One Last Post

Crow Mountain

To help a friend out where you live,  you might help them move into a new house. Or help them move furniture or maybe even a boat. In Old Crow, you help a friend by bringing 15 sled dogs and 13 sled dog pups down a mountain to a new dogyard. I got to do this a few nights ago and it was so much fun! We took 3 trips down with several dogs each (I only got one or two at a time depending on how strong they were). And were they ever strong! I fell once and they pulled so hard. We were wishing it was winter so that we could be in sleds and have the dogs do the work and pull us down.

The last job was to bring the two mother dogs and two litters of pups down. We did this with the help of a quad, a trailer and two tupperware bins. My friend took care of the mother dogs while I collected the tiny few-day old pups and put them into two separate tupperware bins. We quaded down the mountain with one mother dog in a crate on the trailer and the other running beside us (this is a popular way to keep sled dogs exercised in summer time--run them beside quads). All dogs and pups were returned to their summer dog yard and the pups were safely put into dog houses that my friend had set up with straw. This entire process was so exciting and fun and I feel really luck to have been able to experience it.

Dogs taking a drink from the river after coming down from the mountain

I am writing this post on June 12th. It was a blowing snowstorm when I woke up this morning. My first thought was "At least I don't have to tree plant in this." I dressed warmly, walked my dog in it and made a big pot of tea to have with breakfast. I guess this is pretty normal for living in the Arctic, and one year it snowed on July 1st. When I walked into the staff room today, written on the white board said: 'Only two more days until Christmas Holidays' (instead of summer holidays).

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Second litter of pups

This might be my last post before leaving Old Crow as I fly out in a few days. I have enjoyed my time here and think I might be a bit taken by the Yukon so much that I'll be back here somewhere in September. Thank you all, for reading my posts and following my stories I have put here. I will leave you with a few close-up shots of the spring growth on the path beside the airport that I often walk.

Warm Regards from Old Crow,

Haley



A Nest of Puppies

Such a proud Momma dog with her 8 pups

Last night I had quite the adventurous walk up the mountain. I will tell about it in this post. My friend and I often walk up the mountain to chat and get some exercise. There are several dog teams tied up partway up there right now, because of the danger of flooding that was present when the river was breaking up. Normally the dog teams are tied up beside the river and in the case of a flood, they would quickly drown, being tied up and having no way to escape.

When we walk by the dogs, they start barking and running around in the area they can reach. Often we comment that we hope one doesn't get loose. Well yesterday I was without my friend and one was loose. It ran up to me and luckly was friendly. I tried to get him tied back up the best I could when the action happened. My dog went over to one dog's area and the next thing I know, they are fighting, scrapping it out. I yell at my dog to get away, while simultaneously looking down and realizing the reason for the fight. A nest of puppies lies near the spot where they were fight. The fighting dog was a Mom and was protecting her pups.

A nest of 8 pups in a little hole in the Earth

At closer look, there were 8 puppies--3 black, two brown, one blonde and two white. Their eyes were closed and they could fit into the palm of your hand. The Mom looked so proud of her pups and you could tell she would do anything to keep them safe.

Spring has turned to summer so rapidly here. With it being near 24 hour daylight, it seems like the buds coming out on trees and the greening of the land is fast forwarded compared to places further South. The photo below is taken on the road up the mountain where I have taken many photos from. The view is equally stunning in all seasons. I feel so lucky to have been here to see the change in seasons. It is comforting to know that whatever is going on in your life, good or bad, that the seasons change just the same. Time passes through good times and not so good times.

Old Crow from the road up the mountain

We had a CO2 car race at the school today. It was great to see the cars that my class made (with the help of a community member) raced in front of their parents and peers. Thanks for reading my blog and more photos to come in the upcoming days.

Warm Regards from Old Crow,

Haley

Upriver in a Locally Built Boat

A week and a bit ago this was filled with icebergs coming from the Crow River.

Before moving to the Yukon, a long time Yukoner was giving me some tips on what to bring, Yukon weather and Yukon way of life. He told me of the viscously cold winter and the warmest of the warm items of clothing that I should be sure to pack. He went on to say that in May it would be an almost immediate switch to summer. As hard as this was to believe, after the snowstorm on May 1st this advice couldn't have rang more true. The snow melted almost immediately and I went from sporting layers and a coat to wearing a t-shirt.

Twelve Mile Bluffs (cliffs seen in distance) with sun reflecting off them

Spring in Old Crow is beautiful. I once again again felt lucky and honoured to get asked to go on a trip with a family here. We went in a boat that the Father built last spring. It took him 2 weeks of on and off work to build it. The daughters helped paint it, and it is truly a useful and practical work of art. We traveled about 57km up river in the boat and saw many amazing things. I'll truly never forget this day.

The photos in this post are not from the trip upriver. I was just recently able to borrow a cable to charge my camera, so I didn't have a camera for the river trip. I will describe it the best I can. Lacking my camera on this day got me thinking about the act of taking photos on a trip and an incredible experience. Does it take away from the present moment? Is an amazing experience better without a camera lens between you and it? Are memories less potent when you experienced them from behind a lens? Or do they fade sooner if we don't have a camera to remember them by?

3 cranes flying above my house

We packed the boat with food, blankets (including a caribou hide blanket) and guns and set out. I definitely did not dress warm enough. On the river it was winter again. My amazing hosts lent me a parka and I was toasty warm for the rest of the day. We saw black ducks, mallards, swans, cranes, geese and a muskrat. They were hoping to see a caribou and shoot it, but there were no caribou crossing the river when we were out. I have been told the caribou cross at night more often than in the day.

I have seen more ravens in Old Crow than anywhere else

We stopped a few hours upriver for lunch. The girls and I explored the camp up from the river and found a caribou antler that I brought for my dog to chew (apparently great to clean their teeth and definitely gives her something to do) and so much ledie muskiit (laborador tea). The girls collected a bunch to bring home with them. We climbed to the top of the hill where we were afforded an amazing view of a lake called Fish lake and a few others. Near where we had lunch was a cabin where a woman raised 17 children and expertly lived off the land for many years.

Old Crow Airport

Swallows swooping and darting; Arena in the background

We continued up river for another few hours and stopped at a place where the cliffs were steep and towered over the river. We skipped so many stones into the river and I learned so much about the land and the history of Old Crow. We saw a section of river that chunked off in a landslide so massive that it could apparently be heard from Old Crow. The girls and I learned how to use my new GPS and followed our trip on there. The trip back to Old Crow was incredibly windy and my face looked and felt like I had been outside for much longer than one day. I wished I could have been, as this day was one of my favourited ones in Old Crow yet.

My class made lunch for their parents and some Elders of the community yesterday. They picked ledie muskiit and made a tea to serve to the Elders. It was a wonderful experience to experience and I am very proud of them for their hard work.

My apologies for the lack of posts in the past little while. It has been a hectic few weeks and my motivation is not as great when I don't have photographs to include with my writing. Maybe that comes with being a very visual person, learner and thinker. I hope you are all well. I am so excited  to see those of you in Vancouver in a few weeks, and to see those of you in Ontario in August. We will have many stories to share and catch up on.

Warm Regards from Old Crow,

Haley