Burwash Bound & Back!!

The days are getting SO long now

and the sun is SO strong

that

I couldn't bear to be indoors
for one more minute!!

So...the girls & I

were Burwash bound!!!!!

No matter what time of year it is,I never get sick of these mountains!It's like they have a life and personality of their own!

I could live with out the ice on the highways though...

At one point I almost turned back

but chose to push on, I'llbeit, at a snails pace!

It doesn't look so bad from this photo, but trust me,

the ice is slick & not a whole lot of fun!!!

Views like this one made the trip
worth it :)
Hummmm....and to think,
THIS is my backyard!


I promised Courtney, Sarah & William,
to do my best to get Santa's autograph when I
arrived in the North...
As it turns out,
he's not an easy fellow to access!
but here IS proof that Santa & I
share the same neck of the woods!
Christmas Creek is only about 20 minutes
north up the highway!

On this trip I even saw his reindeer tracks!
I would have stopped to take photos of them but
the road is really icy & curvy there...
NOT a great spot for stopping!!


Kluane Lake is frozen solid!
She's the largest body of water in the Yukon.


And across the road from Kluane Lake is,
Sheep Mountain!
That was my office
(the tiny green dot at the bottom of the photo)
my first summer with Parks.
& what a summer it was...pregnant with the twins
and working in a remote setting like this!!


This old place was the home of one of the original
gold miners in the area!
He is buried at the foot of Sheep Mountain.
I remember peeking in through a broken window
one day...something moved & I was out of there
before you could say "Jimmy Cricket"!
Must have been an Ermine...


Now THIS fellow was far too friendly!
I'm not sure if he was watching over
a sheep carcass in the ditch,
or if he was hanging around
because people have been feeding him...
I really hope it's not the ladder!

He was so beautiful that I had t stop & take
a photo or two or three or four...

Too bad I cut off his nose in this one :(

After he circled the truck three times,

I was back on my way...

but not before I got the next shot!!

In the Yukon,

I'm always struck by the beauty of a Coyote!
I've never seen an Ontario Coyote

look so healthy!

Perhaps it's the colder weather...

a thick coat can do

wonders for any dogs

appearance!!

After a long drive the girls & I finally
arrived in Burwash Landing!!

Buddy & Ips

were there to great us!!

& Brenda was more than ready for a twin

snuggle :)

It's been SO long!!

Our visit wasn't as long as I would have liked it to be

but I needed to get home in the daylight

With the slick conditions & Dahl Sheep low on the mountain

& crossing the highway,

I'm leery about doing this trip in the dark!!

Besides, it's nice to be home in the evening

with family :)
.......

After a friendly hug & good time with my dear Friend,

and with the girls played out, feed & changed,

it was time for the long drive home!

Funny, a trip to Burwash is all it takes to

remind me that the Junction trees are

lush...even with 90% taken by Beetle kill!

The scars of fire have left this place looking

lifeless!! The trees that DO exist here, are also

tiny in comparison to ours 100 km south!
Burwash is also lacking any volume of snow...

It's amazing the difference between

the two communities!

My mountains back home!

& around the lake we go!!

an old dilapidated motel along the route!

A better look at the Old Minor's Cabin

I'll have to look up his name again...

I once knew it...

that & the dates that he lived

& died there...
What a life of adventure he must of had!

More lifeless building

along the Alaska Highway

Two cabins close to home

that have sat for some years

with out inhabitants...

There is a strange beauty & quality

to these old

structures!

Finally, over two hours on the road home...

we arrive in the Junction
The Muffin is there to welcome us

It's an interesting sculpture, not overly liked by locals,

with a dark & mysterious history

perhaps I should write about that one day...

I always laugh at the tipsy sign

over the local bar...

DaKu is a beautiful building

it's one of the admin buildings of the CAFN
It sits about 3 km from our cabin

Ahhhh...our cabin at last!

I love to go visiting &

playing elsewhere but...

like Dorthy said,

"There's no place like home"