Great night

The meal of Ptarmigan we had by the fire was summarized two ways. "Unlike anything we've ever eaten before" and based on the setting and moonrise, as "philosophical".

Seat of honor fireside. 

Perfectly seared Ptarmigan breast and NWT jambalay-eh!

Moonrise over the river defies description and quell conversation. 

Frosty morning required premium seating by the fire.

Queen of the camp.

A Poplar place to camp

We passed up a civilized campsite (where they were literally raking the leaves) for something a bit more rustic and scenic. Since Poplar Grove Creek had been so wonderful in Alaska, we headed for Poplar River and established the best camp I have ever experienced. Fire pit amongst the cobble, tents up the bank and plenty of wood.

Doing what we do... Burf cooking, Emil fishing and me documenting. 

Equipment check- new water filter works. 

Kali likes camping. 

NWT

While helping a couple change a blown tire on the Dempster, the lady told us NWT wasn't as pretty as Yukon, mostly trees and big rocks. We were more intrigued by the two bottles of wine she insisted we accept as thanks, but by the time we arrived we knew she was correct.

It's not that the NWT sucks, it's a verdant wonderland, but the Yukon is so epic, it is difficult to compare. There's plenty of wildlife as well.

And our interaction with folks continues to be enjoyable. The ENR ranger who sold us our license was very helpful and also fluent in the First Nation dialect for the region. Fascinating to listen to.
Can also report that the rig required an oil change and tire rotation. No problem as we found a family-owned garage with hunters and a daughter that runs the computer and pulls tires off trucks. Couple of hours to get the work done, but drank in their coffee and experience.

September 7th, what's in your forecast?

Greeted with snow flurries as we packed up and the higher we traveled the heavier it fell. Making our way back along the Alaska Highway provided numerous photo ops and some fun driving.

 And a glimpse of our first stone sheep.

Does this make my butt look big?

Not as much to report as we retraced our steps into Watson Lake but new ground in the Northwest Territory awaited.

Campbell Highway

Highway is a dubious term in Yukon, several hundred sloppy miles of potholes and random pieces of iron on the road, but we managed to have fun regardless.

Found some nice Grayling. 

Great fighters

Beautiful Creek culvert was loaded with fish despite its diminutive size. 

On the Klondike

Ran out of roads north so began our gradual descent south on the Klondike Highway.

Anything to get to the fishing. 

Fishing the Klondike. Ask Burf! About the bears he heard he heard and his appropriate response. 

Plenty of grouse in Yukon! 

Grayling from Too Much Gold Creek. 

And Big Brown Bears!

Arctic Circle

It's a long way from home and temperature was below freezing but we made it.

Kali had another great day. Maybe the only gun dog that has ever hunted south of the border fence AND north of the Arctic Circle! 

Very proficient for walking on Arctic snow. 

Burf!'s sourdough will now always have a bit of the Yukon. .. water from Glacier Creek north of the Arctic Circle plus Yukon flour. 

Twenty one

Kali scored her 21st upland species with terrific points and retrieves of Yukon willow Ptarmigan.

Plenty of opportunities. These birds were in a First Nation's reservation so all shots were on film. 

Dempster Hwy

Had to provision in Dawson before heading up the gravel Dempster towards the Arctic Circle.

First crossing of the historic Klondike River.

Beautiful Tombstone Peak in the distance in the Tombstone Territorial Park. 

Stopped into the park office for some intel. Not often you meet a park ranger that tells you where to kill park birds or recommends drinking a lot of beer before bed so you wake frequently to look for the Northern Lights. Just love Yukon! !

Top of the World Hwy

Crossed the border at Boundry in snow flurries with standard conversation with RCMP about why Texans are chasing birds 5000 miles from home. Epic drive across high tundra with views that boggle both from beauty and distance.

Only ferry access to Dawson across the mighty Yukon River. The captain is truly an expert. 

After the show at Diamond Toothed Gerties.

And yes, Yukon must mean "no wifi" in Gwitch'n is why there's been no posting until this catch up opportunity.

Taylor Highway

Connecting Tok with northern Yukon, a beautiful gravel drive with lots of adventure opportunity.

Signs on the West fork of the Dennison warn you about grizzlies, so the prepared anglers are the happy ones.

Downtown Chicken Alaska. The miners couldn't spell Ptarmigan so the name is close. 

Susan's homemade apple cranberry pie with Yukon Brewing Ice Fog IPA is the perfect lunch. 

The home of sourdough

My recipe for sourdough came from an Alaskan cookbook years ago and Burf has his own batch so we had a campfire dinner of grouse breasts in a mountain picked blueberry, rosehip brandy reduction with grouse legs hotter'n a coed dirty rice and sourdough biscuits.

Damn good vittles!

Pursuing the state bird

Willow Ptarmigan are so prevalent that they are the state birds. Live in the tundra above treeline. "Always uphill..."
Hunted Mt. Fairplay from 3300' to 4000'. Found a covey of sharptails on the way up and Burf got to experience Kali at her best.

Look beside Emil's right ear and you'll see see Denali Peak, 275 miles to the southwest. Big mountain! 

Kali snoozing in a blueberry patch. Picked a bunch for supper. 

Truck just visible above Burf's hat. 6.59 mile hike. Unfortunately, no Ptarmigan. Everything else was awesome.