JIM WELLER (1:123/140) wrote to STEVEN HORN at 23:48 on 23 Dec 2002:

 JW> I have lurked here off and on for some time hoping to see some
 JW> traffic.

There is no traffic if one lurks.:-)  I remember you guys had a little net
up there in the early 90s.  Did it (like the one I was NC for here) die a
natural death? 

 JW> I'm Jim Weller and I have lived in Yellowknife in the Northwest
 JW> territories for the last 22 years.

That gives you an award for endurance.  I lived in Yellowknife from 1986 to
1988 and arrived in Whitehorse in June 1989 which I thought made me an
old-timer.

 JW> Weather? Incredibly mild for here with temps ranging from -2 C (28
 JW> F) to -14 C, occasionally dipping to -20 C (-4 F). It's usually in
 JW> the -30 to -40 range in December. Although I like the mild
 JW> temperatures personally, they are not good for the region. We have
 JW> 2 remote diamond mines, a gold mine and 4 small Dene (Indian)
 JW> villages who rely on ice roads for heavy freight every winter as
 JW> they have no all weather roads. If it doesn't get real cold real
 JW> soon there will be no winter road traffic and they will have to
 JW> bring everything in by air freight.... a financial nightmare.

Your temps have a been a smidge cooler than ours but I can see where the
absence of ice roads would be a real problem.  Did you ever read 'Denison's
Ice Road' by Edith Iglauer?  I found it fascinating when I first read it 16
years ago.

 JW> Tourism? We get as many visitors in winter as in summer these days
 JW> as the Japanese love Aurora watching. We'll probably have over
 JW> 10,000 Japanese visitors this winter. They are already starting to
 JW> arrive.

We're going to have work harder here in the Yukon. 

 JW> Food? I have a freezer stocked full of caribou, bison, whitefish,
 JW> lake trout, ptarmigan and smoked goose breasts. And thanks to
 JW> friends from further north, a little musk-ox and Arctic char as
 JW> well. The pantry is full of dried morels, blueberries, low bush
 JW> cranberries (lignon berries), bake apple jam, and wild rose hips.
 JW> Anyone else here into game cooking, wild food foraging or
 JW> gathering/using herbs?

Ours is not that well-stocked but we do have some elk, moose, mountain
sheep, halibut and cranberries.  Neither my wife and I hunt but she cooks
well enough that friends donate.

Drop in more often,

Steven Horn (steven_a_horn{at}yahoo.ca)
Moderator, ALASKA_CHAT 
--- timEd/386 1.10.y2k+