Home at last

Sorry, we didn't post immediately, but we arrived home extremely tired. The ride down the mountains and the smoke from the wild fires, along with a ferocious electical storm took a lot out of us oldies. Today we are watching on TV as they evacuate people from Quesnel, which is where we camped just a few nights ago. The entire central and northern part of the province is under heavy smoke, as is the City of Vancouver. Thankfully here on Gabriola, the air is clean and the skies only slightly hazy. We are very grateful for getting home all in one piece. It turned out to be more of an adventure than we anticipated, and nothing really turned out the way we planned, but we loved it all and enjoyed sharing it with all of you. Now that we have seen the far north of our country, we are going to do future exploring in the Fraser Valley and northern Vancouver Island, places that we can access in a day or two. In the meantime, we have lots to catch up on at home, and preparations are already in the works for the departure to Mexico the end of October.

Thanks to all our friends and family for hanging in with us through the Northern Excursion of 2018.

Barbara Rick and Flossie the Intrepid Scottish Traveller.

Lillooet My Love Day 25 Part 2

OK. Here's the deal. We saw everything between here and the Arctic Ocean and some of it was pretty thrilling. It is one gigantic, stunning and rugged land out here in Beautiful British Columbia, the Yukon and NW Territories. 

But…

Back south...Day 25 Part 1

After leaving cousin Bill yesterday we travelled south through heavy smoke to Quesnel where we stayed the night at a lovely campground on Dragon Lake. It so reminded me of Southern Ontario cottage country. Kids canoing off the docks, cottages ringing a placid lake. Very nostalgic for me. We woke this morning to more heavy smoke.

dealing with the fires...

Hi folks, we're inching our way homeward. Had a wonderful day with my surrogate brother (in reality my cousin Bill) who lives in Hudson's Hope BC. We had a great time of chat and sharing of family news and information and all too soon it was time to hit the road again. Many hugs later we took off through the smoke. We had smoke coming down through the northern Rockies, Hudson's Hope was wrapped in it with the sun a mere shapeless blob in the sky.

FIRE

We arrived to Hudson's Hope BC on the eastern side of the province and spent yesterday with my cousin Bill. The smoke here is heavy, obscuring the sun. The two huge fires on the west side of BC at Telegraph Cove and Dease Lake have now merged into one massive fire. Apparently, the smoke is reaching east to Ontario. I would remind folks that we passed through Dease Lake on our way north to the Alaska Highway just a couple of weeks ago. The fire season here is very bad right now. On our route home there is currently a fire burning at Horseshoe Bay, where the Vancouver ferry leaves for Nanaimo. That one seemingly is under control. Nearer home, there is another fire burning on Nanaimo Lakes Road where we have friends living. We have not heard from them but we hope all is well.

Fire is part of a normal regenerative cycle in the north, but terrifying for us humans (and other animals) to be caught in its power. We do not expect any issues for our trip home from Hudson's Hope, but wll check in daily to update.

Barbara Rick and Flossie

BC Highway 97 to Fort Nelson Day 20 Part 1

Note: This post somehow didn't make when originally posted, here it is now.

After an early start, the drive suddenly became more exciting. We hadn't gone far when this road side warning perked us up.

Sure enough, a very big fellow sauntered across the road in front of us. We were thrilled.
















Just another mile or so down the highway we saw cluster of vehicles stopped, and we had a premonition this would mean something big. It did. Verry big. A herd  of 30-40 bison grazing away on the wide clearances on either side of the highway.  You can see below that there were big ones, little ones, bulls and cows.

The other side of the road even more of them

We came closer at a snail's pace and several big guys decided now was a good time to check us out.

This one tried to stare us down!

He gave that tactic up and sauntered past us...

Some just stood sideways and decided to take a breather..

And some just were too lazy to bother with any of it.

Of course we were thrilled with that experience. But around a corner something else caught us off guard. A cluster of 3-4 cariboo in the other lane were having a group discussion, but I had no chance to photograph anything. However just ahead in our lane was a young doe, so I snapped her. All in all, we saw 2 black bear, 3-4 cariboo, 1 black wolf and the herd of 30-40 bison on this trip, all of them in BC.

This day was one of the best ones of the whole trip. And the scenery was spectacular!!  (next entry).

Barbara Rick and Flossie the wonder campfire girl

The Alaska Highway (97) through Northern BC Day 20 Part 2

This stretch of the Alaska Highway through the Northern Rockies is one of most oustanding natural beauty we have experienced. I don't know why we haven't discovered  this until now, but we are thrilled to have eperienced it. Given that this is the main route for Americans travelling across BC and the Yukon to Alaska, we were astounded at how deserted it was. We had it mostly to ourselves the entire route. We started out in a noticeable haze from a forest fire, and there was a strong smell of smoke, but we never did know where the fire was. It caused a number of the photos to have a surrealistic blue tint. After a few hours, we finally left the smoke haze behind and the sun broke through. There is no point in making text for the following set of photos as they are all self explanatory….the last photo is the camp ground we are staying at tonight (Tetsa River Lodge). This personal "discovery" of the Northern Rockies is probably one of the top highlights of our trip.

Barbara Rick and Flossie the freeloader

Teslin inland Tlingit Heritage House

We stopped at Teslin, Yukon Territory around 3PM to give us time to visit the Tlingit Heritage House. The Inland Tlingit migrated to this location from Juneau Alaska, up through Atlin Lake to here. They retain close ties to the coastal Tlingit as well as to the inland Tlingit at Atlin Lake.

The  Tlingit are master carvers of totem poles, as you can see below. Can you guess each animal, amphibian or bird?

Inside, a message hung on the wall.

Next door is another museum dedicated to George Johnston, a  very important and successful Tlingit who was the first native to open a store in Teslin. He was fascinated by photography so he ordered a camera kit from Eaton's and took some magnificent early photos of local families. These are on display in the museum. I told the young woman at the desk that my grandmother in Scotland was a Johnston. She told me her name was Denise Johnston. In fact 99% of Teslin has the name Johnston. So I asked who was the first Johnston. She went very pensive. "I don't know " she said."But I will find out". So she called several people on her phone but nobody could answer that question. I told her I was a person who did a lot of historical research and I would love to research the first Johnston if I only had a name. She looked at me and said "Maybe we are cousins!!" and we both smiled. I left my email and she gave me hers, so perhaps I will hear from her and learn just who was the first Johnston to bestow his name and paternity on this amazing group of people.

Barbara Rick and Flossie the well heeled travellin' dawg

The wild wild west (north?) at Atlin Lake is not dead

My cousin Bill sent me this great news article from 1985, showing that the old wild west lives on at Atlin Lake. Teslin Lake is connected to Atlin Lake, it lies in behind Atlin Mountain.

Thanks Bill!

This is a story from March 1985

ATLIN, British Columbia -- Mounties tracked down an eccentric, U.S.-born trapper wanted for terrorizing his neighbors in Canada's isolated, frozen north country, then shot him dead after in a gun battle in which an officer was killed, officials said Wednesday.

In a scene reminiscent of the 1932 hunt for the 'Mad Trapper of Rat River,' the gunbattle between 14 Mounties and 'Shesley' Mike Orros occured Tuesday in an area about 1,200 miles north of Vancouver, British Columbia.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police began hunting Orros, a landed immigrant from an undisclosed U.S. town, Monday after an isolated cabin was burglarized and robbed.

'The suspect was well known to us with a history of violence and instability,' a RCMP spokesman said.

An RCMP plane spotted the eccentric recluse walking alone on the frozen surface of Teslin Lake. Orros fired a single shot at the plane, then disappeared into the woods.

The trapper was located on the same lake by aircraft Tuesday and the squad of heavily armed Mounties, flown in by helicopter, moved onto the lake with tracking dogs.

'The tactical team hoped to keep the suspect in the open on the lake, but he managed to take cover in the bush,' the spokesman said.

Orros, armed with two rifles, then circled behind the Mounties and shot Constable Michael Buday, 27, in the back, killing Buday instantly.

Police released few details of the ensuing shootout except to say Buday's colleagues shot and killed Orros.

The slain constable's mother described the gun battle as an 'ambush.'

'The fellow they were hunting knew the area well,' Margaret Buday said from her home in Tilley, Alberta. 'Mike never had a chance.'

Few details were released about Orros, but local residents said the trapper had terrorized the region for several years. He was widely known as an excellent but eccentric outdoorsman.

The RCMP said Orros was suspected of breaking into several cabins in the area during the past six years.

The episode brought back memories of the 1932 hunt for Albert Johnson, who has entered Yukon folklore as the 'Mad Trapper of Rat River.' Johnson killed a mountie investigating his trap lines, then killed a second in the manhunt before being shot himself.

Atlin LAke Day 19 Part 5

Compared to Dawson, which to me looked like a Hollywood movie set, nothing could be more authentic than this little community of 400. This unassuming street lined with carefully preserved historic buildings, lies directly under one of the most magnificent gravel glaciers, a view hard to surpass. We lost our hearts to this community.

With love from Atlin Lake to all of you 

From Barbara Rick and the fabulous Miss Flossie

Atlin Lake Day 19 part 4a

A few restored historic buildings. The jail below.

A cottage

The first fire hall

The first Atlin General Store

Barbara Rick and fabulous Flossie

Atlin Lake Day 19 Part 4

Random scenes from Atlin.

The  main general store

Atliners love their flowers. I noticed that in the north, nasturtiums and sun flowers are particularly popular.

Back yard garden

Barbara Rick and Flossie the freeloader

Atlin Lake Day 19 Part 3

The community of Atlin Lake faces Mount Atkin across the water with its gorgeous gravel glacier. It actually is not a true glacier but who cares? It is an incredible sight.

Up on pilings and centre front, is the reigning queen of Atlin Lake, the MV Tarahne. She was deliberately built in 1917 for a career in tourism. Europeans flocked to her for lake excursions while stewards in white jackets served tea and petits fours. In 1985 the Atlin Historical Society received a grant from the British Columbia Heritage Trust to save the Tarahne and today she serves  as a romantic venure for weddings, small receptions, luncheons, dinner theatre and the annual Tarahne Tea hosted by the Atlin Historical Society.

Another view of the Queen of Atlin

Can we have too many?

To the left of Mount Atlin is a break between it and Teresa Island on the left. Through this pass we can see a glimpse of what lies to the west behind Mount Atlin…jagged peaks covered with the massive Juneau ice fields. Skagway Alaska, sitting at the head of a Pacific Ocean inlet is only 60 miles dead ahead. Skagway is the location where the hordes of goldseekers landed and then had to climb their way over snow and the ice covered White Pass, thousands and thousands of them like a trail of ants…many of whom expired along the way.

In the summer, winds coming from the west are cooled considerably by the ice sheets and keep the temperatures in Atlin comfortable while other communities swelter in the heat.

Little planes like this serve many duties in the north. They fly tourists into areas totally inaccessible by any other means, and they rescue lost hikers, and so forth. 

Teresa Island, with its famous Birch Mountain rises to 6755 feet. This is the highest point of land on an island in a fresh water lake anywhere in  the world. The area is filled with superlatives.

  

More to follow!

Barbara Rick and Flossie the spoiled golddigger

Day 19 Atlin Lake Part 2

I really admire the people of Atlin and their reat community spirit. But I absolutely adore their stunning surroundings. 

These are mostly self explanatory…coming into Atlin

Coming down into the community with Mount Atlin and its rock glacier (one of a few existing) across Atlin Lake.

Our campground on Atkin Lake

More to follow

Barbara Rick and Flossie the perfect gold digger