We rode the White Pass and Yukon Route railway from Skagway, Alaska yesterday, accomplishing one of our few goals for the summer. Thank goodness for friends in high places.
Trains + mountains + waterfalls + bridges + tunnels + sushi + chips + executive treatment = happy children!
Though be careful when multiplying this formula by (no nap).
Better than being 37 Miles Over Haines, I reclaimed last year’s missed trip with a two day, two hike variant earlier in August. I also got to test my new Canon S90—the last 6 months of photos on this travelogue were taken with no backlight on my old Panasonic FX9 (ie: no LCD to compose the shot).
First I visited the Heli-Pad opposite the Three Guardsman Mountain. Though the Guardsman Satellite itself was a more attractive hike, I figured I’d save that for another time, leaving me an excuse to make the long drive again. Plus, I’ve solo climbed enough crumbly exposed peaks in this life and would prefer a spot of company for future sketchy ascents.
Three Guardsman Mountain
View back towards the Samuel Glacier trailhead,
one of my favourite hikes
View East
Inuksuk
Haines, Alaska is surrounded by beauty, though I was unimpressed with the town itself (besides the Mexican restaurant).
The next day I woke to overcast skies.
I climbed Mount Ripinski, and as I couldn’t take photos of the many icy mountains I knew were hiding in the mist, I found other subjects.
That’s right, I made a friend. I was able to get even closer, and hugged an outcropping in front of that cliff. Meanwhile, he hid in a cleft, sticking his little horns and nose out to watch me for the hour I hung out waiting for the mist to clear.
I said goodbye and completed the climb, finding a nice cozy spot in the lee of a stone to wait a bit longer. I started to drift off, and with the wind whipping above and beside me and the weather degrading, I roused myself, gave up the wait, and headed back. I’m glad my friend compensated for the lost views.
Did you know about Eowyn’s amazing eyes?
That’s an island of Mommy in a sea of Daddy.
I’m going to backpedal to fill in a few event gaps. First, there was the sailing with Michael:
Then, Daddy-Son-Daughter-Doggy camping at Kusawa Lake:
Amadeus’ first birthday (and first birthday cake!):
And travels to Vancouver for Gramma’s retirement:
And Ottawa to visit Granny (and catch three evening classical performances in the park for Daddy and kids—small feats considering the late night buses):
So July was a lot of hangin’ and then some.
That’s right, my office was hit by a typhoon and, later, an outbreak of dengue that put one of my staff in quarantine for two weeks—he was literally unsure if he was going to survive, and had asked an intermediary to tell me he quit in preparation for that eventually, though the message never made it through.
This all happened on the other side of the world in the Philippines, and is one of the interesting sides of outsourcing.
When I didn’t hear from my coder for two weeks, I figured B) he got married and was taking a honeymoon without telling me first, or C) he ran into too great a challenge with the work and was too embarrassed to tell me, but in the end I discovered it was the old A) Dengue Fever hospital quarantine.
He’s okay now, reinstated and trying to recover his lifestyle after most of his things were sold or pawned to pay his bills.
Having been vehicle-less for 7 months in Costa Rica, among other reasons, Asheya insisted we add a second vehicle to our lifestyle so we each always have the freedom of mobility, at least for now.
We were so fortunate to find a Toyota Echo (our first choice) locally, 2005, and get this—only 37,000km! That’s practically a new car! We say this could very well be Elias’ car when he’s 16.
We wanted an Echo as it’s listed as “Recommended” in the Lemon-Aid Used Car Guide, has excellent ratings in Consumer Reports, is described as having “parts easily found”, with “really low” repair costs, and has the best fuel efficiency of its class.
I already broke it in (without breaking it, as happened with our old ‘94 Dodge Colt on a similar trip years ago) on a camping trip with just Elias, Eowyn, and myself to Kusawa Lake (we’re all set for that trip in the photo above), but that’s another post.
My third travelogue post was about biking Haeckel Hill / Mount Sumanik above my house (accessed from my front door), so it’s fitting that my third post since returning home is about my return to these hills, and this time with a camera.
Michael & I biked up the smaller facing hill, as I had done previously, and this time ditched our bikes and bushwhacked as far as we desired into the midnight sun.
There were well used game trails everywhere, and lots of moose and bear sign, including several bear hibernation caves and a kill / bury site (we got away from that clearing with all of its animal remains quickly). Besides huge swarms of mosquitoes (a sad feature of the Yukon in the early summer, particularly given the irony of our mosquito-free seven months in the tropics). We saw other strange creatures as well amongst those long-dead trees:
Had we wanted to, we could have reached the turbines:
And here’s a refreshing perspective on Porter Creek (my community of Whitehorse):
What the heck—perfect health the last 5 months in Nicaragua and Costa Rica (and only minor issues the 2 months prior to that), exploring the jungle and taking the bus daily with people living on nothing but beans, and within a week of getting back to the Yukon, we’re sicker than we ever were in the tropics, and awfully annoyed.
In my 20+ years in Vancouver, I rarely had flu-like symptoms. The last 3 winters in the Yukon we could pretty much count on them—and we can add this summer to the list now, too.
Grrr.
Besides trying to squeeze every last bit of juicy goodness out of Costa Rica, it’s been a busy time in other ways. The latest checks on my “to do” list were to
One might think hiring people saves time, but it’s quite the reverse. Of course, we also get much more done.
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