Author: Rae

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Internet Independence

One conclusion I’ve reached in my year on the road is that I need to regain my internet independence.

It is unrealistic to expect RV parks to provide even the minimum amount of internet service someone of my generation needs. I use the internet for everything and I have high bandwidth needs, from posting photos online to watching videos to Skyping.  I have been playing by park rules as much as possible this summer and it’s really starting to cramp my style. There is so much I’d like to post to the blog and the blog is just one small part of my online activities.

I still can’t envision being able to afford a tripod satellite system and air cards, a burgeoning technology in Canada, won’t work where I spend most of my time. Next year in Dawson, I’m going to see about having my own personal DSL account right at my site. In the meantime, I try to surf like it’s 1996 and I’m on minute-by-minute dial up. Nostalgia isn’t much to be cracked up about…

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Northern Conflagration

This dry, hot summer has been a forest fire nightmare. There are currently major fires burning outside every major community in the Yukon, with fires near Watson Lake being critical, and many more throughout Alaska and British Columbia where several communities are on evacuation alert. The last few days, the weather forecast in Dawson has been represented by a fire, indicating smokey conditions. I don’t have a very good olfactory sense, but I’ve been able to smell the smoke for two days now. Today, it was particularly cloying as it’s also damp out.

This is what things have looked like for several days now. Don’t mistake it for fog, this smoke is thick, grey, and tastes like ash.

smoke

We had a good dose of rain overnight, taking us from hot and dry to cold and damp in just twelve hours, but it will take a lot more to end the wildfires.

European tourists I spoke to yesterday were flabbergasted that we don’t put the fires out. I replied that forest fires are a natural phenomenon often sparked by lighting more than by human hand. It’s cost prohibitive to put out fires in the wilderness and not ecologically sound to do so. Some plants need the high heat of wildfires for germination. Wildfire suppression causes more damage in the long run than letting nature run its course.

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RV Resources RVer of the Month

Imagine my delight this morning when I was informed that I am August’s ‘RVer of the Month’ at RV Resources!

RV resources is the wikipedia of the RVing world, chockfull of useful information from checklists to peripheral activities like geocaching. It’s one I visit almost daily, so I am quite honoured to be their RVer of the month!

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Like Vegas, Only Hotter

Whew.

Dawson is currently experiencing a serious heat wave! Temps have been in the 30’s for days now and there is no relief in sight (at least, there’s no humidity!). Add to that an unforgiving sun that starts to broil us around 1PM and doesn’t let up until the wee hours of the morning. Thank goodness my RV has air conditioning!!!!

The air quality is also very poor these days because the dry heat is causing some serious forest fire action in Alaska, Yukon, and parts of British Columbia. Talk about smog!

That said, I can’t complain since Ottawa is experiencing its second non-existent, rainy-as-heck summer in a row. Bwa ha ha to the folks back ‘home.’ 😀

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The Cost of the Chilkoot Trip

Several people have followed my link to the Sea to Sky website page about the Chilkoot hike and commented that the cost for the trip is very high. Someone even used the word ‘exorbitant.’ I couldn’t disagree more; the trip was a bargain!

In cold hard numbers, the trip cost $1569.75 and covered essentially eight full days, for a total per diem of $196.22.

Just think, I had no responsibility whatsoever beyond getting my personal items together. Everything else was taken care of for me, from coordinating train schedules to gathering together the necessary permits to putting together meals. This enabled me to focus on getting in shape.

All meals except for the dinners in Skagway and Whitehorse were provided, including an additional snack for the train ride to Alaska. We were extremely well fed, with fresh produce every day, and tons of treats being brought in for us at Lake Bennett. I met a couple on the trail who were eating freeze-dried food exclusively and going through about $80 worth of the stuff each per day, for a total of $160 that closely reaches Sea to Sky’s per diem!

We had two guides for a group of five guests when the industry standard is one guide for five guests. I chose to help them out on occasion with meal preparations, doing dishes, or hauling water (they were, after all, only human and as tired as the guests!), but I didn’t have to, which turned a very strenuous hike into something more closely resembling a ‘vacation.’

All transportation from Whitehorse and back was included and we even did a 5K detour on the way back to drop me off at my cousin’s place (I hiked out to the South Klondike Highway on the day out).

Finally, the hike required some equipment I don’t have and didn’t feel I could justify purchasing for this one trip when storage is at such a premium in the RV, so Sea to Sky provided me with a larger pack, an inflatable sleeping pad, a tent, and a hiking pole, saving me hundreds of dollars.

In short, it’s easy to look at a number like the one on the website and blink, but when you add it all together, it’s surprising that the cost for the trip is so low!