A quick update before I head off on a work field trip to meet some people outside of Whitehorse!
Maya and I are taking "the Turtle"...her green Dodge Dakota with camper up to visit Dawson (Tr'ondek Hwech'in), Mayo (Na-Cho Nyuk Dun), Carmacks (Little Salmon) and Pelly Crossing (Selkirk).

My cousin Lauren was visiting this week, so it was a great time to be a tourist. Yesterday we spent the day in Skagway, Alaska...cruise ship capital of the North. Great day to be celebrating Independance Day with the locals and the tourists alike! Tug of war, arm wrestling, slow bike race, candy apples, cotton candy, ice cream, beer, lots of red white and blue. It was classic America Day as I imagined it.

The drive to Skagway from Whitehorse (which I have every intention of riding my roadbike on) is in short: stunning. It is just a short drive and as a bonus, I live about a half hour into it already. We saw a little bear on the side of the road at the Summit which we saw on the way back...still don't know if it was a grizzly or a blondish black bear. See the next post to enter your vote!

We also saw two adult looking grizzly on the tidal flats (right where the campgrounds are, how comforting), just outside of Skagway, on the way to Dyea. It was just like I've imagined Alaska and the BC Coast to be...end of a fjordlike channel...big river flowing into the ocean, tide flats with tall grass and a few grizzly bears. Absolutley gorgeous.

The most exciting part of the Skagway venture was the big purchase I made...of a hand powered coffee grinder. I am so excited to start making real coffee again, those who have witnessed my addiction and my general snobbery around coffee will understand that I have been a bit lost without electricity and a coffee grinder. Haven't tried it out yet though (see next few posts about where I've been this week...). Really won't want to leave the cabin now...