Wilderness Footprints

At an unnamed bend in the Thirty-Mile portion of the Yukon River, just north of Lake Laberge, on the right limit a scarcely treed, 20 ft. high embankment borders the swift flowing, clear water of the river. The bank carries on for approximately 200 yards before it fades into a much higher clay bluff.

At the top of this embankment there is a clearing, about a half-acre in size running parallel to the river. The clearing is bordered by a small aspen grove. There is really nothing spectacular about the spot but over the years, during the many times I passed it, I felt an involuntary pull at the boat hinting me to stop and explore.

Several years ago the dogs and I cut loose from a group camped just downstream to do a little private fishing and get some alone time with the river and nature around us. This time as I passed the spot I didn’t resist the temptation to scale the embankment that had intrigued me so many times in passing. After tying up the boat, the dogs and I made short work of the climb and walked into the clearing at the upstream side. I immediately came upon an ancient fire ring, a very precise circle of rocks about two feet across that had not been used for many years. The age of the work was evident from the grass and plants that were growing within the circle.

I explored further and at to the other end of the clearing I found another, slightly more recent fireplace that still had some aged charcoal and ashes within the circle of stones.

As the dogs explored the aspen grove I sat down for a time at each of the fireplace locations and faced the opposite shore as those that had been there before me might have done.

I saw a far away valley that started out beyond my sight and ended up in a backwater slough bordering the opposite shore of the river. The slough was invisible to anyone traveling the river and one had to be above the water level, like I was to see it. The valley was wide enough to provide a corridor for wildlife to access the river valley that I was in.

The sun was shining, the water clear and moving swiftly below me. The sweet smell of spring wildflowers mixed with the heady scent of running spruce sap made it easy for the imagination to run wild. I envisioned those who had sat there before me. Where they hunters? Had they come down the valley or the river? What was it that made them decide to climb the bank to this very spot where I now sat? Whatever the answer, just being there provided a common bond and that afternoon I felt their presence. It was a comfortable and companionable presence that put me at ease.