Blogger Meet Up & Escaping the Smoke

I have been corresponding and following artist Kim Henkel of "Letting in the Light" for a few years now.

She does some of the most soulful nature inspired artwork , journals and mini books as well as jewelry making.

This picture is the little accordian book that she gifted me.

We have more than a little bit in common despite the fact that we live in different countries she is one of my nearest neighbor bloggers actually living right off of the same highway as we do.

The great Alaskan highway separates us by almost 400 miles. ( they call it the North Highway)

We both are named Kim and live in remote subarctic junctions and both have the nearest city about 100 miles away from us. She goes to Whitehorse and I go to Fairbanks.

Both of our husbands studied archaeology and I just found out this weekend that we are both from a family of five kids.

We had spoken of a meet-up for a few years now and in fact my husband had already met them at their home when he was driving through a few seasons ago.

I also knew that they had a place on beautifully spectacular Kluane Lake that I had driven by on the highway several times in my travels.

It was our 6 year anniversary and Canada Day which seems to be a tradition to take a trip to Dawson City, Yukon. This year I suggested a different more relaxing trip for a couple of overnights. The smoke was getting oppressive from wildfires and we hoped to escape it and breathe a little fresh air after our heatwave and subsequent smokiness. Although Kim's husband is very busy with the fire season she agreed to meet us and let us park my little teardrop trailer at their lovely spot in the woods by the lake.

This is their modest abode by the lake that I dubbed the Shakwak Shack since it is planted in the Shakwak Trench situated between the mountains and Destruction Bay on Kluane Lake

And then I got to meet Kim. I was very happy that she could make the trip as well because I knew that she was still recovering from a concussion from a hockey injury from over a year ago and it has been a slow but steady healing. Imagine getting the instructions to stay in a darkened room and not think for hours a day. That's what she had to endure among many other limitations to her normal life.

The lake is vast...at least 30 miles long with not many inhabitants or residences on the Bay.

Their little place is one of only a few that have a road to it.

We went walking and beach combing

Honey was getting a little too close to the terns here. He was about to get dive bombed.

wild fireweed

A driftwood cache for plundering

Sand encrusted patina-ed copper!

Got to get me some of that. 

I was able to find a few pieces that weren't impossibly secured to underground pilings

Next time we go back I'll bring some wire snips. I'm sure it will still be there.

I can see where Kim gets her inspiration and solitude

Modeling my HappyFish earrings (with a cee-gar of course)

The ol' man was enjoying hisself. Totally in his element.

He had a dream the first night about where someone had caught a lake trout so he went to that place first thing and caught us some lunch

We did a little exploring in the nearby village of Burwash Landing

Can't get enough old wooden boat textures

So peaceful and windswept with the sounds of the waves lapping and steady strong breezes...OK wind I mean

They had a nice little fire pit that was sheltered from the harsh wind and we cooked up  the trout. 

A total collaboration as Dave caught it, I seasoned it and Kim did the cooking.

My spoils from the beach combing

Saw this guy ambling on down the road on our trip home. 

Surprisingly I haven't seen many bears in all my years up here in the north so I was kind of excited to see this one up close.

As he went behind our trailer he took a good sniff of it as we have a little kitchen back there and I think if we had remained any longer he may have tried to open it like a sardine can  so we went on our way.