Poker Creek

PC is the designation for the Northernmost Land Post in the United States. If you climb up on the ridge that looms above the Crossing, you can see the border for miles, a cut in the growing stuff, wide enough to be obvious to the naked eye. There is a good breeze up there as well, so it is a good evening hike to zone out before locking up and sleep.

When we first got there, our first need was water. So we loaded the containers into the car, and drove up the road until we came to a culvert that had a good volume of water cascading out of the business end. We both had to hold the containers as they were big, the water heavy, and coming fast. Whup wandered around sniffing out interesting things. So filling the containers became the norm until a tanker came up and filled the holding tank. Wondrous was the fact that it was cold, clear and unpolluted water! We tidied up our lair for the summer. Whup settled in right away, and would watch and listen to the marmots that lived in the rocks up behind the cabin. There were weasels that showed up off and on, and ptarmigans. Later the place would be a mass of wild flowers. I tried to identify and photograph as many as I could.

We started our routines, and walks were part of them. There were black bears in the area, but we usually saw droppings rather than the bears. I am sure Whup could smell them wherever he sniffed. Behind the cabin, up the road, in Canada, was a good climb to what we called Cat Pass as there were a couple of abandoned Caterpillar graders on top. You could see a long way in both directions, and on off time we would walk the ridge North or South. On the other side was a winding road coming from the Dawson City and the Yukon River with a very steep grade. If we wanted a good stiff walk, we went down this for a bit, and then back up to the top, and back to the cabin. The dog always accompanied us, ranging out sniffing up lemmings, or bear scat. Later in the season would be huckleberries that I would pick with Whups help. He would sit above me and watch for bears, and I would pick. Honest, he would woof if he saw any below me snuffling up berries also. I would go back to the cabin then and leave them to their feeding.

Finally all the Custom people were at their posts. We were not told that the IO had a drinking problem. The Canadian was a young man, newly trained and new to the remote site, and liked to talk. TBC