Pixmin

A couple of month at home in France and a few photos to sum up already three weeks in Slovakia:

First WE in the mountains in Slovakia

A trip to Ukraine

A long WE in Slovak Paradise

And a WE spent in a sort of music festival with lots of different artisans

I finally got around updating the blog with the last few days of my trip to Whitehorse, including a few photos.

• Best day in my life (at least it definitely felt that way after the Worst day of my life)
• Dawson Overland Trail

I still have some photos to upload, especially a batch from a morning I walked up to Mount Washington to see the sunrise.

I’ve been in the woods for the last 6 days. Tomorrow will be my last day in Whitehorse and Friday moring it’s back to Vancouver. And the next day back to France. I already felt melocanlic this morning as I was walking back from the overland trail. I’ll update the blog when I get back. This was just to let you know that I haven’t been eaten by bears.

I’m on the Dawson Overland Trail, part of the longest trail in the world, the transcanadian trail. Let’s rewind and let me tell you how I arrived here.

I left Sarah Steel’s hut a few hours after the sun rose. I walked to the next hut, the Fireweed hut and stopped there. I decided to spend the rest of the day resting here. I first prepared some wood and started a fire in the stove, which was in much better condition than the other one. The hut itself was smaller and I had to put two benches next to each other to have just enough space to lie down. It was also much more hermetic than the previous chalet, which means it kept the heat. And the stove being more hermetic too, the wood lasted longer and I kept the fire going from the moment I arrived until I left the following morning. It did get pretty hot in there, too hot even. It was snowing heavely outside, a sight I enjoyed through the three big windows of the hut. I slept, ate and read about Whitehorse and made plans for the few days I had left. In the morning, after making sure that the fire was dead, I walked to the sport center to fill my water bag. There wasn’t much food there. I bought a few cookies and a cereal bar. That, in addition to the few dates I had left should be enough for a couple of days.

I walked to the highway where I had to wait about 20m before getting a lift. The man was supposed to turn before where I was going but he brought me to what we thought was the beginning of the Overland Trail. I thanked him and started to look for the trail. The first one I dounf brought me inside what looked like a gypsy’s village, with lots of trailer and broken cars. Lots of barking dogs too.  I walked through it knowing I had to cross the river to find the start of my trail. The river was still frozen, but probably only on the surface, so I walked on the side hoping to find a bridge. I didn’t find a bridge but traces of snowmobiles going across the river, so I took a stick and carefully crossed the river, checking the ice every other step. As I crossed, I remembered a scene of Into the Wild, when he gets stuck on the otherside of the river. So I checked the map and saw a bridge a few km down the road, so if the river became uncrossable when I would come back, I could use the bridge.

And there I am, on the Overland Trail. Had I had more time I would have loved to go all the way to Dawson, but I can only walk North today and I will have to come back tomorrow. I’ll then have a last day to explore the historical trails in Whitehorse before going back to Vancouver. It’s funny how just a few days ago, when struggling in the powder I wished I could be home, and today I wish I had a few more weeks here.

My shelter for the night

The sun waking up on the Overland Trail, Whitehose, Yukon

The river crossing at the end of the Overland Trail

View from the plane, Whitehorse airport

I’m not sure what time it is but I know I’ll sleep like a baby tonight. Let’s rewind a few hours. I walked out of town towards the airport and saw a small road to the Transport Museum. Smaller road = less traffic = less noise. Walking on that road, I noticed a big building on my right. It looked like a shopping center but without any name or catchy colours, no advertising. Curiosity took over and I went to check it out. It turns out to be a Sport Center. And a mighty recent one, built in 2007. I first picked up a local newspaper and sat down at a table and quietly read it to find out more about Whitehorse. A little later, when I finished reading it, I decided to explore the building. I bought a sandwich and watched a hockey game, my first hockey game. I loved it. The players move with such fluidity on the ice, change direction and stop so quickly, I was mesmerized. I had the chance to see many tricks I had never paid attention to while watching the game on TV. Anyway, I just found my new HQ. This Sport Center is just perfect, with everything I need, toilets, food, water, tables and seats, even entertainment for free.

After my horrible adventure yesterday I almost felt like giving up and coming back early. But as soon as I came back to town I missed the woods. I guess the fact the it was sunny and I could sit down and dry all my cloth and shoes helped. And now, I have found a refuge, slightly out of town, open from 6am to 9 or 10pm. But that’s not all.

I am now writing from the porch of Sarah’s chalet, where I am planning to have a restful night. I will sleep outside if the weather is kind, otherwise I’ll go inside and start a fire in the stone. The chalet is in the middle of a maze of cross country trails which I doubt will be very frequented. Life’s great. I have prepared some wood for the night, just in case.

The moon shines in the sky, no need for a light to see around. The stars are only half hidden by the slow moving clouds. I’ll look at them until I fall asleep.

Hours later I wake up, it’s still dark, to early in the morning not to sleep, but I’m cold. I go inside the chalet and start a fire in the old stove. The hut will soon enough be filled by the heat and I’ll get warm, hot even. Again, I fall asleep. But the heat won’t last long. The stove isn’t hermetic and consumes the wood too quickly. It’s cold again so I go back inside my sleeping bag.

And finally, as I wake, the sun is up, a new day is starting. I prepare more wood and start a new fire to warm up and dry the rest of my cloth. As I’m about to go back in my sleeping bag, I see something through the not entirely closed door. My first reflex is to grab the axe. But it’s too small to be a bear. A cub maybe? No, not likely. Still, I stay quiet and slowly move towards the door and check outside. I can’t see anything for a while and suddenly, behind the hut, I see it: a beautiful red fox. He’s sniffing around, probably looking for food. I noticed wooden sticks used to grill marshmallows yesterday, he probably smelled them. He’s about 10 meters away from me. He gives me a quick look and, I suppose not considering me dangerous, goes back to sniffing the sticks. He comes closer and gives me another look, longer this time, as if asking for permission to come closer. I don’t move an inch and he comes closer, he walks so close to me that I could touch him. Definitely used to see humans.

Back in the hut, it will get really hot, so I stop adding wood and wait for the fire to die before walking my way to the next hut, a few kilometres away. I’ve counted three. I might spend a few days here, to try all of them.

As I continued hiking up the mountain, the weather changed and before I knew it I was in the middle of a snow storm. Everywhere the wind was blowing snow. I looked for a shelter, a place to sit down while the storm would pass but found none. So I continued going up, slowly, trying to keep the snowflakes off my eyes. Before I could find a place to spend the night, I reached the summit. I wanted to keep it for tomorrow morning but Mother Nature decided otherwise. I knew that if I went down in the forest, the trees would offer me some protection against the wind. So I walked down, taking a different path, still hoping to find a refuge in the mountain where I could spend the night. I would then be able to climb up the mountain first thing in the morning tomorrow.

More and more snow accumulated on the floor, but the wind was in my back, so I kept going that way. I had to use my wooden stick as a third leg to keep my balance. I found a spot just big enough to spend the night, behind a big rock, blocking some of the wind. But as I was settling in the wind changed and snow started to cover everything, so I left.

The snow was getting softer and deeper. No traces, nor human nor animal, no traces at all. Suddenly I fell. I was in deep snow and couldn’t keep my balance anymore. I fell in the snow and couldn’t stand up anymore. Even the wooden stick, which was over 2m high, would not help me and sink in the snow. I had to swim. Literally, I had to swim in the snow to keep going. Usually, when I encountered deep snow where I couldn’t stand on, kneeling would work, spreading my weight on my front legs. But in this snow, even the 2m stick was useless, as if it was water, spreading my weight on the stick by putting it flat on the snow was of no use. Snow was starting to get in my shoes. My hands in frozen gloves, I was getting cold. But I didn’t really have many options. The wind was blowing the snow so strongly that I couldn’t turn back. I simply saw nothing. If only I had my glasses.

After much cursing (Yukon for not being colder) and struggling in the deep snow for what seemed like forever but probably was only 4 hours, I managed to get passed it. The nightmare was over. Or so I thought, because strangely I could see the forest but the snow stopped. A connection between the two was missing. I carefully and slowly walked until I understood. Below was a cliff. About 25/30m high. I looked on the right, same thing, on the left, same thing. I can see the forest down there, where I’ll find refuge for the night, but there is a cliff between us. Behind me, deep snow that I simply don’t have the strength to cross again. No way I’m going back. So I take my stick in both hands and use it to slow down my descent. Bit by bit, I’m slowly going down. Not very graciously nor very comfortably, but at least I’m getting closer to the forest.

And after a while I’m off the cliff and I can start walking again, in deep snow, again, but this time only to the waist. But very quickly, I have to stop. Another cliff. And now I can see what’s above: more cliffs. My feet and hands are freezing (not yet literally but they might if I don’t quickly reach the forest to make a fire and warm them up). So I accept the facts, it’s the worst day of my life, I’m tired, cold, I wish I was home, but nobody will do it for me or come and rescue me here, so I just start sliding down the cliffs, one after the other.

After a while, the sun manages to pierce through the clouds and I find a spot where I can sit down, undo my shoes socks and gloves to dry them up. Only seconds after my socks are off, it starts snowing again. Heavy wet snow. It’s just not my day. I put my wet socks, shoes and glove back on and continue going down, only a few more cliffs and I’m in the forest. The only good thing I manage to find about all this is that it made me forget my worst day.

I reached the forest just before the night, though I was still walking in deep snow (up to my knees at best). But I decided it was time to start looking for a place to build a shelter and start a fire, I would try to find a track (packed snow) in the morning. The usual, first collect the wood for the shelter, then stuff to make a mattress, and finally wood to make the fire. By the time I got the fire started, I was knackered, so I snuggled inside my sleeping bag, letting the shoes and socks to dry near the fire. My trousers were still wet but I really had to rest. I felt asleep watching the last ambers turn into ashes.

In the morning, my socks were as hard as frozen fishes and when I tried to put my feet in my shoes to go and collect some wood to start a fire, I simply couldn’t put them on. They were frozen. Hard as ice, they wouldn’t flex to let my feet in. So I burnt the house. Sitting on the slipping bag, I started the fire using wood from the roof. My shoes and socks unfroze but even after an hour my shoes were still damp (more on the wet side than on the dry one). So I once again had to put wet shoes on, not a great way to start the day, walking with wet shoes. You’d think that at least they would be warm, but only seconds after being taken away from the fire, they got freezing cold. My sleeping bag was wet too, from the wet trousers, so I walked carrying it on my shoulders as a big scarf. And again I was walking in the deep snow.

The happiness I first felt when I discovered a track quickly transformed into something else when I realized I wasn’t following someone’s track but a bear track. It took me a while to realized it, but suddenly it all made sense, why the track was going in bushes when they could be avoided, why it seemed to have no real direction and why it was turning for no reason. I stopped following it and went back in the deeper snow, making my own track towards the town, out of the forest. I saw the bear track crossing my path another couple of times. It snowed all night, so it was definitely fresh tracks. I kept my axe in my left hand and my eyes and ears wide opened.

I walked for a few hours. The snow was getting heavier and heavier as I was going down. My feet were cold so I stopped in a sunbathed opened space. I took my socks and shoes off to dry them, sitting on a log, my feet warming up in the sun. Breakfast time. If only I had proper snow trousers instead of my snowboard ones that keep letting the snow go in my shoes I would probably have dry and warm feet. But I was happy to do with what I had. I just had to make sure I would stop and take my shoes and socks off a few times a day to let my feet dry up and I shouldn’t have any problem.

I continued for a few more hours and saw a horse’s track but walking in it or not didn’t make much difference so I continued making my own. And finally, covered by fresh snow but just about visible, a trail. Only slightly better than nothing but I knew that following it would eventually bring me on a hard snow packed one. And it did. After an hour or so I was walking on hard snow, how resting. It went all over the forest. I sometimes had the sun in my face, sometimes in my back, sometimes on either side, but I didn’t care, I was walking on something hard, I had all the time in the world. The track crossed with a cross country skying trail and I finally went out of the forest, giving me a chance to have a look at the mountain I climbed yesterday. I also saw the cliffs and wondered how I managed to get down that way.

Quickly after I started walking on the dirt road towards Whitehorse a car slowed down by my side and asked me if I wanted a ride. You bet! I would have normally refused but walking with wet shoes on the dirt road didn’t thrill me more than that, so I accepted. He opened the boot of his car and asked me if I minded sitting on the tail as his dog was occupying the passenger sit. The poor dog just had an operation and couldn’t be moved. For the better, as it meant staying outside and watching the mountains getting smaller, much nicer than being inside a car. I enjoyed the few minutes ride. I got dropped off a few km away from Whitehorse as he was taking another road. I walked slowly under the sun, watching the town getting bigger and bigger, more and more cars passing by. I was already starting to miss the mountains.

In town I looked for an outdoor shop and found none, so I went to Canadian Tires which I hoped would have camping mats. And a lighter, I also bought a lighter. Sitting against a wall, in the sun, I took my socks and shoes off and dried everything. The sun was shining high and the wind blowing hard so not before long my trousers and socks were dry. I bought some food and filled my water bag before going back in the mountains.

(sand dunes in Whitehorse)

I am sitting on a log admiring the view. I stopped here, above the tree line, to take a break and dry my sleeping bag in the sunny wind.

Today, when I woke, the sky was half red half black. The sun was not up yet. It was as if a huge red spotlight was shinning in the sky.

But let’s go back in time and find out how I got there.

Yesterday, I landed in Whitehorse. My first stop was the information office to find out about the trails I could hike. Fortunately the airport is not too far from the town so I walked there. Unfortunately, it turns out that all the trails I was given the map of were short trails, a few hours at most. Not quite enough to keep me walking for 8 days.

I bought a bit of food, filled my water bag and picked a mountain. That would be my bearing. I would make my own trail to the top of that mountain. Shouldn’t take more than a few days.

As I left Whitehorse, I stumbled upon something which I never thought I could find here, in Yukon, northen Canada, home town of the Yukon Quest: sand dunes. No kidding. The photo above really is from Whitehorse. I was walking on sand. What happened here!? It really didn’t make sense. I kept walking.

Something else didn’t make sense: the temperature. The snow was melting. It wasn’t really cold. Maybe low 10s, which isn’t what I had in mind at all. And it wasn’t good for me. It meant heavy wet snow, wet shoes, wet feet and also wet sleeping bag. Not good at all.

I walked until I found a nice spot for the night and I started picking up wood (only deadwood) to make the roof/walls of my “home” for the night. That took me much longer that I ever thought it would. You never see it all when you’re watching a documentary or movie of someone who built their shelter in the woods. It looks simple and doesn’t take long. Well, in the real world it does. Patience is king out there. I stopped before it could be described as finished. It was getting dark and I was tired, but I now had to think about finding a way to isolate my sleeping bag from the floor (snow) if I wanted to sleep. I picked up pine needles and bits of pine cones which I think are the parts squirrels leave when they eat the nuts from the cones. First by hand, but I soon realized how much of it I would need and took a bag to collect them. I filled the bag several times and only had a very thin layer to sleep on. It would have to do for this time, I was tired and decided that it would suffice.

It turns out I was wrong. It didn’t not suffice. My mattress of pine needles and cones was not near thick enough. I felt the cold snow underneath sucking all my heat and was cold all night. Also, it snowed during the night. Everything was covered by a few centimeters of snow. There was definitely less snow where I had built the roof, but only substantially less. I had to make a fire to warm up my feet and dry my trousers, which were still wet. I didn’t bother collecting wood, I used my roof. It was a one use house and since I didn’t want to leave any trace, it had to go anyway. And now one of the best moment. I have everything ready, some small wood to start the fire with, then more wood, small piles of bigger and bigger wood. I tried the lighter. Once. Twice. Three times. I shake it and try again. Nothing. It was empty. Bloody empty. Now that’s great. What an idiot. I had nicked an empty lighter. I was broken inside.

But I quickly remembered the magnesium block I had bought earlier. I had it with me. I knew I said mainly bad things about the magnesium, but I was *so* happy to have it with me now, and it would just have to work. I took my knife out and started scraping the magnesium to make a small pile of chips. Knowing how quickly the magnesium starts and stops, I wouldn’t take any chance and put the pile on a piece of paper, especially because the wood was damp. I used the firesteel and it started. I had my fire. I warmed up and dried trousers and socks. Happy I was. I walked away with my sleeping bag on my shoulders to try to dry it. I didn’t want to risk drying it near the fire and burn it. I walked through the forest and started climbing the mountain.

And I am finishing to dry it in the wind. The sun is gone while I wrote all this. Time to pack up. It’s already midday so I’ll keep going for another few hours and I’ll make a fire and build a shelter. I should make it to the top tomorrow. I have already spotted my next mountain, the one opposite this one.

This was written Sat 12th April but I only got around putting it in the blog now, so it’s back dated.

I’ve finally booked my ticket to go to Whitehorse. I’ll be there tomorrow. I just spent the last hour or so trying to get rid of all the stuff I don’t really need and decided to go with my small bag (as I can leave the big one here). The thing is, once I put my sleeping bag in my backpack, I hardly have any space left. Just enough to fit my camera (fitted with my smallest lens, 50mm, no extra lenses, batteries or even camera bag), my 3L water bag, my newly bought Swedish axe (which will go out of the bag as soon as I arrive in Whitehorse), survival blanket, toothpaste and toothbrush. I also have my swiss knife, a lighter and a headlamp in my jacket. No laptop. No extra cloth. No towel. No cooking pot. No thermos. No sleeping mat. No books. It will be nice to travel light for once.

I just checked the temperatures in Whitehorse and I should be fine, it’s not as cold as I thought it would be, so no extra cloth either, just what I wear on me. I have no space even if I wanted to take some extra cloth anyway. As long as it stays cold enough and it doesn’t rain, it’ll be fine. Dry cold and snow, I love.

I’m not sure how wired Whitehorse is or if I’ll even stay around town, so the next update might only be from Vancouver when I get back, in a week. The plan is to head for the information office, get a map, talk with the locals and explore.

As I wake up, I immediately notice someone is looking at me. Not just looking. Staring. But I won’t back down. He keeps looking at me as he enters the gas station. I unlock the car and walk in giving him a big warm “hello”. He doesn’t reply. I insist and ask “how are you?”, but all I get as an answer is an indiscernible “ok”. Never mind, I do what I have to do and as I’m about to walk out, he stops me saying “You can’t park here all night you know. Didn’t you see the sign?”. And if you just read that in a normal tone, read back adding heaps of anger and indignation. I explain that it was pitch dark and pouring rain when I arrived and apologize for not seeing the sign, and I even ask if I didn’t cause any problem (fully knowing that I didn’t). He replies that he almost called 911, but it was too late. I’m not sure what he meant by “too late”. Too late in the night for calling the cops, or too late because when he saw me I was getting out of the car? I’ll never know. I just left.

That was how my day started. But that’s not all coming back to Vancouver would bring. As I’m entering Vancouver, changing lane to go West Vancouver instead of Vancouver West (go and figure), I’ll get a nice finger from the car behind me. Yes, I did indicate and no, I didn’t drive like a French man. I guess it’s the just way it is. Big town = big stress.

And last but not least, only a few minutes after I gave the car back and started to cross the street (yes, both when and where I’m supposed to) I was centimeters from being hit by a van. The funny thing is, he was not even sorry, not at all, it was more like I was in his way and should feel bad about it. It didn’t matter that my light was green and that I was on a passenger crossing (or whatever it’s called).

Can’t wait to be out of town.

The road from 100 Mile House to Hope is really nice. It goes along the Fraser River, through the Fraser Canyon. I spotted the train slightly ahead of me and decided to speed up a bit to catch up with it and overtake it to have enough time to stop and take a photo of it. But I forgot that my camera had nor battery nor memory card, both still being in my bag since my previous stop. Still, I rushed and managed to quickly snap a few shots. The length of the train is just amazing, hundreds of wagons, really really long.

I made it in Hope in good time. I thought I might push it to Mission but actually I that’s already part of Vancouver, so I’m going to stay away from the big town for another last night.

The next update will probably be from Vancouver.