"There are strange things done in the midnight sun..."

That is the first line of the most famous poem, by the Yukon's most famous writer, Robert Service. The poem is "The Cremation of Sam McGee" and it tells the tale of how a stampeder dealt with disposing of his best friend's corpse during the Gold Rush. Robert Service's writing is so descriptive and lyrical that it is hard to believe that he didn't arrive until after the Klondike Gold Rush was over. He is still revered as the voice of the Yukon and much of what he wrote, such as The Spell of the Yukon" stands true today.

However, I used that line for my title to highlight what an odd year we have had up here.

• Tomorrow, we will not take the train from Fairbanks to Denali since part of the route is covered by two feet of water. It has been raining for days up here in an area that is technically a desert. Instead we will board a motor coach. The river that runs through Fairbanks is near capacity and the rain is scheduled to continue. We are all fearing that winter will arrive before summer ever shows itself.
• Other strange happenings along the rail...we departed Anchorage 1.5 hours late one morning due to the dining car for Alaska Railroad breaking down; another day we arrived in Denali from Anchorage an hour late because of a kink in the rail (the southbound train didn't arrive into Anchorage until 11:30, 3.5 hours late, for the same reason).
  
• The cruise ship was 3 hours late arriving into Skagway on Saturday, due to a failed generator that had to be repaired before departing Juneau. The ships are never late.
• We have had one massive outbreak of the Norwalk Virus. Fortunately, I avoided it, though I don't know how, however many tours ended with have the guests they started with due to this terrible stomach virus.
• There is a rumor that the driver guides for the tours into Denali Park may go on strike. That would be disastrous since there is really no other way to go into the park.
  
• There have a been some strange coach accidents, but I think it is bad form to talk about those on the internet.
  
• My Taiwanese guests got stuck in Barrow Alaska for 24 hours.
• Third year Tour Director's have been fired while first years are getting ideal schedules.

I am sure there is more but instead of dwelling on the odd, I will just say that it is still an amazing, beautiful place and I wouldn't trade my time for anything in the would. I leave you with this...

The Spell of the Yukon by: Robert W. Service

I wanted the gold, and I sought it; I scrabbled and mucked like a slave. Was it famine or scurvy-I fought it; I hurled my youth into a grave. I wanted the gold, and I got it- Came out with a fortune last fall- Yet somehow life's not what I thought it, And somehow the gold isn't all. Nol There's the land. (Have you seen it?) It's the cussedest land that I know, From the big, dizzy mountains that screen it To the deep, deathlike valleys below. Some say God was tired when He made it, Some say it's a fine land to shun; Maybe; but there's some as would trade it For no land on earth-and I'm one. You come to get rich (damned good reason); You feel like an exile at first; You hate it like hell for a season, And then you are worse than the worst. It grips you like some kinds of sinning, It twists you from foe to a friend; It seems it's been since the beginning, It seems it will be to the end. I've stood in some mighty-mouthed hollow That's plumb-full of hush to the brim; I've watched the big, husky sun wallow In crimson and gold, and grow dim, Till the moon set the pearly peaks gleaming, And the stars tumbled out, neck and crop, And I've thought that I surely was dreaming, With the peace o' the world piled on top. The summer-no sweeter was ever; T'he sunshiny woods all athrill; The grayling aleap in the river, T'he bighorn asleep on the hill. Tlh strong life that never knows harness; T'he wilds where the caribou call; T'he freshness, the freedom, the faress 0 God! how I'm stuck on it all. The winter! the brightness that blinds you, The white land locked tight as a drum, The cold fear that follows and finds you, Tle silence that bludgeons you dumb. The snows that are older than history, Tle woods where the weird shadows slant; The stillness, the moonlight, the mystery, I've bade 'em good-bye-but I can't. There's a land where the mountains are nameless, And the rivers all run God knows where; There are lives that are erring and aimless, And deaths that just hang by a hair; There are hardships that nobody reckons; There are valleys unpeopled and still, There's a land-oh, it beckons and beckons, And I want to go back-and I will. They're making my money diminish; I'm sick of the taste of champagne. Thank Godl when I'm skinned to a finish I'll pike to the Yukon again. I'll fight-and you bet it's no sham-fight; It's hell!-but I've been there before; And it's better than this by a damsite- So me for the Yukon once more. T'here's gold, and it's haunting and haunting; It's luring me on as of old; Yet it isn't the gold that I'm wanting So much as just finding the gold. It's the great, big, broad land 'way up yonder, It's the forests where silence has lease; It's the beauty that thrills me with wonder, It's the stillness that fills me with peace.

Thanks for reading.

Life on the Road

Sorry to have gone missing. This season has proven wonderfully busy and full of new adventures. However, that has limited not only my time but access to the internet. As an example, I am currently in Dawson City, at the end of a 70 hour week watching it rain from my room that does not have internet access. To use the internet I have to go to the lobby of the hotel, far too accessible to my guests. I am on my fifth tour of the season with a total of 7 days off so far and following this tour I will pick up my next one before I even deliver my current tour members to the cruise ship

While this tour is wonderful, my last one was definitely a challenge. I picked the tour up at the ship in Skagway and in 7 days we traveled all the way to Anchorage. The group was all Taiwanese, most didn’t speak English so they had their own interpreter/tour guide. In theory this should have been very easy for me, I didn’t have to talk much, just convey the logistical information to the interpreter. The big challenge came when, as a group, they flew to Barrow on the Arctic Ocean for the day. Their flight hoe was canceled and at first there weren’t any rooms for the group for the night. With rooms worked out eventually, we found out that they wouldn’t be flying out until 5pm, arriving back in Fairbanks at about 8:30. The plan was then to ride on a coach down to Denali to spend the night and then take the train onto Anchorage then next day. Well that flight out of Barrow was delayed, so they missed the connection back to Fairbanks and didn’t arrive until 1 am. Yes, we still took the coach down to Denali, arriving at 3:45 am. The stress on the interpreter was huge and unfortunately she took it out on me. However, by the end, she apologized and we fondly said good bye to each other. Quite the adventure.

Things are moving fast. As usual my non work thoughts are focused on my winter vacation plans. I will be off to Zurich to visit the W’s for a month or so. While there the plan is to visit various other spots, the first draft list has Paris, Strasbourg, Mallorca and Prague on it. Stay tuned for more details.

Thanks for reading.

The Yukon River

The Yukon River is one of the largest rivers in North America. It begins it's journey a mere 15 miles from the Lynn Canal, which is a fjord off of the Pacific Ocean, and ends 2300 miles later emptying into the Bering Sea. The river drains an area of Canada and Alaska the size of Texas. Even from it's very beginning as it leaves Tagish Lake it is an impressive river. It played a major part in the Klondike Stampede of 1898 and remains a vital method of transportation for much of the unreachable territory of Alaska.

In 1898 as the gold seekers arrived in Skagway and Dyea, they faced the Chilkoot or White Pass trails which, if they made it over, left them at Lake Bennett near the headwaters of the Yukon River. There were then two choices, walk or mush out across the frozen lakes and down the river or wait for break up, which that year didn't occur until mid-May. Those that waited for break up then faced the task of building a boat. Most of the gold seekers had no experience building a boat much less surviving an Alaskan winter. But build them they did and when the ice broke up in May, nearly 7000 boats set sail heading down the Yukon River. The river was dangerous due to rapids which these novice captains had not idea how to traverse. Miles Canyon was the first, just south of Whitehorse the second spot was called Five Finger Rapids near the town of Carmacks. These two spots took many lives and tons of supplies to their depths. Today both spots are tame due to intervention by humans. Miles Canyon is subdued by a damn just beyond it that provides power to the Whitehorse area. Five Fingers now only has three fingersdue to the removal of one of the islands.
The Yukon River is glacially fed so it is not a clear, see to the bottom, body of water. It appears muddy all of the time though it varies depending on the amount of recently deposited silt that is suspended in it. Sometimes it has a beautiful blue green color, as the silt begins settling on the bottom, most of the time though it is the color of a mud puddle. Near Dawson City, it has had little new glacial silt added and it begins to look clear again. Dawson City was the ultimate goal of the men of '98. In '96 gold had been discovered just up the tributaries of the Klondike River, whose confluence with the Yukon happens in Dawson City. After Dawson City, the river slows and takes on the meandering quality the most high volume rivers maintain. It is out here to the west of Dawson City and throughout Alaska, that the Yukon continues to be a major source of transportation. During the winter it is a highway for dog mushers and snow machines but more importantly during the summer it is a freight thoroughfare. Most of the area traversed by the Yukon in Alaska has no roadway access, therefore cities such as Fort Yukon, which I visited last summer depend on planes and the river during the summer for goods. Most items come in by plane however large items like ATV's and snow machines will be transported up river shortly after break up from the port at St. Michael on the Bering Sea. The salmon also use the Yukon on their highway during the spawn. The Yukon is the largest example of the influence and importance rivers have throughout and area of the world where building a highway just isn't profitable nor logistically feasible.

Thanks for reading.

Denali or Mt.McKinley

Yesterday I made the amazing flight to see "the great one," otherwise know as Mt. McKinley, otherwise known as Denali. Let me clear up that confusion before I show you the photos. The original inhabitants of the area were the Athabaskans and they called the mountain Denali meaning"the great one." However, rarely do pioneers use the terms that they should when arriving into an area and when the first miners arrived in the area and named the massive peak they named it after then governor of Ohio, William McKinley, for no good reason. He had no connection to the future park nor ever visited the region, it was strictly a political ploy. In 1917, Mt. McKinley National Park was established however it did not include the entire mountain. The main purpose of the park was to protect many of the species of the area that were near extinction due to hunting and trapping. Mt. McKinley remained the main name until the 1980's, when more then 1.3 million acres, adjacent to the park, were placed in preservation creating the Denali National Park and Preserve, the entire 6 million acres makes the DNP&P larger then the state of Massachusetts. At that time the Alaskan Board of Geographic Names changed the name of the mountain back to "Denali," even though the U.S. Board of Geographic Names maintains "McKinley." Is it all clear now?

Good. Now back to the flight.

We headed out about 3:45 in a six seat airplane and I hoped that this time I would actually get to see Denali, last year during the flight, it was completely clouded over. There were plenty of clouds but it looked like we would have a chance of catching some glimpses. We flew up the glaciers and came within sight of Denali. We were unable to see the mountain in it's entirety however, only 30% of people that come to visit get that view and I saw it many times last year. The whole trip is an amazing experience, the rest you can see in pictures.





































Thanks for reading.

What the Heck is the Yukon?

After spending last year traveling north and south along the rail belt in Alaska, I finally made the right hand turn in Fairbanks and found myself in the middle of nowhere. It looks like I will mostly be leading tours through the middle of nowhere for the summer, which means more days with the same people, longer days and hours and hours on coaches. These longer tours leave Alaska and head in a southeastern arc through the Yukon (the northwest most territory in Canada) and ending in Skagway, back in Alaska, most of the time. The cities we visit are Dawson City, Beaver Creek and Whitehorse, the latter is the only one that really qualifies as a city. As we travel the highways, also facetiously named, we see miles and miles of trees, few cars and no Starbucks. (wait, in Whitehorse there are two Starbucks and one McD's) We have to take lunch on the road with us or visit special roadhouses that cater to the coach tours, otherwise there is nothing available. There are some interesting rest stops with great snacks; the worlds largest cinnamon roll at Braeburn Station, incredible strawberry rhubarb pie at Rica's Roadhouse and amazing cookies in Chicken. The landscape vary between vast river valleys, high jagged mountains and trees so thick you can't see beyond 10 feet. It is a beautiful amazing area but I can't even imagine what winter would be like.

To answer the title question, the Yukon is three things to me. First, it is the territory with a population of 31,000 (about equal to the number of students attending UCD), 21,000 live in the metro area of Whitehorse. It borders Alaska to the west, British Columbia to the south, the Northwest Territories to the east and the Beaufort Sea to the north. Here they fly the Yukon and Canadian flags and very often you will also see the Alaska and/or US flags; you can pay in US dollars just about everywhere and receive Canadian loonies as change; and on TV there are about 5 stations in French, WGN out of Chicago and host of stations that play American sitcom reruns. Second, the Yukon is the river...stay tuned for the next post. Third, the Yukon is HAL speak for anything east of Fairbanks. Though we stay over in the crossroads town of Tok, AK, if you are leaving Fairbanks on the highway, you are in the Yukon. That means: fewer tours passing through, getting us away from the mass confusion that is Fairbanks, Denali and Anchorage; fewer TD's, which means less gossip and complaining; getting to really know your guests, for better or worse; fewer supervisors looking over your shoulder; and finally working really long hours but actually making a bigger impact. I am enjoying the Yukon and now that I have Dawson City down they are sending me through Beaver Creek next. So much for knowing what I am doing.

Thanks for reading.

Finally Not Tired

It has taken me two weeks to get adjusted to the Holland America (HAL) way of life. I figured I had done a pretty good job preparing myself, working as much as possible and staying busy on my days off, so that the pace wouldn't get to me. Apparently there is no way to prepare other then to just jump in and do it. In the first two weeks I worked more then one hundred hours and there were many more hours that were almost impossible to clock. I slept in 10 different beds and an air mattress in my apartment in Anchorage, including moving hotels 3 times in 3 days while staying in the same town. I have had a 1:30 am and a 4:30 am wake call, the norm is about 6:00 am and the lights out is usually about 11:00 though more often then not it is earlier. I have heard complaints about dust in the hotel room in Denali (duh, you're in the wilderness,) having to use an outhouse (aka long drop) in a place that doesn't even have running water, the lack of animals outside the train, coach, hotel room, etc., long days on the coach (look at a map, Alaska is really big,) and many other wonderful comments. The best one was the guy that told me on the first day of the 12 land tour following his 7 day cruise that he just wanted to go home. I am sure there are more wonderful quips but let me stop while I am ahead.

Now don't think for a second that I don't love doing it or being in Alaska, let me tell you those reasons too. Seeing Mt. Healy rising up with the 5 am sun on it, riding the train over Hurricane Gulch and along the Indian River, being on the Taylor Highway for the first time, seeing 1898 come to life in Dawson City, following the mighty Yukon River through the wilderness, eating fresh caught salmon, seeing a cruise ship docked in Skagway with the mountains seemingly rising up on all sides, following the White Pass trail on a narrow gauge train, getting to know people from all over the world, hanging out with old friends and making a few new ones. Those are just a few of the amazing things I have done in my two weeks. Oh yeah, no longer being exhausted at the beginning and end of every day. Stay tuned for more.

Thanks for reading.

The Training Continues and Other Photos

So before I left for Alaska I spent a couple of days with my sister, JA and the girls.
Yes, that is CMA holding a small version of the Eiffel Tour that I brought back long ago for my sister. CMA loves to play with it and the Sacre Coeur and Arc de Triomphe. She knows how to make her Auntie happy.

Now that CEA is walking she is rarely sitting.










CMA doesn't like swing but she loves to push her sister.





I tried to get a picture with CEA too but she wouldn't sit still.


Thanks for reading.