Geologizing in the Yukon!

I'm back (again)! It seems that my last semester of geology left me pressed for time, which took away from leisurely activities I enjoy such as updating my blog.  But no more!  I graduated recently and I am currently working in the Yukon for the summer.  So, what better to share with you than my experiences thus far up in Canada's far North.

I must first begin by thanking a friend and classmate through whose recomendation I got the job here in the Yukon.  That would be you, Ben.  My greatest thanks goes out to you good sir for your help in securing this job.  I hope your time up by Dawson City is going great!

I left on my travel to the Yukon on June 4th, a few days after my graduation convocation.  The convocation itself was a long three hours, but the diploma and the smiles of my fellow classmates, friends and family were worth it.  Congrats Lakehead U Class of 2012!  Good luck in all your future endeavors.

View from the flight to Whitehorse

So, flying from the Tbay airport, I connected through the airports of Toronto, Calgary and finally Whitehorse (a total of almost 12 hours traveling).  Immediately exiting the airport, it became evident that I was in a mountainous area, with small peaks decorating the background.  For a city of 24,000 people, its streets were surprisingly busy with the bustling of pedestrians.  The next morning, a park on the main street was full of activity as musicians entertained the crowd.
 
After a bit of training at the Yukon Chamber of Mines (where I met up with my boss and a few fellow employees), we were off to the town of Mayo - a 5 hour drive away.  Upon arriving there, we quickly made our way to the Chinese restaurant (coincidentally the only restaurant in town).  I spent two nights in Mayo as we prepared supplies to send to the camp.  The camp itself is located about an hour helicopter ride from Mayo and was built just two weeks before I arrived.  Those who built the camp arrived on site in two feet of snow!

Before making my way to camp, I was fortunate enough to take a ride in a Cessna 208 Caravan to deliver fuel to an airstrip.  This experience differed from being in a commercial plane as 1) I sat in the front seat beside the pilot, and 2) my view of the clouds were phenomenal.  Having a front row view of the plane soaring through and above the sea of clouds was breathtaking.

So, after all that I finally embarked upon the hour-long helicopter ride to the camp.  It was during this flight (on an AStar 350) that I got my first view of the terrain that I would be traversing.  Mountains ranging up to 6000 ft above sea level passed us by.  Snow capped and craggy, they stood out as dangerous wonders.  The valleys that flowed out of them were vast, spanning in all directions until another mountain materialized out of them.  Looking around in all directions, all I could see were mountain chains;  all snow capped and all menacing.  I would go as far as to say that I felt a feeling of entrapment by these mountains.  They appeared as insurmountable barriers between me and the modern world that I had just left behind.

The Camp!

Arriving in camp, I met the crew that I would be spending my summer with.  Fourteen people in all.  Luckily for me they have all turned out to be great and I have enjoyed getting to know them thus far.  My home for the summer would be a prospector tent to be shared with two of my camp mates.

Not the first-day mountain, but still covered in snow!

Then came my first day in the field.  It was raining when the chopper landed us on a mountain ridge way up high above the valley.  Mist hung in the air and our breath was easily visible as puffs of smoke.  Snow covered a great deal of the mountain side, however it had been exposed to some sun so there were several safe paths.  Almost all of you reading this will have slid down a hill side in the winter, letting the snow take you.  Traversing through snow fields on the mountain is somewhat similar, except that it's a much longer way down to the bottom than a hill, and gravity tends to do its job quite well.  We tended to avoid snow fields if we could, but there would be times when we would have to cross them and we were sure to ready ourselves for a slip.  We first traveled up the mountain side for a time.  I quickly came to terms with ascending up a mountain.  My calves swelled and pained as I fought my way up, my boots of choice being steel-towed and heavy (though necessary for rock-related dangers).  I sometimes bounded up an incline, just to get to the top quicker to rest.  It was by doing so that I realized how, that even on a mountain, the ground can disappear beneath you.  As I said, I bounded up at times only to face the view of the other side of the mountain, and the cliff that preceded it.  It only took one quick look down to decide that this was a place that needed to be approached with caution and with second glances.  The walk up was tiring and I quickly assumed that the descent would be much easier.  

Traversing down the mountain was alright for the most part as there were patches of moss or talus that we could descend on.  But there were some tricky patches.  I slipped while on a side covered by rubble-crop (gravel/sand-like material) and slid a good five meters down, cutting my fingers slightly and becoming quite muddy.  Good lessons for the first day.  The rest of the travel down was arduous and long but we finally reached the bottom of the mountain where the chopper came to pick us up.  I should mention here that my job as a Field Geologist includes duties such as mapping and sampling.  So, the entire traverse we were acquainting ourselves with the rock units and mineralization, mapping structures and lithologies, and collecting samples which we carried in our backpacks.  The model for the area we are exploring is a Carlin gold deposit, where arsenic-minerals are important, such as arsenious pyrite, realgar, scoridite and orpiment.

One of the many beauties of the Yukon!

That first day was challenging.  I had been proven to be out of shape and unprepared mentally for the job at hand.  I was nervous and unsure.  However, I had been in this place many times before.  Each of my previous summer jobs had me recalibrating myself for my environment, so I pressed on.  Four weeks in and I am loving it here!  I have gotten used to traversing down the sides of mountains and have seen some amazing places here in the Yukon.  This territory has a very specific kind of beauty.  While the lakes and hills of Ontario convey a peaceful beauty, I'd like to say that the mountains of the Yukon convey a dangerous beauty.  A beauty that can turn on you if you are not careful where you tread and what you kick up.

Like many places in Canada, there is a danger of bears.  Here, we have both grizzly and black bears to contend with.  There have been several sightings by my camp mates, however there have not been any altercations.  We are all equipped with bear bangers, and bear spray.  I also carry my Gerber knife on my belt whenever I'm in the field.  It is a valued birthday gift from my friend, Jordan.  Though, I quickly came to acknowledge that the most immediate danger wasn't a bear attack, but the mountains themselves.  Rock falls and slides are quite common and can cause a whole range of injuries to look out for.

I should also mention that so far, I have not experienced the darkness of night in the Yukon.  I am here at a time of the year where there is 20-22 hours of daylight a day.  I have often woken up at 2am to see a brightly-lit sky above me.  I am thankful for the purchase of a sleeping eye mask, a must have if you are to retain any normalcy for sleep.  The weather here varies quite a bit, with a week of warm weather leading to a week of cold, rainy weather.  We even had snow one morning!  We entertain ourselves at night by watching shows together on a computer in the kitchen.  We just finished up the Sherlock Holmes mini series made by the BBC, which was fantastic!  If you want to watch a witty show with a captivating plot and cliffhangers, I would definitely recommend Sherlock.

I have another two weeks here until I return to Thunder Bay for a break.  The snow has mostly melted, however there are patches that still remain, and may remain till winter descends upon the mountains in September.  So, that's all for now.  A quick update on my life in the Yukon.  I hope to continue posting articles now that I have time.  However, it's surprising how fast the day goes by here.  Especially when returning from the field to the camp.  The night just disappears! 

Ciao!

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