Monday, July 27, 2009

(June, 2009)(UPDATED) Go! Go! GO!! PULLING IN THE BIG ONES, SONORA RESORT WITH ANDREW

'Mom! Didn't I tell you I don't like heights?! Andrew asked in a low tone. The SeaAir plane, all 8 seats filled, ran the short length of a landing canal close by the Fraser River's mouth, and softly lifted. It quickly became clear that we were, indeed, in a tin can.

One hour of flying along the Sunshine Coast of B.C. , over glacial lakes, melting snow tops, solitary cabins, quiet clusters of homesteads, lonely bays...and islands upon islands. Where had these islands come from? Where have I been all these years? We finally flew close in closer to island tops to land next to Sonora Island.Sonora Resort, specializing in sport's fishing, zodiac explorations, grizzly bear searchings, a full-on spa which I availed myself of, with a 2 hr. melting massage, 120 hot tubs on premises and a in-suite bar frig fully loaded and the good life, sat waiting in all its luxury.


Looking over Desolation Sound for our dinners, a small cruise ship swiftly gliding by like a white swan. Watching large numbers of seals, up to 30 at a time, and Andrew counted 130 eagles at a single sighting, flying or perching.The community, Big Bay, across the Sound was once a community of 3,000 people--boat building and fishing before the lst World War. It even had a school. Those days are now gone. The current is very fast out front of the dock where the sea planes sit. When the tide changes the water can dramatically drop 5 metres. The face of Sonora Lodge also quickly changes, exposing sea life which can only be seen at lower tides.


Our very favourite spot with our noses right up against the glass of this 500 gallon salt water aquarium. Bass, rock cod, crayfish, sea urchins, sea cucumbers, algae are changed regularly with the creatures out front. The salt water is pumped from the Sound. Fantastic sights--especially with the crayfish half out of a fish's mouth!










Some proud!








Check videos at the very end!
Andrew's first ever salmon within half an hour. A l4.5 lb. , then 12.5 We were so lucky to have Jeff as our own private guide for two days of fishing. The same age as Andrew, Jeff has had his own boat since he was four years old. A great, great time sharing with Jeff about fish, fishing, the locale and his general low key life style...so different from our city life.We both caught our limit, 2 each of these Spring (King) salmon the first time out. Andrew caught his third the next day...about ll lbs.The second day out we both had our lines with salmon on them at the same time! What excitement! They were barely under size.

Do I look happy or what? My very first salmon as well...l9.5 lbs, then a 12.5 pounder. I could never have done it without Andrew's strong arms to help me out. Here is a look at Jeff as well as the boats in the back.













Yes, you're right! Guess who was up front with the pilot
flying back into Vancouver?
Couldn't miss that opportunity! Here is a glimpse of
my ever present 'buddy' packsack, having started with me
in Nepal. (And all those journeys since will be meat for
another article one day!)
one day!)











June, 2009
Copyrighted MB, 2009

























Thursday, July 23, 2009

(May, 2009) SOAKING UP THE GOOD LIFE AT HARRISON HOT SPRINGS RESORT WITH JENNIFER





Jennifer and I were on the move! We turned Goldie, my convertible, towards the long expanse of the Fraser Valley and headed toward the sun, fun and relaxation. Harrison Hot Springs Resort was waiting for us! A room overlooking the lake...three days beside the pool, thermal pools, afternoon tea beside the pool, dinners out and with room service....leisurely walks around the lagoon and through the forest together, mud pack facials, two hour massages, and revitalizing body wraps with exquisite surroundings and music. The works!


Jennifer did lengths in the outdoor pool, read, sunbathed and soaked up the relaxation.

We were not disappointed one bit! The sun shone the whole time, we ate and drank well, laughed, shared and laughed some more!


Went to the Copper Room for a formal dinner and finally--we did get up and boogie a bit together...where were our guys? Had a lovely time laughing with our waiter and just enjoying this memory.

The early dawn was incredible across the lake. The distant shore rose against the water in a gentle curve, looking like the globe that the earth is. A sight I have never seen so precisely! The water was as smooth as violet silk shot through with deep blue.


















Soon though it was time to return home. Jennifer got behind the wheel with Goldie, my convertible for the first time. Off we went down the highway in the sun...a great , great time with my daughter!


May, 2009
Copyrighted MB, 2009

Thursday, July 9, 2009

(March, 2009) DISCOVERIES IN WHITEHORSE, YUKON

'Following Our Ancestors'
Beringia Interpretive Centre, Whitehorse

Huge fangs of a massive scimitar cat smiled its welcome as I stepped through the door of Beringia Interpretive Centre in Whitehorse, Yukon.








I was to spend two afternoons enveloping myself in the prehistory of North America--following our ancestors from Asia. Although I already knew of this, I instinctively knew I was about to embark on a deeper journey which would forever change my view of myself born in North America.
Beringia--an ancient continent of bridging what we now know as Siberia and Alaska during the last Ice Age, 20,000 years ago. During the Ice Ages sea levels dropped as much as 100-150 meters, revealing the floor of the Bering Sea and thus creating more land connection between Alaska and Siberia. This land bridge was part of a larger unglaciated area called Beringia
Beringia, covered in grasses and herbs of the steppe, was home to the giants of the Ice Age and a time when they dominated and flourished.




Saiga (tube-nosed sheep)
Wooly mammoth

Across this bridge moved man and the mammals of the time--bison, wooly mammoth, giant sloth, saiga (tube nosed sheep), giant beaver, scimitar cat, giant short-face bear, musk ox to name just a few. During the last Ice Age, 20, 000 years ago, man, the greatest hunter of all, followed these mammals from Siberia into North America along this grassed corridor laying between two mountain ranges.


Giant sloth
Most Ice Age mammals became extinct in this area when the climate became warmer about 10,000 years ago. Only those mammals, including man, who could adapt to boreal forest and tundra survived.

Berinigia Centre is an interactive museum with movies, fascinating maps, life size models of prehistoric mammals and displays of First Nations legends of these Ice Age giants and the creation story of flooded lands. I spent 2 wonderful afternoons there, like a sponge, soaking in the amazing information.

Later in the week when I went dog mushing I found myself on my own rivers of ice--the Takhini and Yukon Rivers. On that journey I thought of my ancestors, wondered what I, too, must look like on my sled with my dogs, from the high cliffs rising above my ice pathway. I invite you to read my article --'Let's Go! Dog Mushing In the Yukon.'





'Traveling the St. Elias Range'
Whitehorse, Yukon




The road to ourselves....barely a vehicle in sight! The expansiveness of the North surrounded us!








We had borrowed our friend, Graham's car, and we were off toward Alaska to Haine's Junction.




The whole day was filled with us face to face with a stunning mountain sight. The sun bounced off of the blue-purple of the ice fields. The highway rose and fell like an eagle. A truly amazing corridor of mountains, the St. Elias Range.





Today, as before in history, there is a lake on top of a glacier in the area, which is melting. The water lifts the glacier and finally breaks through, like as in a dam, and can release up to l million cubic litres per second. It would flood a huge part of this area.






Many times that day I was left speechless in awe at the spendour of this area. I discovered campgrounds for $10 and free firewood. I will be back!





Round and About Whitehorse, Yukon






'Burn Away The Winter Blues Festival'


The night was typical for March--breath-take-away cold, black and vibrant! We could see the procession quickly moving along the lake's road, torches held high, banners waving and the beat of the drum getting louder.



'Burn Away The Winter Blues' , honouring the Spring Equinox, was beginning! Streams of people followed the procession into Whitehorse's park beside the Yukon River. A huge rectangular bonfire was ablaze, banners depicting both winter and spring's face were being danced around the fire, fire dancers danced with liquid ease, drums continued. Finally, Father Winter's banner was thrown into the leaping flames of the fire. Everyone cheered. Winter was officially over!





Father Winter Dancing Around the Flames

Dov and Mara In Front of the Flames




'






Around The Whitehorse Community'






Dov and Mara in front of the white horses



of Whitehorse, ice sculpturing



We were there about l month before the spring thaw. Underfoot was treacherous ice packed down from the winter. I used a ski walking pole to safely go for walks or to shop in town. Whitehorse has a great library where I spent time reading history books or taking out historical videos.



We had an upstairs bedroom at Graham's, a friend of Dov's (David). Graham has lived in the Yukon for over 30 years, very involved in the community. I loved to spend time at a desk, reading, writing looking at this range of mountains as they would change colour through the day.






Graham's favourite time of the year is winter. I can see the truth of his statement 'In the winter there is no distinction between the land and the water. It is all one. Your world becomes wider, larger and you can go places you could not go in the summer.' I experienced this during my dog mushing when I, too, went to places I could not have gone in the summer...on top of the frozen Takhini and Yukon Rivers for hours.






I invite you to read 'Let's Go! Dog Mushing In the Yukon', one of the articles in my blog.









March, 2009



Copyrighted MB, 2009





















































































































LET'S GO!! DOG MUSHING IN THE YUKON



“Let’s go!” I called out. Five dogs lurched forward with shocking fierceness, without one second of hesitation, throwing my city-soft body into shock. Frantically I grabbed for the crossbar with my mittened hands, raised one foot off the brake-- a small spiked platform of snowmobile track--to a runner. The other foot tested the brake. A 61 year old woman…what was I doing?

Four kilometers of a snow lined driveway had brought me to ‘Muktuk Adventures’, a sled-dog outfitters and ranch 24 kilometres out of Whitehorse, Yukon on the bank of the Takhini River. As I had wound the magical winter road, not for one second did I know I was about to be mushing my very own dog team.














Rounding the last curve of the drive 127 dogs welcomed me with wild abandonment. The sound was intense, the sight filled with chaotic energy. Kennels, dogs pulled on chains, jumped off their kennels. 28 lucky dogs would be chosen for the 5 sleds. I carefully picked my way through all this wild action, patting as I went.















After being outfitted with sub-zero clothes my four fellow mushers and I were taught ‘the reins’ in about 3 minutes. My head filled with anxiety when I heard the guide tell us that we each would have our own team of dogs! My own team! Not share? I had had visions of me covered with furs, sitting on the sled, taking pictures, sharing the mushing and now this!

The guide must have seen my shocked face. “Are you ok with that?” she asked. “Yes!” I head myself say excitedly. Where had that come from? Somehow I knew that this was an opportunity that relatively few have.

“Keep the main cable taut; otherwise the dogs will get tangled. Mara, I want you to take the lead! Follow me; the others after you!” our guide said. One shock followed the other. Me, the lead position? I wouldn’t even be able to copy the others.

After a check of the brakes, runners and the bar to hang onto, it was my turn to follow our guide who had already disappeared down the icy path to the river.

So, there I was hanging on…cruising the corners, one foot tentatively testing the brake, to the frozen Takhini River! The team was going full-tilt, the downward momentum exciting them beyond their own expectations. Three bumps in the path lifted the sled and me off my feet and back down onto the runners with a loud clang and shake. I hung on even harder. It was wild crazy fun! I didn’t know whether to scream in fear or laugh with excitement. Then, I heard a voice, barely human…wild with abandonment, laughing into the wind. It was me! I had chosen to laugh, to embrace the demands and to become one with the adventure!





Turning a sharp right onto the snow mobile path my team and I ran hard onto the iced river. The stark expanse of the Takhini River opened up like a crystal fan. What words can describe the undisturbed purity of this place which over-flowed my senses and took my breath away with each river bend?

Amazingly I began to feel confident and began to bond with the five dogs in my team, all cross-breeds. Sharing the lead was a slim female, Bellini. Frequently, she would turn with dark eyes as if to ask, “How are you doing?”


























Also leading was Spot, a powerful male with eyes sky blue. He was boss of the team, alert to commands and quick to assess the trail’s turns. In the middle was Smeagel, a white beauty keeping the lines untangled. Ravel and Norman, like anchors, kept the sled upright on the steep bends. Ravel had a stiff rear leg but it didn’t interfere with urinating enroute.

Before long, within the world of soft ‘shoshing’ of the sled’s runners, the quiet panting of the dogs and the ice creaking as we as a team slid over it, I found my own pace. I relaxed more and more and breathed deeply into the experience and knew, without a second’s doubt, that this was a highlight of my life. I was exhilarated.! I had connected to a core part of myself that I’d never experienced before. I felt fully alive! I knew without question that without my new exercise program of the previous three months, I would not have been able to have this experience.

The day was perfect! Dazzling sunshine transforming snow and ice into dazzling shards of sparkling rainbow colors. The huge silver sun, shimmering through the trees and billowy white clouds. Snow-covered mountains, their tops caught in splashes of pink. The bluest of skies. River embankments 40 metres high. Sedimentary layers formed the river banks with clusters of shrubs, pine and spruce. Ancient eroded hillocks like hoodoos dropping to the river and the wind shirring along its body. The purest, untouched snow blown onto the ice at the curves of the river. The intricate patterns of blue, purple and pink shadowing held within countless groupings of dark green lodgepole pines and spruce leaning towards the river as if for a drink.

A pair of huge ravens dipping and cawing along the high embankment added to the wind’s muted humming. They soared beside me, caught on the wind and sun’s rays. The yelping and howling of the dogs was intense each time we stopped to adjust harnesses and replace the leather booties worn by the dogs. And always, the constant shurring sound of the runners on and on like a mother shushing her child.

The taste of ice crystals on my lips, the smell of forest, frozen water and pure, pure air. The touch of wind and sun on my goggled face.

We glided through the portals of trees leaning over the ice path and through the open river curves. What did I look like from the top of the embankment, I found myself wondering. What did the ancient ones look like as they, too, moved across the Bering Strait on their rivers of ice? And, within those thoughts I travelled with my ancestors feeling the flow of Eternity.

Nineteen kilometers we meandered –criss-crosssing and running down the centre. I was continuously over-whelmed with waves of pure joy. I laughed and laughed until my facial muscles ached. I felt alive like I’ve very rarely felt before. The river and I were one—flowing forever.

Our guide would disappear further and further ahead. There was no other person in front. I reveled in my sense of being alone with no other in sight, alone in the power of this winter world.


We stopped for lunch at an island where the Takhini and Yukon Rivers meet. It had once been a gathering and fishing spot for nomadic people. Today it’s an informal camping and resting area for mushers. I ate lunch, relishing the deep quietness that myself, as a city dweller, had lost long ago. I reflected on all those who had come, before me, to stand where I was standing.

The silence was broken only by the dogs growling over food and their howling and yelping to be on the trail once again. Their wild cries echoed up the rivers. My own voice rang with theirs …”Let’s go!”

As we turned homeward we barely stopped, each musher alone in their own thoughts. I had been the only musher to not get the harnesses tangled. Quite the accomplishment! The shadows and colors deepened as the light dropped lower into the day. The mountains ahead were ablaze with purples, pinks and golds of the setting sun. Tears of joy and appreciation ran down my face!




All day my camera had been snug against my body so that the batteries wouldn’t freeze. I was now confident enough to take videos on the move. I soaked in each moment of magic, promising myself that I would be back someday. (See at the very bottom!)

Instinctively the team turned left off the river, up the trail at a fast pace. The sled and I were careening and bouncing. The dogs were running full on for kennels and their friends who were barking a welcome. Up a steep slope—their lithe bodies pulling in one co-ordinated effort! We were up and going for home stretch!

Into the yard we raced. The kennel dogs were wild with joy! Slowly but confidently I put on the main brake and safely glided back to the very spot I had left that morning. I was grinning from ear to ear! I had become a musher!

March, 2009

Copyrighted MB, 2009