Carmacks, Yukon Territory

Land Of the Little Sticks

Midnight on the banks of the Yukon River. The land of the midnight sun...sun all night long! I'm still finding this very cool, and have long wanted to experience the sensation of not being tired at night because of the continuous daylight. Fortunately I remembered to bring my eye covers!

We are again up in the Yukon having been honoured with an invitation to our niece's wedding held in a small community. What an interesting experience! Very informal, and it's one of those events which just sort of goes with the flow. Lots of the town attended and there were many laughs, reminiscences and of course lots of good food. But that's not what I'm posting about.

Today after all the guests were gone (except us) the four of us went for a walk down to the head of the Dalton Trail which use to run from the BC-Yukon border to Carmacks at the Five Fingers Rapids. It was linked to the stage coaches in the late 1800's subsequently to the movement of cattle northwards to feed the gold rush prospectors. We walked down to the junction of the Trail with the Yukon River at the Rapids where the paddle wheeler boats use to ply the river to 40 Mile, Selkirk Fork and ultimately Dawson City. This of course is how I've managed to justify this post in the walking blog:) 

This area is wide open, has been heavily glaciated and is pretty untamed. 

This was the stable from the RCMP detachment in the area.

As we hiked along the rapids began to come into sight. 

The paddle wheelers kept to the near channel as boats today continue to do, but each year there were ongoing accidents because of the waves generated by the submerged rocks. Eventually the rocks were blasted out which made for a better experience all round. My buddy Rob has told me that he has these rapids on his kayaking wish list. Looks like fun on the far channel Rob!

I took leave of the reception dinner for a while yesterday feeling the need for a walk to settle things a bit. So I headed off along the headland above the river to see what I could see. Of course there were a few flowers along the river. After all, I t's just barely spring here.

It was late evening when I took these photos, and we haven't even reached the summer solstice yet!

So today was a really nice hike and we walked through the smallest pine trees on the planet...I think:) Hence the name of this post...a saying they have for the size of the trees here.

We fly home tomorrow, but this short visit has been wonderful, and hopefully there will be more. Next weekend, Santa Barbara, California to attend Erin's PhD grad. Looking forward to that...can't blame everyone down there for the actions of a certain unpleasant guest:)  From the far north to the almost tropics!!