The Last Leg of Their Northern Adventure...

..

...was riddled with"on-again , off-again" messages!

With a storm brewing on the Chilkat Pass

the highway to Haines Alaska was closed &

there is no other way to get there!

Angie & Loic didn't know if they'd get to their waiting ferry or not,

and onto the next part of their adventure...

with special permission to cross the barricades

and with enough emergency supply to last a week...

we ventured on.

I was hesitant!

.

The Sky was filled with clouds the higher up the pass we got...

but the snowfall had ended, the winds had blown themselves out

and the ploughs were back on the Pass...
More vehicles passed us,

indicating that the highway had been opened to public traffic...

much to my relief!

It didn't take long for me to relax into the passenger seat
feeling confident with Sean's abilities and knowledge of the area...
He lived on the Pass for a number of years
and knows the climate & landscape like the back of his hand
(hence the "special permission")

The highway meanders though a
magical land of snow & mountain peeks

where sometimes you can't see the sky from the land

Nor the sign posts through the snow...

and all that surrounds you is

WHITE !!!

It was easy to forget the purpose of our trip,

by getting lost in the beauty that surrounded us...

and enjoying Angelique's excitement

for the rugged landscape,

(Tuckered out, Loic slept in the back...waking, on occasion, to enjoy the view)

The south side of the Pass offered a spectacular back drop

of blue skys with mammoth coastal trees, magestic mountains

and, an abundance of snow!

A pang struck my heart when we approach this sign...

a reminder of our purpose...

to deliver Angie & Loic to the Ferry that would sail them away from us

and our lives in the Yukon.

But they looked SO happy ...

and I know that life long friendships have been forged...

but how does one explain to toddlers the tears of good-byes?

That their beloved friends,

and now trusted family members

are leaving us?

It was, and still remains, difficult...

I do know that as sure as the the full moon

is capable of lighting our way home

over a snowy pass on a clear night,

and always keeps it's promise to come again...

so too will our friends, one day, follow the moon light home to

their Northern Cabin...

And what a grand reunion it will be...

;;;

hummmmm

Perhaps that same full moon will light our way to France

;)