Concluding Thoughts

It is time to go back to work and thoughts of the Yukon are still on our minds. The country, the wonderful people and all the treasures we saw and experienced are unm-matched in all of our travels.
“Rational or not, raw, untamed wilderness is a vital part of each one of us . There is a sub conscience connection with the world around us. When this wilderness is tarnished, we feel it on so many levels; from the air we breathe, to the water we drink and the emptiness we feel in our souls. Somehow we feel that a sin has been committed, but we can’t place our hands on it. There is little left. This century will tell us how much of ourselves we are willing to destroy. We all know and feel it.”
- Moose Lee -- July, 2007

Many thanks to our new friends:
Barbara and Linda (River Gals from St. Louis), Vic , Sage, Shawn, Markus, Dick & Sandy, Numerous 1st Nations People.
All the people we met were absolutely wonderful, friendly and helpful in our travels. We hope to meet them again.


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Some links of interest:
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If you plan to ever paddle any of the rivers in the Yukon, "Kanoe People" is a good place to start, rent, buy gear and get some great advice:
http://www.kanoepeople.com/

See the movie Being Caribou and read more about husband-and-wife team Karsten Heuer and Leanne Allison and their fantastic journeys.
http://www.beingcaribou.com/

Good homegrown music.. you can't miss Kim Beggs and her genuine heartfelt ballads.
http://kimbeggs.com/home.html

Like traditional native music with modern arrangements. Look no further. Jerry "Keeper of the Songs" Alfred is a member of the Selkirk First Nation of the Northern Tutchone. He lives in Pelly Crossing, a village in central Yukon. Jerry Alfred and his group "The Medicene Beat" provided very inspirational music and songs. A great backdrop for our travels.
http://nativedrums.ca/index.php/Showcase/Jerry_Alfred?tp=a&bg=1&ln=e
Also try:
http://www.virtualmuseum.ca/Exhibitions/FortSelkirk/english/content/prologue-alfred.html

Visiting Bowron Lakes? Visit Dick & Sandy (Bear River Mecantile)
http://bearriver.bizland.com/
or Becker's Lodge http://www.beckerslodge.ca/



We'd like to thank everyone for joining us on our journey and all the support. Special thanks to Lori, mother and dearest wife of the RubiKon Team.

If you ever need a low cost, reliable, Adventure vehicle that gets great gas mileage, we can highly recommend these Toyota V6 micro-mini motorhomes. We have had a great time traveling in our "RubiKon" Warrior. No problems whatsoever. We averaged 14-17 mpg and hit 18 and 19 mpgs a couple of times (Unbelievable, but true!). She took us over 8,000 miles there and back; up beyond the Arctic circle (1300 miles of gravel roads). Unfortunately, these great litle campers were discontinued 14 years ago as Toyota discountinued offering the 1 Ton chassis for sale.

Stay tuned for more tales and pictures of our adventures on our forthcoming Website: http://www.rubikonadventures.com/

Lone Paddler - Sunset Bowron Lakes

As always, we wish you safe travels in your adventures.
-"Moose" Lee & "Yukon" Johann

http://www.RubiKonAdventures.com

The Drive Home Continues

Chetwynd, Hudson's Hope, Prince George, Jasper, Banff and the Kootenays

We spent 2 days in Fort St John getting a front-end alignment and then began our journey south. We were torn between going to Dawson Creek to see mile "Zero" of the Alcan highway or taking a scenic route through Hudson's Hope to Prince George. We chose the scenic byway and we were glad we did. The drive to Hudson's Hope was wonderful. BTW: Hudson's Hope is the third oldest European community in British Columbia.

We encountered another bear who insisted on crossing the road in front of us. If we had been driving a bit faster, we probably would've hit this one.
Shortly after the bear we crossed over the Peace River Bridge... we were in the land of the dinosaurs.
Although Yukon Johann was no dinosaur he was something to be feared that evening.

We tucked in for the night at Moresby Lake Provincial Park. This was by far one of the most beautiful and well kept campgrounds we stayed in during our entire trip.
The next morning we awoke and drove to Chetwynd. Chetwynd is situated at an ancient floodplain at the foot of the Rocky Mountains and acts as the gateway to the Peace area to the east.
We had just missed the 3rd annual Chetwynd Chainsaw carving contest. We saw many of the impressive pieces displayed around the visitor center. The most intricate of these was the Dragon shown here.
Beyond Chetwynd lie the foothills of the Rocky mountains. The weather was nice and warm. It made for pleasant driving at a leisurely pace. Later that day we arrived in Prince George, known as BC's northern capital. It sits at the confluence of the Fraser and Nechako Rivers. As we were leaving town towards Jasper we came across this interesting road. I guess it served as a reminder for what lies ahead in the coming days.

The scenery in Banff and Jasper were incredible. No need to go hiking here to see eye popping scenery. It was all layed out before us from the road.

We came upon the 143-mile route between Lake Louise and Jasper known as the ice field parkway. It is a driving experience like no other. The careful engineering of the road, and the generous provision of stopping places, viewpoints, and interpretive information allow the sublime scale and wonderful variety of mountain scenery to be fully appreciated






We stopped at the central visitor center where they give tours of the Columbia glacier in these HUGE ice sloths. For nearly $40 one could ride one of these up the Columbia Glacier and get out and walk on it. This picture makes our Toy house look pale in comparison.


Of course we had to stop at Lake Louise and get our picture taken.
I still think some of the other lakes were more scenic, like this one

Unfortunately we were not going to make it all the way to Banff. We took the Radium Hotsprings turnoff and drove through Kootenay National Park. The views down the freeway were fantastic.

We soon entered Kootenay National park and witnessed the beginnings of the Kootenay River which flows into the Columbia.
The country was spectacular. This view included color form the infamous Pine Bark Beetle and fires from 2005.
We've read about a very good backpack trip through the valley here. Someday, we hope to come back and give it a try.

We spent the night in Dry Gulch Provincial campground near Radium Hotsprings. The hotsprings were very refreshing. While not nearly as good as the Liard Hotsprings we experienced a few days earlier, they were refreshing to us weary travelers.

The next day we came upon these hoodoos created by the Columbia river. They are known as the Dutch Creek Hoodoos and can bee seen form the south end of the lake.Then we traveled along Columbia Lake, source of the mighty Columbia river. For approximately 60 miles, both the Columbia and Kootenay Rivers run parallel and when they reach Canal Flats at the south end of Columbia Lake the two rivers are less than 1.2 miles apart. The Columbia River from its source flows north while the Kootenay River continues flowing south.
Looking south though the hazy sky made for a neat view.

That pretty much ended our trip up north. We met up later that day with Lori (dearest mother and wife) at Priest Lake Idaho to enjoy the Labor Day Weekend. A trip summary and thoughts and points to ponder will be forthcoming.

Safe Travels,
Moose Lee & Yukon Johann