Taye lake 4

Full of anticipation I walk to the river, to see out over the lake. And what I am expecting is lots of water birds. Ha! Taye lake does kind of hides. Even when I take the trail on the left side towards the lake. The view somehow doesn't show me the spectacular beauty of Taye lake. I do see a swan a great distance away,
but no other birds...
Ah, As I walk towards the lake.. The largest bird to be (Yukon) flies, well, gracefully spreads out it's grand wings and flies off slowly (as in movement of the wings) to a distant tree and perches on the top. It's so big. It's an eagle! (I feel embarrassed, but I can't figure out which one).
After that grand opening show, I meet lots of birds in the wetland, the Arctic Terns like always very excited by my presence. There's the Red-winged blackbirds, many more smaller birds, that I love to get to know, but don't yet.
I find a nice spot to have lunch where I can overlook the water. It's like a mirror! Beside the lake the land is very wet, I do get wet feet, but I find these little dikes. They are very close to the lake and around 1 meter high, perfect. There are ducks in the lake, but they are too far for me to identify.
The 2 Swans are gorgeous and one hangs around fairly close to me, With it's mirror reflection in the water the sight is awesome, a truly Yukon treasure, the white streaked mountains reflected in the crystal clear blue lake and a swan to top it of.
.

Taye lake 3

Back to the beginning; Biking on the Alaska ain't so bad, there's that feeling of freedom, when there is no car in sight.
And there's definitely a bigger variety of flowers blooming on the side compared to in the bush. 15 km. Is enough for me though,
I was happy to turn into the Taye lake bush road. And right away I felt surrounded by the birds and little animals.
A gopher ran ahead of me, a funny sight, stopped, stood up and dove into its hole as I passed. As soon as
I was feeling smug, about whoever would like to bike on an paved road, when there's this ,I hit a sandy section.
Oh my. but as the road is flat, it wasn't that bad. The soil in this area is sandy, but only small sections of road where
too soft for comfortable biking. The animal tracks show really well. There's moose, bison, different carnivores and
little animal tracks. Most of them recent. Lucky for me, the one set of bear prints, is softened around
the edges and full of small forest debris. It's older.
The forest most of the way is small Aspen trees. There are stretches where they are only 3 meters high. I see
on an air photo of the area that the road actually follows a band of Aspen. These roads here are probably
made by the people from Champagne. And probably a very long tome ago. I actually find one old trail, that is on the map,
but I had never seen it. I mark it on the way back with my improvised bear bells.
The last few km. is a gentle downhill slope. It's wonderful to coast down and land by the lovely cabins.
I leave my bike by a fallen in structure in the open area. Tiny white flowers are blooming abundantly.
One day I figure out,again, which they are. It's the Pink family, which has many different species.

Taye lake 2

May 26

I see now on the map, that Taye lake is lower in elevation then we are. That surprises me, because
it is a long way from here, upstream. As the crow flies, it is only 15 km. But the way the Mendenhall
river flows, a very long paddle. That's why it meanders so much, it doesn't loose much elevation,
only One elevation line on the map, which stands for 100 feet.
That accounts though for the fact that it took me longer on the way back. I thought it was my stamina and the
strenght of my legs. Well that makes me feel good!
The way the roads went, I must have biked 60 km round trip. At the end my legs where very tired, at the end two uphill
sections, one out of the river crossing, and one up to the house, I didn't even try to paddle anymore.
I just walked up bike in hand.I left the bike 100 feet from my house, peeled of some clothes and fell into a lawn chair.
Bless the heat though. I love it.
(I am telling this story backwards.) Because of the heat, I did had a dive into the Mendenhall river.
Where the river starts,coming out of Taye lake it is quite lovely, with rocks and tiny rapids. On my bare feet,
I didn't venture off, trying to keep my footing on the slippery rocks. I plunged into a deep hole
in front of a big boulder,on which I sat to dry off. Feeling like a mermaid.

Have I got a story for you

May 27
Only I don't know the end. Nor the beginning.
I was tired today. I guess after biking 6 hours yesterday. And then there where some personal issues this morning, called life. And! my sister became a grandma today. What does that make me?....old. No, I actually felt overjoyed and young.
Anyway, I decided to lay down for a nap on the trampoline. Laying on my back, I was marvelling; the yet greener leaves of the poplars, the dark green of the spruce, with the blue, blue sky. The birds are singing. The sound of the wind. The bees buzzing. As I drift of to sleep, I here a "plop". Coming from a large poplar. It sounds like a chicken egg falling. I think eggs, because this tree was occupied by a woodpecker family last year. I am too lazy to go look. Next time I am woken up, it's by the screaming of a squirrel sitting high up in that tree. I don't see anything that could have upset her. I decide to watch and wait. And I love what unfold next. And here I wish I had the talent of Thorton W. Burgess.(1874-1965)(children's author and naturalist.) I come to realize the next hour that besides great talents as a writer, he must have had exceptional patience. Mom squirrel comes down from the branch she was screaming from, and by golly, there is a little baby squirrel in the grass. She grabs it by the neck and tries to bring it up the smooth poplar. She lets her baby try to crawl after her.The beautiful looking violet-green swallows are not so beautiful after all, and dive bomb at the mom several times.....? The little thing does get higher and higher after many attempts, sometimes trying to go backward upwards. After many attempts she or he realizes that there is a branch where she can hang out. This branch only being two metres of the ground. The brave soul has to go up 6 metres. That is where mom is with another baby in the old woodpecker hole. Mom does come and help once in a while. Once just carrying the baby, ( you gotta see it) this does work till she has to jump 2 feet. She leaves baby alone again, who does fall out of the tree again, now falls silently being caught by a Soapberry bush. She(he) lost its nerve and only makes 1 metre attempts and then heads into the direction of the bird feeder. As I don't have much patience, I decide to go get a snack. I am back in 3 min. ....Nothing in sight. Well they have to be somewhere. I hear screaming in a spruce tree (the other way, not by the bird feeder) One sounds like an alarm call and one like a distress call. I don't know if that's the same family. But I suppose so, because after a while I spot the two and one baby is still in the woodpecker hole. In the background the Flickers are screaming too. And suddenly they are using the tree for some foreplay, several times (three again and I observe something new; one fans its tail feathers beautifully). Another bird, a pleasant singer, unaware, decides to sing a song from the branch underneath the hole. I am getting bit by mosquitoes and decide to go in and type this story.
Later... All is quiet. And as I walk under the tree, one head pokes out of the hole, it looks like mom.

Taye lake

Yesterday, may 26, I had a fantastic day. There is so much to write. so I'll first give you some facts about the trip and then I will write.

biking;conditions excellent
9 am - left home
9.11 - Alaska hwy. -11 min
9.25 - 911 sign -25 min
9.30 - Mendenhall river -30 min
9.40 - Champagne turn-off -40 min
10 am- Taye lake turn-off -1 h
10.06- power line -1 h 6 min
10.46- road jct on the right -1 h 46 min
11.15- look-out -2 h 15 min
11.45- cabins -2 h 45 min
the trip back took 3 hours

Babies

I am happy to announce that 'Harry' has babies! The Hairy Woodpecker lives with us year round. When the Flickers were so noisy, I actually did notice that the Hairy Woodpeckers took second stage, and quietly went about their business. Now it is their babies that make the most noise in our yard. According to the Yukon bird book its early for the young to hatch. Mind you spring did start early, it just never evolved into much. Glory, to this weekend though, it is summer.

Today I am spending my day in the yard, to be with the two men in my live, who are home today. And I am doing some yard work and gardening. Alexander noticed a bird that kept flying away as he approached to work on a project. He found a nest in a tuft of grass. Indeed a Junco has 5 little eggs in its nest. According to my log the Juncos where here April 29. So within a month they were laying eggs. My book tells me incubation takes 15 days.It be neat to keep an eye out for the young. Remind me June 8.

Other observations: yesterday in a little slough close to the river, I spotted a pair of ducks. They turn out to be a male Northern Shoveler and a male Ring-necked duck.
There are dark, they look totally black, butterflies fluttering around. I suppose they are Red-disked Alpines. Which is an Erebia. In my garden there is lots happening too, but as it is not totally wild, (it is wild compared to any garden I know) I suffice to say that the bluebells (Mertensia paniculata),Jacob's-ladder (Polemonium),Northern Jasmine (Androsace septentrionalis) and the Northern Gooseberry (Ribes oxyacanthoides) are blooming. Blues and whites. Well I do also like to say that we are eating salads with, Fireweed, Plantain, Bedstraw, and two other very well known ones, and the more tasty ones for that, but I can't think of there names now.

Sunburn

Well, I don't really have to write anything today, because when you listen to the weather report, you know that it is just gorgeous here. Real summer heat. Shorts, cold drinks, sunhats, the whole bit.
As keeper of wild places you know I like to go from here, without using the car. But this kind of heat calls for a treat. I drove to Mendenhall landing, where the Mendenhall river flows into the Takhini river. I did make it a multi-purpose trip. We haul our own drinking water. Normally my husband gets it from Stony creek on the way to work. Today I got it from the Takhini river, where it is still running totally clear, right out of Kusawa lake. And I collect cans for the recycling money. All that to make me feel better about driving .

I park my car right by the landing. Walk on the muddy edges of the Mendenhall river towards the Takhini river. The mud is nice and soft, and staying close to the shore it is not too soft. This time of year the rivers here are very low. The mountains are still frozen. I am always still amazed that there is water in the rivers, because there is not much precipitation here. For these mountains to give so much water they are bigger then I even can imagine.
There is a spotted sandpiper. (of course he doesn't hang around when I walk by, but I get to snatch a quick picture.) By the sound, I think there are more, but these shorebirds are kind of... They scream, well make their sound, and fly off and blend in with the shoreline. On the Takhini river, the shore is more gravelly. Gravel on top of mud, still soft. I cross a channel to the Island there. The original island is grassy and willows with a few trees. But now it is surrounded by great beaches and gravel bars. I do go bare foot, to reach another few gravel bars that are exposed. My feet are still sensitive, having been in boots all winter. I try to step on the bigger rocks in the gravel. Crossing the channels between the bars is very, very cold on the ankles. There are still chunks of ice on the shadow side of the river.

Oh heaven, I brought a towel and a book. I go here every year in May and know that there is a lovely little pool behind one little island close to the main one. Today it is the size of a large hot tub. Not quite that hot. But definitely warmer then... frozen, as the water has been heating in the sun. I dive in twice! Yukon swimming, I love it! It's kind of my thing, most people think I am crazy. Well not when they're from Quebec. I have two friends,(from Quebec) who share my passion and actually will out do me in endurance.
I stretch out on my towel and read under the blue blue sky, hence the sunburn.