Yukon bush life

Winter held on until yesterday but today we are at +7c and our beautiful white world is fading fast. I’ve been “out”, as people say here, nearly all of March. I had to go to England to buy a Canadian-made log scribe, as I shall explain later. On my return the Yukon was resplendent with spring blue skies and dazzling white, so bright your eyes go blotchy when you step in the cabin and you fall over things. The top surface of the snow has thawed and refrozen giving it a shiny crust and the worn look of an old suit. In the woods it is dimpled with spruce needles and crud and everything looks like it needs a good sweep. The yard looking cruddy The river ice has started to sink. The jumble ice and boulder fields we fought to make trails through in December are now pillowy humps of sagging white. Between them are wide, flat snowfields. Holding hands with the Inukshuk iceman that appeared on the trail (See footnote) We’re hurtling towards 24...

(Lou, Yukon) We went to +5C this week (average temps should be around -20). A warm wind soared up the river and took the snow from our roof and yard. Yet again, the ice pans in the river shrank and softened.  No change for weeks The Yukon river usually freezes by mid-November. Not this year.  Snow melted on porch table If the river does not freeze safely enough for us to travel on it we are completely cut off from the world until, maybe May when the river is ice-free again and we can get the boat back in.  Snow melting off roof We decided we will do an inventory of our food and supplies on 1st December, if the river has not stopped, and work out what we might need to ration. It may be a lonely winter. Oh well, time to do all the bottom of the list things like, learn to bake cakes (til we run out of ingredients), write that novel, learn to meditate and…well I don’t know, but I refuse to take up embroidery. It was Neil’s birthday so we took ...