June 21-23, 2024.
The last time we took someone’s detour recommendation, it ended up being a dreamy trip to Skagway. So we decided to take his other suggestion too: Tombstone Territorial Park. The one thing I’ve learned for sure on this drive through Canada is how shamefully little I know about this country. It’s geography, government, people, history, everything. So, with a last minute campground reservation and precious little knowledge, we turned up the Dempster Highway and drove for about an hour to the Visitor Center.
There, I learned that we stumbled into the park for “Botany Weekend,” in which there would be several workshops and hikes related to the theme. Since it was summer solstice, there was a solstice evening hike planned as well. Score! I put all the events in my calendar and we settled into our campsite. The campground was pretty full, but the online reservation system was easy to use and I grabbed a spot for 2 nights. After spending just an hour here I wished we would have planned more time, but I was happy to see what I could.
Riverside interpretive trail
The ranger at the visitor center recommended this trail for an introductory walk in the park. Note, this isn’t the official name, as I couldn’t find any. But it basically starts at the campground and follows the river to the northwest.
I was greeted by a flurry of colorful flowers I was just learning to recognize: arctic blackberry, tall Jacob’s ladder, bog Labrador tea. The trail passed through boreal forest, wet bogs and open sub-alpine habitats. I was mesmerized by all the colors and textures of lichen covering the ground. As I continued to explore, I found a variety of completely unfamiliar plants. Later I’d find out they were things like yellow thimbleweed, meadow bistort and something that looked like the tiniest shooting star I’d ever seen. I worked it out to be bog cranberry, growing in force along the boardwalks. What a magical place!
The gray clouds on the horizon were building as we continued along the trail. We reached the bench at an overlook and had our lunch there, keeping an eye on the sky. We hurried back as to avoid the impending storm. It’s so hard to rush when everything is interesting and new. But we made it back to the van before the first raindrop fell. From campground to bench at the end (?) was about 3 miles and 140′ elevation gain.
Goldensides: a solstice adventure
We met up with a park ranger and a large group of excited hikers for a group adventure on Goldensides Mountain. A lovely trail gradually ascends about 650 vertical feet from a parking area up to a knob south of the peak. But that was not the ranger’s plan. Instead, we parked at the base of the road and hiked up to the parking area. Then, shortly thereafter, left the easy trail behind and thrashed through the shrub birch and tundra plants to make a beeline toward the summit.
“The old trail is in here somewhere,” she periodically exclaimed, as we spread out in search of any reasonable route. Having extensive experience traveling off trail and on old or barely used, trails, I eventually got the group back on track. I followed the old trail to the base of a rocky gully that had a large arm of snow on one side. We crossed the gully and then headed straight up.
It was moderately terrifying being in a pretty big group with mixed experience and footwear on an unstable rock surface. I eventually hung way back in order to choose a safe route and avoid rockfall from careless or unlucky hikers. The ranger was in the back too, letting people romp ahead at their own pace. The whole scenario was quite bizarre and not par for the course for any organized park hike I’d ever been on!
Meanwhile, the cloud ceiling continued to descend on the mountain. As we got higher and the clouds got lower, we ultimately met in the middle. While more than half the group chose to ascend into the clouds, I decided to sit tight with the stragglers in the back, laying out my foam pad and pulling out the cocoa I’d brought. I shared it with a couple of others who were fighting off the shivers in the wet and cold. I don’t mind a backcountry epic, but it’s not really what I was interested in at the moment.
The others did retreat before reaching the summit and, once the group was back together, we all began descending the mountain. This time I ran out in front of everyone in order to routefind and try and keep us on the old trail the whole way back. That strategy worked.
We arrived at the cars at the stroke of midnight, no joke. I guess it ended up being a perfect solstice hike after all! Looking out at the landscape, in what felt like pre-dusk sky, I realized that the Land of the Midnight Sun is no exaggeration. Definitely a hike to remember!
Mt. Adney botanical hike
The next day, we showed up for what was billed as a “botanical hike” with another park ranger guide. Due to the size of the group, they decided to split us up into “moderate” and “difficult” hike options. We should have known better, but we chose the “difficult” hike. Everyone piled into their cars and caravanned to the Hollywood parking lot for a completely off-trail scramble up Mt. Adney.
We got a good overview chat at the beginning of the hike about the local flora, then started walking cross country through the spongy tundra in the general direction of Mt. Adney. There was very little stopping to look at flowers, like every other botany hike I’d ever done. Typically there’s more stopping than hiking, but today it was the opposite.
Again our guide didn’t seem to have a clue where he was going. We had to take off our shoes (or get them soaked) three times in order to cross meandering creeks. We did our best to avoid the swampy and boggy sections as we crossed over the flat lands at the base of the mountains, but it was difficult to do. Expecting some sort of guidance on a ranger-led hike, this was pretty disappointing. Again, I don’t mind a grueling outdoor adventure but this is not what I was in the mindset for today!
As the group climbed up the increasingly steep grade of Mt. Adney’s western flanks, I stopped to check my map. Unless we committed to a really long day, there was no way we were going to reach the summit and we couldn’t keep up with their pace anyways. Wait a minute…I came here to look at flowers! I snapped out of it and turned to Aaron. “Let’s just go at our own pace, aim for that bump and call it good.” Once I switched my focus to the ground beneath my feet, the flowers and lichens came back into focus. This place was amazing and everyone was just racing through it.
When we reached the flattish bump that everyone made their lunch spot, we decided that would be our end goal. We said goodbye to the rest of the group and bundled up for a nice long rest. I did some sketching while I was up there, too.
From our high perch, we scanned the terrain below to pick a smarter route back. I didn’t want to have to deal with unnecessary stream crossings. We managed to avoid ALL of them on the way back. Maybe I’m the one who should be leading hikes out here. Our total on this one: 2.85 miles with 760′ elevation gain. Sounds like nothing, but walking on open tundra is no joke. Including our lunch break (and stream crossing shenanigans), that took us 4 hours.
Art in the park
One of the main highlights of our visit was engaging with art. I participated in two workshops. In one, I learned how to make paper using a recycled paper slurry and a bug screen. We then embedded dried flowers and other plants in our home-made paper. In the other, I practiced some observation and sketching with a botanical artist who shared some tips and tricks with us.
It is so enjoyable not only to combine art with nature appreciation but also to share it with other people. As we sat at the picnic table under the warm summer sun, we shared our sketches and stories, our appreciations and critiques, our thoughts and feelings. We learned some science facts from a roving ranger and explored some pencil techniques together. We also got to ooh and aah over the teaching artist’s recent botanical paintings that will be incorporated into a field guide to Tombstone’s wildflowers.
I’m so glad the timing worked out so we could take advantage of all the parks had on offer. We even extended our visit a half day in order to attend the drawing workshop. Leaving sufficient flex time in our travel schedule allows us to participate in things we find out about at the last minute. Since we’re always on the go, it can be hard to tap into local happenings until we’re right there. While we’re perfectly content to explore new places on our own, we find that the experience is so much richer when we can connect with both locals and travelers within the framework of an event.
