2013 Vacation photographs
Photographs are shown in chronological order.
For the second part of the vacation photos, click here.
For the third part of the vacation photos, click here.
The obligatory shot of the start of the Dempster Highway.
Saturday, June 29, 2013.
The first bridge to cross, over the Klondike River
About km 70 or so one enters a provincial park.
Mama moose and calf.
I encountered this juvenile Bald Eagle at Engineer Creek. Large. Very calm. Saw many others on the trip.
The eagle had flown to the other side of the road.
About 170 km or so on the highway.
This is Red Creek. I camped here the second night. Just
about 20 km north of where I saw the eagle.
Red Creek.
Red Creek.
Red Creek.
Red Creek.
Campsite at Red Creek. My tent is on a small dike.
This is the near the south end of the plateau atop Eagle Plains,
a good spot for butterflies. About 265 km on the highway.
I tried to photograph a butterfly but it flew off.
Another view from Eagle Plains.
Another shot from the peak.
Looking south from Eagle Plains.
An Old World Swallowtail.
Just north of the 'town' of Eagle Plains, the only gas stop for
about 500 km.
Heading toward Eagle Plains.
Starting to see the tundra, just north of Eagle Plains.
North of Eagle Plains. Today is Monday August 1, 2013.
Obligatory Arctic Circle shot of yours truly. This is about 10
km south of Glacier Creek.
The sun does not set on the summer soltice at the Arctic
Circle.
The camp at Midway Lake. This is Tuesday, August 2, 2013.
My tent was blown into a willow swamp and became
entangled, otherwise, it would have blown into Midway
Lake. About 30-40 mph wind gusts this day.
Wednesday, August 3, 2013. I just started my backpack trip.
This is looking back to the maintenance facility at km 17
(markers change as I am now in the Northwest Territory).
Another shot of the facility.
I am hiking the James Creek gorge. After an hour of slogging
through bogs, I hit these caribou trails. Nice!
About 2 1/2 hours up the gorge.
Same location as the above shot, looking north.
Same location as above, but different direction.
Same location as above, but different direction.
Same location as above, but different direction.
I photographed the GPS location and will later add this
information to this website.
Now I am approaching the Yukon/NWT border. Notice that I
now have better footing.
It's about 2 pm on July 3, 2013. Day was overcast, but no
rain.
This was easy to hike, as the footing was solid.
To the right of the peak is a gap on the border.
I was getting higher when I looked back and saw this Caribou.
Marking the shot's location.
Again, these were shot around 10 pm.
Just about on the border when I spied more Caribou.
This is the pass on the Yukon/NWT border. Would have been
great to collect here, but it was 50F and breezy.
At the border.
Another shot of the gap.
Would have been an easy hike up this ridge.
Now I have entered the Yukon. I will hike this valley for 4
more hours and set up camp.
The mountain on the other side of the creek.
Looking west toward Wright Pass.
That's the Pass I had just hiked.
I camped, sleeping for 4 hours, and decided to return to the
car. My tent, a 2 lb light-weight special, was ill-equiped to
handle the rains. Leaving at 3 am, I passed the border at 6 am,
making great time. But then I spied a white bear directly in
my path. I was terrified! I thought this was a polar bear.
Grizzly bears are foragers, whereas polar bears are predators.
You can hike around grizzlies, but polar bears will attack. I
dipped down a ridge and hiked around the polar bear, only to
encounter a grizzly bear! Three bear bangers did not scare the
bear, a young male, and he continued walking the same
direction as I, plus, now we were heading toward the polar
bear. I had no choice but to follow the grizzly, as I was
surrounded by steep mountains. As I did, the grizzly looked
back, standing on his hind legs, and then ran off! I continued
my hike, and soon saw the polar bear, which had moved away
from me. This is a photograph. When I returned to my car, I
met a naturalist who explained that the Richardson Mountains
have blonde grizzlies among the females, and this is likely
what I saw.
Lesson learned was to carry binoculars in the future, as I could
have identified the grizzly.
Someone planted this rack in the bushes.
The bog at Moose Lake, 75 km south of Inuvik, where I found
B. polaris. Polaris is a tundra bug, so this was a very unusual
find.
Lesser yellowleg observed south of Moose Lake. Click here
to watch a video and hear it chirping.
This is the Rengleng River. I stopped here at 6 pm, thinking
my collecting for the day was done. But I collected until 9
pm, mostly P. idas and other small butterflies.
This small creek yielded about 10 Polygonia faunus arcticus
and several N. antiopa.
This hillside yielded most of the small butterflies.
This P. faunus is almost a year old!
Deformed, poor little guy.
Erynnis persius, quite common here.
Campsite on a cliff overlooking the Rengleng River. Very
picturesque. Photographed around 11 pm.
For the second part of the vacation photos, click here.
Photographs are shown in chronological order.
For the second part of the vacation photos, click here.
For the third part of the vacation photos, click here.
The obligatory shot of the start of the Dempster Highway.
Saturday, June 29, 2013.
The first bridge to cross, over the Klondike River
About km 70 or so one enters a provincial park.
Mama moose and calf.
I encountered this juvenile Bald Eagle at Engineer Creek. Large. Very calm. Saw many others on the trip.
The eagle had flown to the other side of the road.
About 170 km or so on the highway.
This is Red Creek. I camped here the second night. Just
about 20 km north of where I saw the eagle.
Red Creek.
Red Creek.
Red Creek.
Red Creek.
Campsite at Red Creek. My tent is on a small dike.
This is the near the south end of the plateau atop Eagle Plains,
a good spot for butterflies. About 265 km on the highway.
I tried to photograph a butterfly but it flew off.
Another view from Eagle Plains.
Another shot from the peak.
Looking south from Eagle Plains.
An Old World Swallowtail.
Just north of the 'town' of Eagle Plains, the only gas stop for
about 500 km.
Heading toward Eagle Plains.
Starting to see the tundra, just north of Eagle Plains.
North of Eagle Plains. Today is Monday August 1, 2013.
Obligatory Arctic Circle shot of yours truly. This is about 10
km south of Glacier Creek.
The sun does not set on the summer soltice at the Arctic
Circle.
The camp at Midway Lake. This is Tuesday, August 2, 2013.
My tent was blown into a willow swamp and became
entangled, otherwise, it would have blown into Midway
Lake. About 30-40 mph wind gusts this day.
Wednesday, August 3, 2013. I just started my backpack trip.
This is looking back to the maintenance facility at km 17
(markers change as I am now in the Northwest Territory).
Another shot of the facility.
I am hiking the James Creek gorge. After an hour of slogging
through bogs, I hit these caribou trails. Nice!
About 2 1/2 hours up the gorge.
Same location as the above shot, looking north.
Same location as above, but different direction.
Same location as above, but different direction.
Same location as above, but different direction.
I photographed the GPS location and will later add this
information to this website.
Now I am approaching the Yukon/NWT border. Notice that I
now have better footing.
It's about 2 pm on July 3, 2013. Day was overcast, but no
rain.
This was easy to hike, as the footing was solid.
To the right of the peak is a gap on the border.
I was getting higher when I looked back and saw this Caribou.
Marking the shot's location.
Again, these were shot around 10 pm.
Just about on the border when I spied more Caribou.
This is the pass on the Yukon/NWT border. Would have been
great to collect here, but it was 50F and breezy.
At the border.
Another shot of the gap.
Would have been an easy hike up this ridge.
Now I have entered the Yukon. I will hike this valley for 4
more hours and set up camp.
The mountain on the other side of the creek.
Looking west toward Wright Pass.
That's the Pass I had just hiked.
I camped, sleeping for 4 hours, and decided to return to the
car. My tent, a 2 lb light-weight special, was ill-equiped to
handle the rains. Leaving at 3 am, I passed the border at 6 am,
making great time. But then I spied a white bear directly in
my path. I was terrified! I thought this was a polar bear.
Grizzly bears are foragers, whereas polar bears are predators.
You can hike around grizzlies, but polar bears will attack. I
dipped down a ridge and hiked around the polar bear, only to
encounter a grizzly bear! Three bear bangers did not scare the
bear, a young male, and he continued walking the same
direction as I, plus, now we were heading toward the polar
bear. I had no choice but to follow the grizzly, as I was
surrounded by steep mountains. As I did, the grizzly looked
back, standing on his hind legs, and then ran off! I continued
my hike, and soon saw the polar bear, which had moved away
from me. This is a photograph. When I returned to my car, I
met a naturalist who explained that the Richardson Mountains
have blonde grizzlies among the females, and this is likely
what I saw.
Lesson learned was to carry binoculars in the future, as I could
have identified the grizzly.
Someone planted this rack in the bushes.
The bog at Moose Lake, 75 km south of Inuvik, where I found
B. polaris. Polaris is a tundra bug, so this was a very unusual
find.
Lesser yellowleg observed south of Moose Lake. Click here
to watch a video and hear it chirping.
This is the Rengleng River. I stopped here at 6 pm, thinking
my collecting for the day was done. But I collected until 9
pm, mostly P. idas and other small butterflies.
This small creek yielded about 10 Polygonia faunus arcticus
and several N. antiopa.
This hillside yielded most of the small butterflies.
This P. faunus is almost a year old!
Deformed, poor little guy.
Erynnis persius, quite common here.
Campsite on a cliff overlooking the Rengleng River. Very
picturesque. Photographed around 11 pm.
For the second part of the vacation photos, click here.
