McOu~st~n Lok~

Yukon Nigel Harling - Chief Leader

I had the opportunity to choose a summer destination for a BSES Expedition.

My criteria for a suitable destination had to be: access, remoteness, wildlife, science

and adventure opportunities and exposure to a real wilderness area- and the Yukon

fitted the bill.

The Yukon Plateau and Selwyn Mountains of NW Canada, are an area situated NE of

the Klondike Highway. The expedition area was identified as being classically remote,

a genuine wilderness area and the three expedition fires operated as small individual

expeditions for the majority of the expedition's time in the field.

The Yukon is twice the size of the UK and has a population of 30,000 people, 185,000

caribou, 17,000 bears and 50,000 moose, so there was a feeling of wild isolation and

solitude. The Yukon which is Canada's Great Wilderness and has a history of being

'wild' with its towering mountains, freezing rivers and thick forests.

Terry Fones and I travelled to Whitehorse in the summer of 2006 on the recce and

met some wonderful and very help people. We were very fortunate to have a blank

canvas and the details and actual location of the expedition were to be arranged.

We sought advice and pondered over maps and guide books and we visited a

number of potential sites. We wanted an accessible, remote, adventurous,

demanding, challenging, quiet and scientifically rich location.

The expedition base camp was thus situated near McQuesten Lake which was 10

miles long and gave access to the lake, rivers and mountains. This is 482 km north of

Whitehorse in total and was 407 km from a town called Mayo, then a further SOkm

along an unsurfaced road to (the abandoned) Keno City and then a further 25 km to

base camp on a rough track.

We flew from London to Vancouver and then onto Whitehorse on the 15th July 2007

and then onto the expedition base camp a day later after packing food in Whitehorse.

The expedition members were transported to base camp in a big yellow bus,

supported by a couple of pick-ups and trailers. The advance party (consisting of four

leaders including the base camp manager) had already been in the Yukon for a week

and they had set up a basic base camp area and organised the purchased and

freighted expedition equipment in readiness for the expedition journey to base camp.

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Location of McOu~sten Lok~

The expedition equipment was either sent from the BSES stores as additional

baggage (which included 14 bear barrels and 10 kit bags) or items were purchased or

hired in Whitehorse (heavy and large 'cheap' items). The food and some incidental

items were purchased in other parts of Canada and freighted to Whitehorse.

Once at the base camp site, leaders and YEs set about the construction of the

base camp area. We had applied for and obtained governmental authorities and

permissions in order to camp at this location and the set up of base camp was

important in order for us to adhere to these guidelines. We were camped in a fire

break, so clearing the area was encouraged, but were still had to site latrines and grey

water waste holes in specific areas and we had to set up an electric fence around the

area of the base camp. We were given a water purification system and we had to

carefully control the storage and disposal of food and rubbish. To assist us with this,

we had hired a lockable box trailer and to assist us with this and also in case of any

evacuation eventualities we also had a pick-up.

As soon as the base site was complete, we began the training phase - this was a

three day 'round robin' process looking specifically at Canoeing, Mountain Craft and

Swtft Water Travel and Rescue Skills. This was done by everyone and also enabled

some initial area and science familiarisation to be carried out.

The three fires then began their sctence and adventure work, for which they had four

and a half weeks at their disposal.

All the science projects were successful and all the adventure journeys achieved goals

beyond our dreams. We as an expedition climbed all the mountains in our area, we

explored and paddled the entire lake, saw a mass of wildlife and navigated well into

the higher reaches of the watershed. We accomplished more than I ever thought, as

the access onto the mountains was difficult and overgrown and the water available

in the higher mountain ranges was limited. We did have medical incidents, but none

was serious and all the expedition members performed to a high standard. We met

and impressed locals with our science objectives and also our adventure achieve­

ments and all in all the Yukon was a perfect location for a summer expedition.

Dawn

Logan Fire Science Report - Dr lain Allison A guide to the rocks and minerals of the Davidson Range and mineral reconnaissance

along McOuesten Lake

The two geology projects were integrated with the adventurous activities through­

out the expedition. The main rock types and any special mineral occurrences were

noted and photographed wherever they were well exposed to provide a guide for

future visitors. The resulting illustrated guide is a valuable and tangible outcome of

the YEs' endeavours. Collecting panned concentrates of heavy minerals from sedi­

ment in streams draining into the south shore of McOuesten Lake introduced the YEs

to an important exploration tool and, in this area of silver mineralisation, it was

hoped to provide a variety of interesting minerals (see photo). However, the main

heavy minerals were iron oxides in all samples.

The rocks of this area are slates and quartzites derived from marine deep-sea muds

and sandstones. Thick dolerite sheets, which now form isolated elongate masses

throughout the area, were injected between the rock layers before they were all

involved in the mountain building processes that formed the Canadian Rockies. Silver

mineralised veins extend north into this area from Keno Hill. However, although we

found evidence of some veins and small scale exploitation, the main ore mineral,

galena, was only rarely found. The Keno Hill silver camp was the second most impor­

tant silver producing area in Canada and was one of the richest in the world. Silver

mining started soon after the 'Gold Rush' in the Klondyke of 1898, had its peak in the

1950s and early '60s and finally ceased in 1989. However, with the current high

prices being paid for minerals, exploration is again being carried out. The Fire had the

opportunity to see some of the exploration drill core and pick over an old ore dump

for specimens of galena.

Muir Fire Science Project - Soo Redshaw Practitioner Research into the meaning making of four key relationships to explore

personal development

A defining quality of humans is the aspiration for personal development, though this

is not always consciously understood or articulated. This research aims to explore a

model of four key relationships to aid understanding and insight. lt is understood

that these relationships are influenced by their context, in this case a wilderness

expedition. A group (Fire) of nine 16- 20 year old male and female Young Explorers

(YEs) spent five weeks together with two leaders specifically considering this model

and qualitatively recording their findings.

Th is Fire interacted with the indigenous people, their culture and their relationship

with the landscape; an environment that many people would consider to be wild but

was and still is home to many people. This engagement acted as a counterpoint

to the YEs' expedition experience and offered a different perspective on the

environment, British culture and encouraged critical thinking and reflection (key

personal and leadership competencies).

The research generated a great amount of data and a rich picture of the complexity

of process, methods and events that contribute to a journey of self development.

The key findings show a correlation between the model and the emergent significant

influences.

Left. Pannmg, Mtddle: A moment's relaxation, Right: Time to reflect

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ANNUAL REPORT 2001 I YUKON

Steller Fire Science Project- Or Regan Early The McQuesten wetlands ecosystem has sustained humans for centur ies bu t still

feels pr istine. McOuesten Lake itself, the floodp la in and the hundreds of ponds which

surround it are a critical wetland habitat for waterfowl. Studying the abundance and

distribution of bi rds can hel p us to understand how this ecosystem works and how

healthy it is. In addition the mountain ranges are home to a variety of small mammals.

However, as the climate warms, many of these species may have to move to higher

altitudes in order to remain wi thin the climatic conditions they are adapted to.

Thus, our science work had two aims: first, to study the diversity and behaviour of

the waterfowl community in the McOuesten wetland; second, to investigate the

elevational ranges of small mammals in the area.

Among a wea lth of bi rd life, we observed 20 species of waterfowl, one of which was

a breeding record for the area. We also noticed an interesting diurnal behaviour

pattern in which many birds spent the night on the main lake but moved to the

surrounding ponds during the day. Unfortunately our mammal traps produced only

one specimen. We hope that these data will help inform the Canadian Wildlife

Service and the Department of Environment on the status of the McOuesten Lake

ecosystem. We also had some fantastic encounters with a range of wi ld life,

including regular moose sightings, and ever present signs of bear activity. The skies

were filled with Bald Eagles and Osprey. In the mountains we lived alongside hoary

marmot, pika, ground squirrels and the occasional wolverine!

Keeping watch for ...

... Canadian Moose!

YUKON'

14

Base Camp Nigel Harling

Terry Fones

Jo Zakrzewski

Martin Dowson

Rib Nicholson

Soo Redshaw

lain Allison

Regan Early

Victoria Rastall

Maria Parkes

Jane Rothwell

Muir Fire Oliver Ash ford

Robert Atkinson

Michael Dunlop

Chris Farrell

John Groves

Alex Keelan

Ben Ridder

Nick Ridley

Jade Stevens

Steller Fire Timothy Culwick

Leanne Defty

Matthew Gebbett

Elizabeth George

Matthew Howard

Sarah Miller

George Oborne

Mark Webster

Logan Fire Robbie Adamson

Liuie Dingle

George Harwood

Luke Havers

Benjamin Jones

Duncan MacNeil

Celyn Owen

Alexandra Sloan

Adam Taylor

Chief Leader

Base Camp Manager

Doctor

Mountain Leader

Mountain Leader

Mountain Leader

Science Leader

Science Leader

Science Leader

Assistant Leader

Assistant Leader

Portsmouth Grammar School

Teesdale Comprehensive School

D'Overbroecks College

Wolverhampton Grammar School

Range High School

Loretto School

Queen Elizabeth High School Hexham

Broxbourne School

Ditch am Park School

Easington Community School

Crown Woods School

Ffynone House School

Steyning Grammar School

St Helen's School for Girls

Winchester College

Lawrence Sheriff School

Arran High School

Richard Huish College

Winchester Col lege

Durham Johnston Comprehensive School

King Edward VI Five Ways School

Firrh ill High School

Olchfa Comprehensive School

St Swithun's School

Winchester College