mnt.Sima

http://mountsima.com/

I had so much fun today,
I rode the bike park, and i loved it!
One day  a week i am at mnt Sima to make a hiking trail, i volunteered my self to do some wildflower markers, which will happen! For now i am just working on the trail, and i am very excited about it.

The crew working at mnt. Sima is fantastic! I love the energy there and the way they work.

And after walking up and down the mountain quite a bit over the last few weeks, today i decided to take my bike and they let me ride the bike park, after i worked.  I took the easiest trail. There are 2 trails for the bikes. But Austin, the bike trail designer/builder, said a third trail will soon be open, this weekend maybe.
I took the easy trail , which i read is intermediate ( it's 'ridey tidy' i think) Anyway i did it twice, and the second time already more smoothly. I do have some past experience. I took a lesson in Kamloops years ago and what i was told, keep your pedals horizontal and  hold on to the brakes.,60% on the front brake and 40% on the back brake.something like that. ( meaning, press the brakes at all times, only releasing them a bit  when you want to go faster.)

And what i learned today; when you see the yellow sign CAUTION. go slow very slow....
There is only one such sign on the trail i went one, and it seems to be there for a good reason.... that's all i say :)

Austin  and Alexander worked two weeks ago on these trails http://www.pinkbike.com/news/Crankworx-Whistler-2012-Red-Bull-Joyride-Slopestyle-Video.html
This is not scare you, at mnt. Sima Austin designs trails, that are possible and fun to ride even for me.

red admirals in the nettle patch

Thanks to Christopher i found out that my two babies are Red Admiral caterpillars.
I phoned Bruce Bennett the Yukon Botanist, to see if that was the case. He knew of the sightings of Crispin Guppy.
As Bruce himself is more of a botanist (well he is) then a lepidopterist. we started talking plants, stinging nettles in this case. Utrica dioica.
As the nettle is not very common in the Yukon, i always wondered if my nettles had travelled here with me from Holland 20 years ago.  I look after my  patch diligently, otherwise it would be overrun by Fireweed.
Bruce told me the European nettle is actually different then the North American one.
the European: Utrica dioica ssp dioica
ours in the Yukon: Utrica dioica ssp gracillis
Which one  is the one that grows in my garden?
I found the following article: Similar Species: The uncommon European variety of stinging nettle (Urtica dioica var. dioicaor Urtica dioica spp. dioica, often referred to simply as Urtica dioica; European stinging nettle, common nettle, hokey pokey, devil's leaf, naughty man's plaything) is more branched and sprawling, with more densely hairy leaves and stinging hairs abundant on stems and both leaf surfaces. Leaves of the European variety are much broader and heart-shaped. Unlike the native stinging nettle, the European type is dioeceous, meaning its male and female flowers are found on separate plants. Small stinging nettle seedlings might be confused with mints, which also have opposite, serrated leaves and square stems, but no stinging hairs.

at http://www.oardc.ohio-state.edu/weedguide/singlerecord.asp?id=210

sooo it appears to me,i am glad to say, that mine is the native one. And! attracted some butterflies not so native to the Yukon.

Thanks Christopher and Bruce

Colourful butterflies make mass migration to the Yukon | Yukon News

Colourful butterflies make mass migration to the Yukon  |  Yukon News

Seed harvest

As i was harvesting lamb's quarter seeds, i remembered i had read somewhere that stinging nettle seeds are good to eat too. Now i do know, that there are butterflies that do have a connection with nettles.
"okay" i did harvest the lamb's quarters but left the nettle patch alone when seeing that these creatures  claimed them for their food source already.
Now the question is, will they hang their pupa in the nettles too and which butterfly will emerge and when?

after yesterday's rain

all is wet, the sun is out again today and in the slight breeze all sparkles like the tanzanite stones i saw in skagway
no this post is not going to be nice
but first i have you find the pika and the ptarmigan

in the spirit of all is not what it seems to be

Recently i heard a bad story, and yesterday some facts where confirmed by a friend of mine, who had been a victim in the story. I have no idea how to write about this, because if you know, my outlook on life is; all is good. Do i have a responsibility to speak up, when i am aware of someone harming innocent people?
I can't find any facts on the net. Yet this story is so.... like....awful.

This can't be happening in the Yukon.

I remember the villain as beautiful blue eyed and very charming, i liked him a lot when i met him.
And i do wonder what makes someone act in such way, was he deeply hurt once?
And i have known 'bad' people and seen their beauty, even spoken out for them in their favor. but these are other stories maybe for an other time.

So let me start this way, asking you, if what i heard is true. Is it really true?
That two beautiful men, Jonathan and Matteus have started up beautiful restaurants in the Yukon and left a trail of tears. Not paying their bills, their employers, stealing and taking people to court . I  am really not in a position to write about this, i don't know all the details.
The feeling i get here, is that most people believe in the goodness of people. These two men approached them and they trusted these guys, believed that they would pay later, went out on a limb for them because it all sounded so beautiful to be part of....

I heard  Carcross now, i heard things are falling apart already around them.

I hope they find their peace, i don't wish them harm. And i can only hope for them and all involved there is sunshine after rain.

takhini saltflats

Artesian wells bubble underneath the salt flats, infusing the area with minerals such as sodium sulfates. (copied from  http://www.taiga.net/yourYukon/col142.html)


Walking around there yesterday, we noticed some peculiar rocks,  looking like lava rock. Some rounded, fist sized, boulders. And  lots of small piece of crust like rocks of the same looking material. In those crusty, rockhard pieces, we saw sparkles ( what do you call that again?) like as in granite.


Do artesian wells make such rocks, or bring them to the surface. Or is an artesian well a volcanic vent? To me it all was reminiscent of an old volcano crater.....

this is.....

what summer looks like in some places

hmmm okay, 
ahhh
no words today

can i have a no word day today?

can i sigh and fuzz?

tiny clumbs of spring flowers in august

they must have started blooming underneath the melting snow

alexander's strong hug felt so good

come and gone again that kid

when i breath i feel i deny that there's a lion in my chest, it makes me so tired carrying around that lion . when i climb the mountain the load is light, we're in the clouds, my clothes are warm when i take them them off to lay  down in snow. the lion roars when i  look into his face. i know lions don't roam the glaciers, he is only there because he is with me.

the glacier didn't even show, this summer sunshine couldn't penetrate the ice fields, they talk of floods, but here i guarantee no ice is melting to cause such grief. all safe for yet another winter.

i breath you breath our breaths don't show because  of clouds, moving in moving out. the breath of the lion , a smile forms on our frozen lips

we are warm and safe together