17 September 2008

Keno, Yukon

Mid september and I have one week before meeting Lynne in Vancouver for an excursion to Gananaque, Ontario to visit the team there.

The wet weather has continued recently but the occassional ice coated pool reminds me that on this day last year we had the first snow fall that stuck to the ground. I have essentially completed field work as it will be touch and go from here on in.

I have a few more photos from the Dawson City trip.

I visited the "gold discovery" claim on the small tributary to the Klondike River that was originally called Little Rabbit Creek, but subsequently remaned Bonanza Creek.

The fall colours were brilliant and I was lucky with some fine weather. It seems that the difference in having only yellows on the turning leaves here as compared with what we hope to see in eastern Canada is that there are maples or oaks at this latitude, mainly poplars, aspen, alders and willows. The hillsides blazed.

The 150km drive north on the start of the dirt road called the Dempster Highway that links Inuvik on the Arctic Sea to the rest of Canada provided some spectacular views ionto the Tombstone Mountains rising from ground that soon becomes open tundra for the remaining 650km of the drive with just one services stop on the way. I will reserve that drive for some time when the price of gas is a little less (or work out a way to tap into the North Slope oilfields when I get there) and the have a week to spare.







Will write again after the visit back east, as I will have a final work stint of 2-3 weeks and get home in the first week of November.