CAVEMAN BILL

POST # 199

 CAVEMAN BILL

I first met Caveman Bill back in September of the year 2000, a few days after I had arrived here in Dawson to live. Being new to town, I thought that a good way to meet some of the locals was to go for a drink at one of the bars.  The Midnight Sun Hotel was only a couple of blocks away, and that is where I met Caveman.  Actually I met his friend Russell first, and it was Russell who introduced me to "my friend who lives in a cave."   As mentioned, that was way back in 2000, and yet today was the very first time that I actually visited his cave.

I spent about an hour and a half there, sipping on a cup of tea, and just exchanging stories from the past, as well as catching up on recent news.  Caveman told me that this coming May 4th will be the 20th anniversary of him living in the cave.  He's lived here since he was 32.  Originally from Ontario, he was hanging out in Vancouver in 1996, and happened to run into an old friend who had recently returned from Dawson, and told Bill about this cave across the river from town.  Before long he was heading north, and he has been the sole occupant of the cave ever since then.  There is actually a smaller cave in the hill as well, and that is were he used to keep chickens, although when I was there today, it didn't look occupied.

Caveman is an interesting, talented, and intelligent soul, and he comes across as a very happy man as well.  He quit drinking about 12 years ago, and it seems to agree with him.  When we first met,  he was a bit of a crazy guy. 

The front wall of the cave is wood, and a few years ago, there was a fire which destroyed the wall.  The locals did a fundraiser for Caveman, so that he could re-build.  That shows two things; the type of community that Dawson is, and the respect that Caveman has around town.  He's one of the good guys.

He does odd jobs to earn a few dollars, however he keeps his expenses low, so work isn't the focus of his life.  He showed me some of the woodwork that he does, which is quite superb.  He seems to be content.

I was glad that I made the effort to finally check out his cave, and I think he appreciated the visit as well.  If my mom were alive today, (this would have been her 100th birthday), she would have been happy to meet someone like Caveman Bill, and I think he would have felt the same way about meeting her.

Walking on the ice of the Yukon River towards Caveman Bill's cave which is located near the first rock outcrop on the right.  His dog Trouper is coming out to greet me.

A view looking across river to Dawson, from outside the front door of the cave.

Caveman Bill and Trouper

 Inside the cave with Bill.

Happy Trails,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer

PS.  Happy Birthday Troy



BACK IN BEAR CREEK, YUKON

POST # 198


A week ago today, I was at Vancouver airport, awaiting my departure for Whitehorse, followed by a flight to Dawson the next day.
I'm now settled in at my current house sit in Bear Creek, with some familiar four legged friends.  It's taken a few days to get familiar with the routine here, but so far, all is well.
So let me introduce the clan.  First of all, there is the two legged group as seen below.

 From l to r around the table: Terry, Jannice, Sandra, Jerry, Myrna, and Marg.


This photo is taken the night of my arrival in Bear Creek, at Terry and Jannice's place, where I am currently housesitting.  Now let's move on to all the four legged members of the group.


First off, is Becka, the mother, followed by three of her offspring.

SKIDDER

BREAKER

ROXY

The team wouldn't be complete without a furball, and here he is.

TROUBLE

(a larger  version of Pouncer Bouncer)

The boneheads, the furball and the housesitter live here.

Here is a video of the view from the back deck.

Of course, a major part of the day is taken up with walking the dogs.  There are plenty of places to walk out back, and we've been busy making trails.  One has to be careful though.  The weather has been so mild, it has caused open water in amongst the tailings piles, and so we have to be careful where we step.  I did a short  walk last night, and here we are getting ready to head out.

On our walk today, the boneheads were so happy, they began to sing.  Actually, this particular song was encouraged by the housesitter, however this is something they do each day when the Air North plane takes off and flies overhead.

There are more photos to add, but that's probably enough for today.  I've still got two more scheduled blog posts to do while I'm up north, so I'll save some photos for next time.  Oh, wait.  Here is one more photo of my buddy, Watson.  I took care of him when I was down in Yuma back in 2012.  His owner is currently there with my friends Jannice and Terry, but Watson is still here for a while.  He heads to Yuma very soon.

It's great to be back in the Yukon, as I knew that it would be.  The time seems to be just melting away, like the Greenland ice sheet, which I heard yesterday is melting at the rate of... wait for it...

8000 tons per second.  Yikes!!!!

Happy trails,

Paul

The Thoughtful Wanderer

And a PS.  Speaking of ice, I thought I would add these photos as well, even though they weren't taken here.  Mother Nature produced these beauties in a place called Sudden Valley, Washington, where my friend Mary has now moved to.

And one final photo:

This was the outside temperature tonight in Bear Creek.  It's about 10pm, and it's the middle of January, and this is certainly not normal.
Like the words from the song in the movie, Grumpy Old Men, "We're having a heat wave, a tropical heat wave."
Earlier today, when I was walking across the Klondike River, it was raining.

BORDER TO BORDER COLLIES

POST # 197

I'll start 2016 off with a very short post because I am in transit at YVR airport.
I crossed the border earlier today, leaving Bellingham WA shortly after 12 noon.   Tonight I'm en route to Whitehorse Yukon, for an overnight stay, followed by a flight to Dawson City for a rendezvous with my Border Collie buddies and some two legged friends as well.
There should be much more to report on next week's blog.

Happy Trails,
Paul
The Thoughtful Wanderer

2015 IN THE REAR VIEW MIRROR

POST # 196

It's the final blog post of the year.  In a few short days, 2015 will be history.
   
This year, the Thoughtful Wanderer began his journey in the land down-under, Australia.  I was there for just over four months of 2015, roaming around four states, Victoria, South Australia, New South Wales and Queensland, and my time was spent visiting with friends as well as house and pet sitting.  I had the pleasure of caring for eight different critters, which included four dogs, Pippen, Ali, Bam Bam and Baxter, and four cats, Chloe, Ruff, Tumble, and Tilly.  I would be very hard pressed to chose a favourite amongst this group.  Each and every one of them had lovable characteristics, and I would be happy to care for any or all of them in the future.   However, I think that the odds of that happening are fairly slim, as I don't expect to make another trip to Australia.  But one never knows for sure.

Arriving back in North America in May, I spent time in Oregon at my friend Mary's place, followed by the first of two visits back to Orcas Island to take care of three of my favourite furballs, Oscar, Felix and Ziggy, prior to returning back to Vancouver in June.

Once in Vancouver, I met up with my friend, Guy Mcpherson.  Guy was on a two week long speaking tour of the west coast, and I offered to go along as his personal assistant.  It was an amazing two weeks, and I felt extremely fortunate to be able to spend so much time with him.  Once the tour was over in late June, I decided that I may as well continue on to the Mud Hut in New Mexico for my fifth visit.  I remained there until early July, and then headed back once again to Orcas for my fifth visit there as well.

I was back again in Oregon in August, visiting with Mary, and while I was there we had a very short house/pet sit just south of Bend.  Mazey the dog, and Rascal the cat, kept us company.

September and October found me back again on Vancouver Island.  First stop, was a return visit to my furball friend, Chumlee in Nanoose Bay, followed by a new housesit just west of Duncan, where I had the pleasure of spending time with new furballs,  Ringo and Bella.

Part of the month of November was spent in Vancouver, taking care of Shadow the cat, in a new venue close to Granville Island.

Then, I decided to make another visit to the Mud Hut in late November until the middle of December.   Each time I have been there, I think that it will be my last visit, and so far I've been wrong five times.

And now, I am back again in Bend Oregon.  I think this will definitely be the last visit here.  My friend Mary is moving back to Washington State early in the new year, and I have come here to help her with the move.

I'll be  back in Canada in January, en route to my old home in Dawson City to take care of four Border Collies and one cat.  I am looking forward to that.

How much longer this wandering can go on is anyone's guess.  I continue to be amazed that this whole set of living arrangements that we call industrial civilization hasn't crashed and burned by this late date, and if I were a betting man, I would probably predict that before 2016 is out, life as we know it will be profoundly different, and certainly not as comfortable as we have it now.  It will be an interesting year. (As an example of just how different things might be, I read today that this week, the North Pole could be much, much warmer than normal.)
 "By Wednesday, the North Pole is expected to see temperatures in the range of 1-2 degrees Celsius or 41-42 degrees C above average (73-75 degrees Fahrenheit above the normal daily temperature of -40 F for a typical Winter day). Such an extreme departure would be like seeing a 120 degree (Fahrenheit) December day in my hometown of Gaithersburg, MD. Needless to say, a 1-2 C reading at the North Pole during late December is about as odd as witnessing Hell freezing over. But, in this case, the latest wave of warmth issuing from a human-driven shift toward climatological hell appears to be on schedule to arrive at the North Pole in just a few more days." - Robert Scribbler
Like I said, it's going to be an interesting year, in more ways than one.

 Finally, I still have the means to wander around.   So I guess I'll just keep doing what I'm doing until I can't.

Happy Trails,

Paul
The Thoughtful Wanderer

PACKING UP IN BEND

POST # 195

The plan for today's blog, was to add a few photos from my recent journey to New Mexico, but instead I will keep this short, as I am helping my friend Mary pack up her place here in Bend, Oregon, in preparation for her move to Bellingham, Washington.

I doubt if you could find very many people who actually like to move, but it always feels good to help out a friend.

       BOXES, BOXES, BOXES.







AND MORE BOXES!!!!!!!

PLUS...

GREAT MOVING WEATHER AS WELL.

 Winter Solstice begins tonight at 8:49pm local time.

Happy trails,
Paul
The Thoughtful Wanderer

MUD HUT TO BEND OREGON

POST # 194

December 11th was my departure day from the Mud Hut in New Mexico, after an extended visit with my friends, Guy and Sheila, and Mike and Karen.

I had intended to fill this blog with a variety of photos and videos from New Mexico, however I am having difficulty downloading them via this computer.  So I will wait until next week and give it another go.

Since leaving the Mud Hut, I flew from Tucson, Arizona, to Los Angeles, and due to a crew mix up, I was late departing there for my flight to Portland.  This made me miss my connection to my destination of Redmond Oregon.  I spent the night at a hotel (courtesy of Alaska Airlines), and continued on my journey the next day.

I am in Bend, Oregon to help my friend Mary move back to Bellingham Washington.

More news next week.

Happy trails,
Paul
The Thoughtful Wanderer

FINAL(??) POST FROM THE MUD HUT

POST # 193

The standing joke around here is that this is definitely my next-to- last visit to the Mud Hut. The reason that it is a joke is because I've said the same thing ever since my first visit back in February 2013. To date, this is my sixth visit.  So I guess only time will tell whether or not I get to seven.

By the time I leave, later this week, I will have been here for the better part of three weeks.  My hosts, Guy and Sheila have been absolutely wonderful, and generous with their time. And time, as we should all be aware, is our most precious asset.   I am extremely grateful to have had the chance to spend so much time with them, and even more grateful to count them as friends.

In addition to Guy and Sheila, I've also spent time with other friends, Mike and Karen and their wonderful little furball, Pouncer Bouncer, who had a sleep over here last night.

Of course I'll be sad to say goodbye later this week, but such is the life of the Thoughtful Wanderer.  However, I am reminded of a phrase I came across many years ago which goes like this:
" Don't be dismayed at goodbyes. A farewell is necessary before you can meet again, and meeting again after moments or lifetimes is certain for those who are friends."

If that last sentence is true, then I guess I should start to plan for my seventh, (and next-to-last?) trip to the Mud Hut.

                                  THE PROFESSOR AT WORK

                                        POUNCER BOUNCER

               MIKE, KAREN and POUNCER BOUNCER

                                   SUNSET AT THE MUD HUT

WALKING UP THE ROAD WITH GUY AND SHEILA ON DECEMBER 7TH, 2013


Happy Trails,
Paul
The Thoughtful Wanderer