My knees are completely shot. So are my ankles. My shoulders and upper arms have become a tangle of knotted muscles. You’d think that I just completed an adventure race or climbed a mountain or something equally demanding. But no, all I’ve done is take a canoe instructor course over the weekend. And there are still two weekends to go.
It seemed like such a great idea a few months ago. A three-weekend lakewater instructor course — a chance to brush up on old skills, learn a few new ones and become an instructor to boot. Three enjoyable weekends spent out on the water. Carey Robson, the master instructor running the course, is a fantastic teacher but the curriculum is intense and the pace is grueling. And did I mention that there are still two weekends to go?
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After a great vacation up North, we’re back. But I’m left wondering why? Was it the traffic we missed? The heat? The crowds of people? It’s nice to be home, but I already miss the simplicity of being on the trail or on the road, far from phones and e-mail and everyday worries.
The Chilkoot Trail was a fantastic hike and has become my all-time favourite. There are many stories to tell and I haven’t even begun to sort through the 600+ pictures we took on that trip. I’ll probably set up a small website to cover it rather than try to cram everything in here.
Along with some great camping and fun in the Yukon, we also crossed off another item on the “have to do” list: a flight-seeing tour of some of the lower glaciers in Kluane’s St. Elias range. Words fail to describe the experience of soaring above those jagged ridges and massive ice fields in a little 5-seater Cessna. That flight alone probably accounts for a quarter of the photos we took. Stay tuned, there should be some good ones.
And now back to life in the city. At least I brought back some of that Yukon Gold.
The latest issue of explore features the “Life List 100: Things you have to do out there”:
The list of great Canadian hikes, bikes, paddles, climbs and must-see destinations is long, long, long. Life , on the other hand, is short. So get going.
So without further ado here are the ones I’ve done (and would highly recommend to others):
Update: Our recent trip North has pushed that number up to 21.
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For those following along at home, the reason that I haven’t written in so long is that I simply haven’t had the time. I’ve been home barely 5 days in over a month! This week finds me in Kokomo, Indiana, a nice enough town about an hour’s drive north of Indianapolis. Sadly not the Kokomo of the Beach Boys’ song…
With the weekend to kill, I spent a few hours today walking around downtown Indianapolis and then took to the trails in Eagle Creek
State Park. It was pretty hot today, but overcast and threatening to rain all afternoon. At least it was cooler than earlier this week.
Indianapolis is smaller than I expected, but pleasant and sprinkled liberally with historical buildings. Most of my time in the city was spent wandering past the various war monuments near the city centre. I also drove past the Indy track but there wasn’t much to see, save some massive bleachers.
Eagle Creek was a nice getaway, just what I needed to recharge my batteries. All of my fellow park-goers were either picnicking (what’s the proper spelling there, Yogi?) or fishing. I couldn’t help thinking that only the amateur fishers come here, all vying for the same undersized fish, if any exist here at all. At least they were outside and seemed to be having fun. The trails were wide and gently rolling, only challenging due to the heat.
See more pictures on Flickr.
The Chilkoot Trail is probably the most enduring icon of the Klondike Gold Rush. Until the neighbouring White Pass Railway was built in 1899, it was the main route into the Yukon for those hoping to strike it rich. Making it up and over this steep and challenging climb was complicated by the North West Mounted Police: everyone coming over the pass were required to bring one ton of supplies in order to survive in this wilderness region. For some, that meant up to 30 trips - fully loaded with gear - over the frozen pass. Ironically, few of these hardy stampeders struck it rich since the best stakes had already been claimed long before the word got out.
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