LETTERS
Share your views, your experiences and your favourite photos tgo.ed@kelsey.co.uk
Postal address The Editor, The Great Outdoors, Kelsey Publishing Ltd, The Granary, Downs Court, Yalding Hill, Yalding, Kent ME18 6AL. Please include a phone number and postal address.
Beware not only the bear!
In our April issue, Mark Waring recounted his walk with bears in Tombstone. It resonated with one reader, who backpacked through the park two decades ago – and he wrote to us to warn about another local critter Mark didn’t mention...
Thank you for Mark Waring’s excellent report of his hike into the Yukon’s Tombstone Territorial Park. It brought back lots of vivid memories from a similar expedition I made 20 years ago. Back then there was no registration system, no requirement for passes and no managed campsites. There were vestiges of trails here and there, but it was bushwhacking all the way to Mount Monolith, Tombstone Mountain and back. Despite the tough terrain, those 10 days exploring the park are amongst my most treasured memories. The Yukon is an unrivalled wilderness paradise, and Tombstone is magnificent.
Unlike Mark, I did have a couple of grizzly bear encounters, but they carried on with their business with no aggressive moves. It was early summer and I used a bivouac bag rather than a tent, and I lost a great deal of sleep from hyper bear awareness – all those noises in the night! I carried two cans of bear spray, in case one of them jammed. I had to use one of the cans near Atlin in northern British Columbia.
Readers who might be thinking of following in Mark’s footsteps should note one hazard that he doesn’t mention. The biting insects are worse than Scotland’s midges! It is essential to stock up on some of the local repellent when you pass through Whitehorse or Dawson City.
It’s also worth noting that the Dempster Highway is only paved for a short distance. After that the gravel can take quite a toll on your tyres, so carry a couple of spares, and a supplementary jerry can of petrol or diesel. Beyond Tombstone, the highway gets even more interesti
