scion1969

I forgot about the wind. When Walter warned me about bears in the Carcross Desert and suggested the little patch of sand between the water and the warehouse, I forgot about how windy it was that afternoon. And I had even read an information plaque somewhere about how the Tagish First Nation name for the spot translates to “always windy spot” or something like that. I was woken several times by the wind smacking the side of my tent into my face as I slept. This, of course, was the result of my having anchored the tent at each corner with tent pegs anchored in sand. Hmmm. At the first flutter of wind, they came up and were free to move about and cause slack, letting the tent walls sag enough to smack me in the ... read more

My second morning of this visit to Whitehorse dawned clear and bright once again. It was hard to believe that they had been having a crappy spring and summer, except for the fact that it was so chilly. I haven't worn my shorts really much at all since Inuvik, where it was very nice and warm. I took my time as I had noted that things didn't really open before 9 in the morning, if not 10. I had plenty of time. I packed up my tent and other things and put them in my car and I was off towards my first desired stop, the Kwanlin Dun Cultural Centre. It really is a slick looking building. However, once again, it is very new, just as the centre in Haines Junction. That meant that there was ... read more

After looking at the schedules for the ferry from Haines to Skagway, I found that there is only one a day, and not everyday at that, and that it is at an inconvenient time. It goes at 12:45 in the afternoon and arrives at 1:45. There seemed to me no way I was going to be able to check out Kluane National Park and Preserve, visit the local cultural centre, and be able to get down to Haines in time to catch the ferry. That was going to leave me in Haines for the rest of the day and then the next day would be spent getting to Skagway and not having the chance to do a boat trip to Juneau. So that would have to wait until the next day. That would mean three days. ... read more

There was still the lower visitor centre at Denali National Park that I hadn't seen yet. I headed over there after getting up and had a look. It was quite interesting with lots of displays of animals and their habitats. I am getting more and more impressed with the interpretive material put up in national parks in Canada and the US. I decided that I would stay around and watch the sled dog demonstration as well. Denali National Park is the only park in the system that has an active sled dog kennel. Indeed, it is still the case that they use sled dog teams to do the bulk of their work in the winter, from patrols in the park and preserve, to bringing in equipment for various projects and research studies. They also give demonstrations ... read more

The tallest peak in North America is in Alaska. In the early 20thCentury it was christened Mt. McKinley after the then president, who had never set foot in Alaska. Almost immediately the cries went up that that was a ridiculous thing to do. I don't know how the First Nations reacted to this. They didn't have a strong voice at that time, so their reaction was likely ignored. I suspect they wouldn't have been pleased. But they had a name for the mountain, too. They had a name for almost everything around, including lots that the new guys (us whities) didn't even know was there, or just listed as being there without a name. Their name for the mountain was Denali. Roughly translated to English, it comes out as “the High One” or “the Great One.” ... read more