Yukon bush life

(Lou, Yukon) At last, we have a few inches of dusty snow. We’ve got the snow shoes down from the cabin wall and trundled the snowmachine off its logs. There’s not enough snow to run the machine far, but we were able to test out our new ramps on to the property. First trip down the new ramp And more importantly, up There’s a big improvement in the plumbing system. No more Jack and Jill up the hill from the creek with heavy pales of water. Ramp at waterhole bolstered with frozen in logs and snow Buckets can be dumped in the back of the machine and whizzed home with a roar and a cloud of filthy 2-stroke engine fumes. Almost as easy as getting it from a tap. Still trailing along We’ve been out on snow shoes brushing out an old trail we found. We hope to bypass some of the jumbled river ice by cutting across the apron of land next to us. Open lead in the river downstream from us It’s about 3 miles long and hard work with chainsaw, loppers and brush axe, b...

(Lou, Yukon) We put in a trail across the river last week. How do we know if the ice is safe? We walk on to it, hit it with an axe, and wait to see if we plunge through. Yes, really. We’re clever folk out here in the bush.  It’s hard to improve on this process as you’ve got to go on to the ice to test it. My best idea so far is, get your husband to walk ahead carrying the axe because “my arms are a bit tired” and have him do it.  Such tired arms We can make a fairly good judgement about where to go. We don’t have any open water (leads) in front of the house and, as the river stopped in a huge jagged mess, we know most of the ice is safe.  Bloody mess If it is “jumbled” it will be thick, maybe 20’ eventually, as the chunks of ice are piled on to each other. Also opaque ice is usually thicker, older. The places to test are flat areas with black ice as they may be recently frozen.  Chipping ice whilst standing on a frozen lead We chip our way ...

(Lou, Yukon) Temperatures have dropped at last. Not far, to -25C, but we are delighted.  I don’t know why, as wearing a neck-ring over your mouth and nose that’s frozen with snot and rubs like a cheese grater is not pleasant, nor is having your fingers ache with cold inside your mitts. But the pay-off is that strange, stiff winter beauty.  Layer upon layer of hoar frost feathers every surface, the sky is a deeper, crisper blue and the stars seem to blink themselves awake in the brittle night air.  Hoar frost at an opening in the creek On our first day of cold, the river suddenly gorged itself with ice. The pans clung together, and began to join the ice shelf advancing sideways into the flowing water from the bank.  By afternoon the crackling of ice flows turned to groaning and popping. We got to the bank in time to see water flood under the ice shelf and straight towards us.  The shelf lifted, then ground, thumped and shattered itself i...