Prince George to Smithers

Dawson Dan and Klondike Kate drove from Prince George to Smithers on day 2. We took a hike from the bed and breakfast where we are staying to Malkow lookout. On the way back the sun shone on the Babine mountains.

Drive up from Seattle to Quesnel

All packed and ready to go

Yukon Johann & GrizzLee left a little bit just past 5:00 Pm on June 24.

They camped just shy of Lytton along the Frazer River Canyon. Saw a cougar cross the road just before turning off for camp.

Just outside of Cache Creek

It has been raining off and on for most of the way up to Quesnel. It saddens us to drive by the turnoff to Bowron lakes and miss out visiting our friends there. This summer may be the first time in 10 years we may not make it to the park :-(

Near Cache Creek was the sit eof the last Canadian Rail Spike The town of Basque is gone, but a few remenants of the buildings still remian... on private property.

Life along the Frasier river was exciting and romantic during the goldrush. Looking down at the river and the islands one can almost imagine being is a paddlewheeler making way up stream.

It is dinner time and we will head up to Prince George this evening and tackle the Cassiar Hwy tomorrow. We hope to meet up with Dawson Dan and Klondike Kate tonight or tomorrow.

To say that we are excited is an understatement. The drive is, as always wonderful and full of beauty.

On the Stillaguamish River

Here's the adventuresome crew, on another training trip.

Yukon Johann...the boy wonder who did the Yukon at age 11

Dawson Dan...master of innovative canoe modifications

Klondike Kate... cool in the rapids

and GrizzLee ... heeding the call of the wild north once again.

Training: Yakima River Paddle

Not having paddled together, it was in our best interest to go on an outing together. Dawson Dan and Klondike Kate took to the Yakima river like pros. We had some issues with log jams and fast water and found that we had to work together in a few spots to get our boats around them.

The section of the Yakima river we chose to paddle isn't normally a challenge. We paddled between Cle-Elum and Thorp, just outside of Ellensburg. However, Washington state had a hefty snow pack this year (30% more than normal in the central cascades) which probably resulted in more log jams and a bit faster water than would be normal for this time of year.

At one point in the journey, GrizzLee was scouting for a safe passage and ended up going down a narrow log strewn passage backwards in his kayak. He found an eddy and was able to get out safely a couple of hundred yards downstream... just in time to see the hind quarters of a startled black bear scurry away in haste.

At another junction, Dawson Dan and Klondike Kate got hung up in a precarious position against a log jam and were in danger of capsizing. We all worked together to line the boats around the danger and proceeded safely to the next set of log jams.

Dawson Dan Demonstrating his ability to grasp logs in times of great peril.

All in all we had a great time and no one died. We happened upon an old homestead. It was a great spot to take a break and get some pictures.

RubiKon Team Adventure in 2007

In the summer of 2007 GrizzLee & Yukon Johann spent 3 months in the far north. The attached video, while long, gives a summary of this incredible journey. Places visited and explored include:

• 9 Day Kayak Expedition on Bowron Lakes


• 5 Day Trek on the Chilkoot Gold Rush Trail


• 500 Mile Paddle Trip on the Yukon River


• Backpacking in Tombstone Park in the artic


• Hiking on the Tundra above the Artic Cirlce


• Dawson City Music Festival


• Kayak expedition in Prince William Sound


• Atlin Lakes in Northern British Columbia


• A midnight Climb up Monarch Mountain in Northern B.C. under a full moon


• Skagway Railroad Ride through White Pass


• Wrangle St Elias Park
• Gold Fields at Eagle and Chicken Alaska
• Portage Glacier/Kenai Penninsula
• Ghost Town in Hyder Alaska
• Drive the Dempster Highway

We made many new friends and met many incredible folks who call the Yukon their home. Hoping to recapture some of the magic, we return with friends to paddle yet again the scenic Yukon river. We hope you enjoy reading about our adventures as much as we enjoy sharing them.

Sincerely, GrizzLee

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