Klondike Gold Rush

          Have you ever wondered what it would be like to simply leave your job, walk down to the docks, jump on to a boat, travel thousands of miles and have an adventure of a lifetime?

If yes, then you would certainly appreciate the story of the 1896-1899 Klondike Gold Rush. And since we're unlikely to try that adventure until summer, the next best thing for right now is to watch the documentary that PBS put out this winter.

Based on the book "Gold Diggers" by Charlotte Gray the documentary does a great job of trying to answer the question of what drove these goldrushers through so many adversities with so little chance of true riches.

We do our best to follow in these intrepid adventurers footsteps by offering a trip over the Golden staircase on the Chilkoot Trail and then a couple of days later on a 10 day trip down the mighty Yukon River and into Dawson City to see the original claim sites.

Hope you enjoy the video!

Paddling Under the Midnight Sun

Guilty - I have to admit I'm feeling a bit that way these days as I'm enjoying unseasonably warm February days full of sunshine while it seems the rest of the Northern world is freezing solid.

What this also made me think about was how important the sun is to my overall mood and energy levels.

A little bit of research shows that the science confirms the "good feelings" that more sunshine can give us:

Sunlight Boosts Serotonin

Researchers from the Baker Heart Research Institute in Melbourne found that levels of serotonin—a neurotransmitter that regulates appetite, sleep, memory, and mood—are lower during the winter than the summer. Serotonin is the body's natural happy hormone. That's why we tend to feel happier and more energetic when the sun shines.  It's also been shown that exercising outdoors creates more endorphins in the body than exercising indoors.
Apparently Northern schools finish the school year earlier and bring their students back in August instead of September. The kids simply have too much energy to sit still in the class room in May and June and instead can be found playing soccer outside at 1 am in the morning!

Natural Daylight Can Improve Sleep 

Sunlight shuts off the body’s production of melatonin, a hormone produced at night that makes you feel drowsy. Constant exposure to sunlight can help your body maintain its circadian rhythm. Your circadian rhythm is a 24-hour cycle that regulates biochemical, physiological, and behavioral processes and makes you feel tired when it’s dark outside. This is why you need less sleep in summer but still feel livelier.

Paddling under the Midnight Sun

This past summer we had an intrepid group of paddlers who requested a trip down the Yukon River in mid June over the Summer Solstice. For all of us, the chance to experience 24 hr daylight in the Yukon on a wilderness canoe trip was truly fantastic. In fact it was such a great trip that we just knew we had to add the dates to our regular line-up. For 2015 we've added a June 15-24 trip in addition to our regular July/August tours. It was not uncommon on the trip to look down at your watch and be amazed that it was past midnight but you couldn't tell by the amount of daylight or our own energy levels. 

True 24 hours of sunshine doesn't happen unless you are above the Arctic Circle but the one or two hours where the sun is not above the horizon in the central Yukon is anything but dark. Walking, paddling, heck even reading are all easily done in the amount of residual daylight that still abounds.

For all of us who don't live in a far northern community experiencing the overwhelming energy boost of 24 hour daylight it is something special and something that everyone should experience at least once in their lives! And remember as visitors instead of residents you get to experience the 24/ 7 daylight and avoid the 24/7 darkness on the flip side in the winter!

See you on the water!

Teslin River Fishing!

Every year we receive a number of calls asking about the best fishing on our canoe trips in the Yukon.

While all of the rivers up north are beautiful and have their own unique characteristics, unfortunately they are not all created equal when it comes to fishing!

The Yukon River trip which we offer follows the later part of the river as it flows into historic Dawson City. While the First Nations have been fishing these waters for generations, trying to do so with a rod and line is quite tricky as the water takes on more and more silt from the side rivers that feed into it. Fishing with traditional nets and weirs is the way to go on this river.

While there will be many magical, hidden fishing spots throughout the Yukon for the hardcore fishing community, in our experience there is nothing like the Teslin River for amazing fishing whether a seasoned pro or a first time novice. Whether spin casting or throwing the perfect loop while fly-fishing, both methods have produced lots of fish.

There are up to 11 different species of fish throughout the river system including: Lake Trout, Inconnu, Whitefish, Dolly Varden and Salmon.

But the one that seems to be pulled in most often is the fantastic looking Arctic Grayling with its unique Dorsal fin.

There was one trip on the river where the group was catching so many fish that we started to run low on the supply of lemon, butter and tinfoil to cook them with! Every evening we started our meals with an appetizer of 2-6 fresh caught Teslin River wild fish!

So, if fishing is part of your Yukon canoe plans we suggest the Teslin River every time, and don't worry, we bring lots of extra lemon and butter every trip now!

Strawberry Rhubarb Fruit Leather - refined sugar free

Well, a few girlfriends and I are leaving for a personal trip on the West Coast Trail in a few days and the last minute details are starting to come together. Nicole said she was going to make strawberry fruit leather...and then roll Nutella up in it (Oh wow, your now talking my language). That sounded like something I might be able to pull off in the next few days. Upon driving home I realized the Rhubarb plant in the garden would be the perfect pairing for this particular endeavor....Eureka!

After looking up how to make strawberry fruit leather on the internet there are loads of recipes but all involve adding sugar to reduced fruit puree, something my brother is amazing at finding alternative sources of natural sugar to sweeten items of sort. Last fall he created a crab-apple butter that was like candy in a jar! He said he used apple juice concentrate as the sweetener. So this is my attempt at creating Strawberry Rhubarb fruit leather by substituting apple juice concentrate instead of refined sugar. I ended up having to add a little unrefined sugar to cut the tartness of the rhubarb, but much less than other recipes were calling for, and nothing that had been bleached in the process :-) You can easily adjust the amount of strawberry or rhubarb in the recipe depending on what you have available and/or what flavour you are trying to achieve.

Getting ready for the season - First Aid refreshers!

Spring time seems to creep up, its winter winter winter and then all of a sudden we are on a daily countdown till the season starts. Isn't that always the way?! There are so many things to do in so little time...food purchasing and prep for 25+ trips of 7 - 10 days in duration, vehicle inspections, gear inspection and maintenance (not to mention new gear wish lists - mine is a little out of control at the moment but I am sure that is another blog post in the making), training hikes, and re-certifications are just a few things that pop into my head.

Most of us at Sea to Sky have been with Slipstream First Aid for many years as they are just the best in the business. They have an extended program that allows you to hop into any course (if space available) and refresh your skills, something other companies don't do. It is great to start thinking about risk management, safety, first aid scenarios, evacuations and the like at the beginning of a season. I am due up for re-cert next year so hopping into these individual days helps me keep my skills fresh but also make my re-cert easier next season, after all if you don't use it you'll lose it! PLUS you get to meet fantastic like minded professionals in the industry. 

JP Bandaging up a patient - Photo by Slipstream First Aid

Bowron Lakes Slideshow

Have you crossed the WEST COAST TRAIL off your bucket list?