Chuck:
We awoke this morning to a beautiful panoramic view out the windshield and driver’s side windows. Snowcapped peaks holding glaciers in their valleys stood brightly in the morning sun. The St Elias Mountain Range has most of Canada’s highest peaks. Mt Logan at 5,959 meters is the highest in Canada. These peaks are especially difficult to climb because they are so remote. Mt Kennedy is not one of the highest but it is of interest to those of us from the USA. In 1965, Robert Kennedy climbed (with assistance) what was then the highest, unnamed, peak in North America. He had it named for his brother, JFK, who had been assassinated just 2 years earlier. RFK planted the Kennedy Flag on the top and left a capsule with JFK’s inaugural address and other mementos. When the press asked RFK, a self-proclaimed non-climber, what helped get him to the top and back safely, he said “A team of experienced mountaineers and the advice of my Mother, “Don’t slip Bobby”.
Before leaving the Kluane Cultural Center’s parking lot, I go over to thank the staff and watch their excellent orientation video one more time, Betty watched it again yesterday. Dry roads, no headwinds and user friendly hills make for a great day. The miles sailed by, almost, with ease. With only about five miles to go, an old van came along side me. A scruffy, long haired guy about 40, yelled at me, “Hey man, you want a little drag, it’ll help you along”. He leaned from the driver’s seat and held the short stub of a lit cigarette(?) out the passenger’s window. I smiled and said, “No thanks, do you have some cold beer in there?” He laughed and waved as he pulled away.
Dark skies and rain ahead, only one kilometer to go; cold raindrops, the RV is in sight. More rain as I roll in, remove the front wheel and stick the bike & wheel in the back of the CRV and run to get in the RV. Now, a hot shower, then a cold beer as Betty sips a wine & seltzer water. Hot soup, left over Chinese fried rice and it is bed time.
The following are bits from “The Spell of the Yukon” by Robert Service
“There’s the land. Have you seen it?
It’s the cussedest land I know,
From the big, dizzy mountains that screen it
To the deep, deathlike valleys below.
Some say God was tired when He made it:
Some say it’s a fine land to shun;
Maybe; but there’s some as would trade it
For no land on earth – and I’m one.
I’ve stood in some mighty-mouthed hollow
That’s plumb-full of hush to the brim;
I’ve watched the big, husky sun wallow
In crimson and gold, and grow dim.
Till the moon set the pearly peaks gleaming.
And the stars tumbled out, neck and crop;
And I’ve thought that I surely was dreaming,
With the peace of the world piled on top.
It’s the great big broad land ‘way up yonder,
It’s the forests where silence has lease;
It’s the beauty that thrills me with wonder,
It’s the stillness that fills me with peace.