Lake Kathleen

I had remembered Lake Kathleen as being a rather idyllic place, and it still is.  We passed through Haines Junction where we went to the Village Bakery for lunch.  We had been there before, and we found out it was as good as ever.  The weather was perfect and we stayed there a little longer than anticipated . . . which was ok.

On the way, we passed more beautiful scenery.  Before we arrived at Haines Junction, I saw this beautiful lake and got lucky with my picture:

I wish I knew the name of this lake, but it is beautiful

We went to Lake Kathleen, which is a gorgeous lake on First Nation land.  We love this park, for many reasons.  We saw an aurora there in 2013 (and despite my best efforts, did not see one this time), we took a video of a squirrel chucking pinecones at us (none of that this time),  and it was a quiet place for a campfire, which was the case again.

When we arrived, Katie already had a campfire going, and we loved just sitting around it. After dinner, we went to a talk by a member of the Wolf clan of the tribe.  He was fascinating . . . and one thing that I thought was interesting was this:  “I was born in the 1960s as an Indian; in the 1970s I became aboriginal; in the 1980s I was indigenous; in the 1990s I was Native; and in the 2000s I became First Nation.  We will see what happens in 2020 . . . “  He said it somewhat tongue-in-cheek, but it is true.  He then went on to explain how Canada has begun the process of respecting and restoring the pride the First Nation people have in their heritage.  It was a heartening story.  

And because he mentioned Lake LaBarge, when we returned to our campfire, I read the poem The Cremation of Sam McGee and Blasphemous Bill McKie (which I had never read), both by Robert Service.  It was an enjoyable way to spend a few minutes around the campfire, getting ready to go outside to see the aurora – that never appeared!