Step 1: Leave stable ground

There's a land where the mountains are nameless,
And the rivers all run God knows where;
There are lives that are erring and aimless,
And deaths that just hang by a hair;
There are hardships that nobody reckons;
There are valleys unpeopled and still;
There’s a land — oh, it beckons and beckons,
And I want to go back — and I will. 

  Robert W. Service, The Spell of the Yukon

I'm sitting in my hostel in Whitehorse, Yukon, after a day's worth of hiking and exploring. Successful besides one mud-puddle that I-swear-to-Sam-McGee snuck up on me.

 I had a bit of that familiar unfamiliar-place feeling yesterday for the first time. That feeling that sneaks up on you and grabs ahold of your heart and lungs, giving it a little squeeze before relinquishing its grasp and letting you sink back into comfort again. It just hit me that I was all alone, that I didn't really have a plan, and that there was no turning back, at least not yet.

I was landing in Whitehorse after an amazing first week away. Pulling into a wilderness so much more wild than anything I'd ever seen. Minden aint seen nothin' yet.

I got a ride up here with my lovely friends Paul and Ashley, camping out along the TransCanada Highway. We completed what I'm calling the HillBilly Trifecta. Night 1: Gravel Pit; Night 2: Church Lawn (I don't know how United Church fertilizes, but their grass was a dream to sleep on); Night 3: Farm/Truck Stop, complete with abandoned ice cream shop and broken bottles. Besides one memorable turn-around and some friendly Germans along the way, it was uneventful, beautiful and looonng.  Like really long. But I'm very glad I did it, even if my legs never uncramp again. Especially wonderful: Lake Superior and the Prairies by night, serenaded by Neil Young and the Tragically Hip.

We got to Calgary on Friday at 2:30, almost exactly 4 days from departure. I had an incredible weekend hanging out with my friend Nick, who I met at Explore in Trois-Rivières a couple years ago. From there I flew out to Whitehorse, in the land of the midnight sun.

Woolen Hat only slightly necessary. +9 with a wind

Anyways, pictures and more posts are to follow, although to expect them more than sporadically would certainly be a mistake.

All my love to all who want it,
Colin

PS. Got winked at by a cutie working at the grocery store. Who knew our kind hid out this far above the warm, bustling city ;)