this time of year! The young leaves are just starting to open, the crocuses are slowly wilting and the lupines are just starting. The huge Northern mosquitoes are still slow and groggy, and the earth is just beginning to wake up  from her long winter sleep. With all that light everything is happening so fast, it's crazy! No wonder I feel wired!

Mountain biking on Montana Mountain, in Carcross, Yukon

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Isn't that Unimog the coolest shuttle vehicle ever?!

It was Java's first ride (we took him on a fun 5 km loop) and he did awesome! He never was in the way and followed very well (he even whined every time we stopped because he wanted to keep going!). He's gonna be a great riding partner!

Very tired but very happy little girls!

Did I say tired?

How do you turn a big sandpit into a major tourist attraction? You call it The Smallest Desert on Earth! I am not kidding... this sandpit is undeniably the most visited sandpit in the world...!

Since I never bring my camera on our bike rides, you haven't seen many pictures of our outings here (I have posted some phone pictures on the Facebook page). Today was an all-day meet of the girls' bike team at Montana Mountain in Carcross (one of the amazing bike trail systems in the Yukon). They had shuttles going up all day and they had a blast! As for me, well, let's say that even with the beautiful scenery, the nice people and the great coffee, it still ended up being a pretty hard day... The trails in Carcross are challenging for my skill levels (which are, in all honesty, pretty basic...), and I don't really like being outside of my comfort zone (and being scared of hurting myself), so I am glad the pictures were taken before the tears and the swearing... when I was still smiling... I hope that next year we will be back in the Yukon early enough so I can take Boréale Biking women's skills clinic, feel more confident and beat that fear!

Kluane National Park: King's Throne Hike

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In white, you can see an approximation of the trail we did. A group stopped a bit before the bowl, while 2 kids and 3 adults went up into the bowl (Aïsha and Joel were determined to get to the snow!), then JF and I went up on the ridge to the left.

The Westy chose this beautiful spot to die. Good thing I am getting fast at fixing it with our little trick! Five minutes and we were back on the road!

Running with Kinder along Kathleen Lake. We borrowed this dog from our friend since it is much safer to hike with a dog in grizzly country. Kinder is an 11 yo retired sled dog - he was a lead dog! - and decided to turn around with the first group... We outlasted him!

Straight ahead on the lake, in the little bay, is where we started the hike.

Once we were high up on the ridge, the wind picked up and the rain started, so we turned around. Going down in that scree was very slippery and not easy... The first group that went down even got caught by a scary rock slide... But hiking in glacier-carved valleys sprinkled with alpine wildflower covered moss is a pretty unique experience. When you stand there and look around, you understand why this is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is actually the largest internationally protected wilderness area in the world, that includes Canada's tallest mountain, Mount Logan, surrounded by the St. Elias Icefields. 

There is a pretty high concentration of grizzlies in the park and one of the popular multi-day hike, the Slim's River West, is often closed because there are too many grizz on the trail! 

King's Throne is actually the first hike I did when we moved to Whitehorse. I was at the very beginning of the twins' pregnancy, 12 years ago almost to the day. It's quite special to be back here with them to hike it... Once I am high up on the ridge, feeling the wind and the rain on my face, looking down at the tiny twisty trail I walked down below, I am reminded of the long journey I have undertaken, the slips, the falls and the scary parts, the exhilaration and the long tough stretches where I simply put one foot in of the other.

“The path to our destination is not always a straight one. We go down the wrong road, we get lost, we turn back. Maybe it doesn't matter which road we embark on. Maybe what matters is that we embark.” 
― Barbara Hall

Pine Lake

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Yukon swimming apparel: swimsuit and hat

As we leave Whitehorse, the grey sky opens up and the sun enters the bus and warms me up. Gophers dart everywhere on the road; one makes a nearly suicidal u-turn just in front of us. Then, a young brown bear crosses nonchalantly, swaying his hips like a sassy teenager. After a little more than an hour of driving on the Alaska highway the mountains of Haines Junction appear in front of us.

The campground is almost full, but a guy from Bend, OR, that traveled on his motorbike all the way to Prudoe Bay, shares his site with us since he’ll be back on the road early the next morning. Friends are waiting for us and we all settle around the fire, with port and dark chocolate as the sun slowly goes down over the mountains by Pine Lake.

On the days to come, there are Happy Hours around the fire (with Ludo's killer Gin and Tonic!), freshy caught pike cooked in aluminum foil and eaten with our fingers, lots of laughter and great talks, canoe outings at 9:30 pm and ferral kids with charcoal face paint having a blast (as long as there's a dog with them!) that we try to put to bed before 11 pm... This is why the Yukon just does not compare to anything else...

Hiking White Mountain

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Wild Orchid (Cypripedium montanum) also called Mountain Lady's Slipper

Little Atlin Lake

On Father's Day, JF and the girls went hiking to White Mountain. The view towards Little Atlin Lake was very hazy because of the many forests fires that are now ravaging the territory (there are 80 active forest fires in the Yukon right now...). On their way up, they met two couples from Alaska who had just finished a 9-day kayak trip on Atlin Lake all the way to the glacier. They said it was incredible! They also pointed out to them the wild orchids along the trail by leaving little cairns for the girls to discover.

All pictures taken by JF.

Dawson City

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Everytime we go to Dawson, I have this same feeling. We are not locals, but not tourists either. As we drive the Third Avenue in our (very dirty from the Dempter Highway) Westy, locals smile at us. We fit the bill. The Dawson summer crowd is quite colorful: lots of artists and crunchy hippies, too many tourist and some First nations cross paths on the wooden boardwalks... The atmosphere is welcoming and warm. We walk in the Alchemy café and are served in French, we meet a long-lost friend at the Taco stand... I understand better why people are attracted by Dawson's magnetism. There is definitely a sense of belonging here. 

Hiking the Tombstone

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As we cover the 7 hours that separate Whitehorse and the Tombstone Territorial Park, I try to make sense of my impatience of the last few days. That’s one thing the road does for me: it allows me to sit with my feelings. Sitting with discomfort is never fun. It’s so much easier to run away and get busy with something else. But here, between Carmacks and Pelly Crossing, there are only rows of spruce trees and the nagging rain. I feel frustrated. As I talk to JF, I realize he also feels the same. There is 100 reasons to feel frustrated. There always will be if we choose to be frustrated. It’s all about attitude. We can choose to focus on what we wish we had or we could try and turn this frustration into gratitude for what we actually have. And we do have a lot. By Steward Crossing, the frustration had dissolved and we both felt lighter and ready for a weekend of fun.

We arrived at the Tombstone campground a bit after 11 pm (yes, it was still light out. And no, there would be no Perseids watching for us this year!). In the Yukon, you don't make reservations, you just show up. For $12 (or $50 for the entire season in any Yukon government campground if you are a resident) you get a gorgeous campsite and free firewood! 

On Saturday monrning, the sun was shining. We made cinnamon-apple latkes while the girls made their most beautiful fairy garden ever (because there is all sorts of mosses and berries here, mama!) and we hit the new interpretation center for some more info on the hikes. There, we got to try some bannock bread and delicious tea made of yarrow, blueberries and labrador tea leaves, while the girls practice a puppet show with Joanna, a park interpreter that also spoke French. That interpretation center seriously rocks!

We decided to drive North a bit more (we were a mere 350 km from the Arctic Circle!) to do a hike called Surf Bird in the alpine tundra. It is quite fascinating, 20 km North of the campground, the boreal forest is no more, there is only alpine tundra.

When we arrived at the trailhead, there was no trail. Only 360 degrees of mountains and wet and mushy tundra. There were tons of ripe blueberries and moss berries and almost ripe cranberries. We feasted on them every ten steps. The dwarf birches and alder were already starting to turn red and yellow. We could see the moon the whole time we were there. Is it because we were so far north?

The next day, we decided to do a guided hike (with our beloved bilingual interpreter Joanna) to Grizzly Lake overlook. It's fun to notice things we wouldn't notice without an interpreter and it seems to motivate the girls to be in a group. Here, Aïsha gave highbush cranberries to an Irish man for him to try.

I stopped at the lookout with Mathilde who had a sore knee, while JF and Mara and Aïsha kept going up. Here, we can see Monolith mountain. Many people do an overnight hike to Grizzly Lake (11 km) down in that valley. We'd like to do it in 2 years with the girls.

The man, on top of the world!

Caribou Mountain

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There are not many places in the world where you can do a short (but steep!) hike and have such an amazing view... and with nobody else on the trail. After a mere 20 minutes, we had a stunning panoramic view of Bennett Lake and Montana Mountain. We kept climbing and climbing through the alpine vegetation. The descent was slippery, but fun! 

Half-way up, Mathilde found a rock with what looks like a petroglyph of a mountain goat (there are lots of mountain goats on Caribou Mountain). We'll bring it to the Tourism and Culture Department to have it assessed. She is so proud of her rock!

Market day joy

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It was seeing familiar faces come back for energy balls and the amazement of people at finding out that something so healthy could be so delicious. It was the fishing in the river in shifts. It was catching up with old friends. It was the bartering with other sellers that left everybody happy. It was the clapping at the end of the market to celebrate another great day of hard work. It was the swim in the ice-cold lake on the way back home and the dance party around the bonfire late in the night with roasted fruits on sticks. It was seeing the moon disappearing behind the mountains. It was falling asleep with Mara in my arms with her hair smelling of wood smoke.

Moutain Hero

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We woke up at 10 am on Sunday morning to a grey sky. We had had a nice evening in town at our friends Elise and Ludo's and were planning a slow day when Elise and Ludo showed up on their way to Carcross, where they were going hiking. We quickly packed a lunch and decided to join them. On our way there, it started raining... It's been that kind of summer here... So we ate our lunch in the rain, putting on all the layers we had, then sat in the car to wait for the rain to stop. Ten minutes later, we were good to go! As we started ascending, the sun came back and we stripped down to shorts and t-shirts!

Mountain Hero is a gorgeous hike that quickly has very rewarding views. It once was a copper mine and there are still cables and artefacts from the mining period. It is all ascent, however, so half way through, JF, Ludo and Aïsha decided to keep going to the top, while Elise and I went back down with the other girls.

It felt great to be in the wild again and the forest smelled amazing after the rain. Elise had the girls do singalong songs to signal our presence to the bears. They were hilarious! It makes my own heart sings to see my girls connect with their Yukon friends so easily.

We then met up at the new café in Carcross after the hike and the girls had homemade lemon and passion fruit sorbetto. It was such a wonderful spontaneous day! 

A table at the Farmers' market!

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Our friend Amanda and the children have had a table at the Fireweed Farmers' market for a few year. This year, they sell raw ice cream (made simply with bananas and other fruits in the Champion). When I asked Amanda if we could sell some of our favorite raw energy balls, she said yes right away. This week, Amanda was also giving a workshop on rhubarb. If you have read my bio page, you know how much I love rhubarb! You should have seen how proud Mathilde was to join in the preparation of rhubarb chutney, rhubarb iced tea, rhubarb ketchup, rhubarb lentil curry, rhubarb jam, fig and rhubarb compote and my favorite, spicy rhubarb pickles!

The market is open from 3 pm to 8 pm, so we arrived at 2 pm to set up our tables. It was windy and cold and our friends who were selling ice cream were quite bummed, because of course, ice cream don't sell really well when it's freezing outside. By 6 pm, all our energy balls were sold! The girls were thrilled with the experience (and loved that they could use the money they made to buy what they wanted from the other tables!). Finally, the sun showed its face and we had to strip down to t-shirts, and the ice cream started selling like crazy. The girls helped their friends to make it, and Mara and I had to run to the grocery store to get more fruits. 

The rhubarb workshop was a big hit too. People were excited to see how creative they could get with rhubarb (it is still rhubarb season up here and there is tons on it!!).

The market is such a social venue, it was fun to catch up with all the people I hadn't seen in a long time, and it was such a great experience for the girls! They want to do it every week while we are here!

To the land of the midnight sun

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All the regulars were there: the stone sheep at Muncho Pass, the bison herd near Coal River, the shiny black ravens everywhere along the road. By Watson Lake, we had stopped counting the bears…

There was the tasting of the first fireweeds and a happy dance as we entered the Yukon and recognized the familiar smell of the northern air. “It’s our birthplace!” Mara exhorted. Ahh! The feeling of home. I hope they always feel this way when they come here.
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There were barely any bugs at Liard Hot Springs this year, which made for a pleasant soak as we chatted with another traveling family from Quebec. And at 9 pm, the sun was still high in the sky as we inched towards Whitehorse.