Growing up in the remote settlement of Yukon's Fort Selkirk during the 1930's and 40's, Ione Christenson's life has been significantly influenced and enriched from the multitude of experiences she embraced since her arrival there as a three year old child.

As a young girl running her own dog team on a trap line west of her small village home, she quickly and joyfully embodied the spirit of a pioneering adventurer eager for experiences that would connect her to the land throughout her lifetime. She likens her treasure chest of people skills to her early years of leading her dog team through the wilds of Yukon, subconsciously working as a leader.

Not one to ever shy away from the challenge of a real days worth of hard work, Ione happily worked along side her mother and father assisting in the daily chores and tasks of maintaining a residence in this remote location, all the while learning the necessary skills to thrive as both a child and later, as a major Canadian political figure working towards governmental policy change.

Today's podcast is the first of several shows that will chronicle the journey of the young Ione Christenson, from her simple holistic beginning of living on the land during the 1930's, right up to today, as she recounts her early memories and provides a sneak peak into her involvement as a political leader tasked with making executive decisions that positively affected Canadians.

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"Bino" and Lynda Ficiur struck out from Lethbridge Alberta in the 1960's as young newlyweds to live the Klondike gold mining life of hard work and adventure in the Yukon Consolidated Gold Corporation's "Bear Creek" mining camp, located just outside of Dawson City. Lynda raised their family in camp, while Bino worked tirelessly in the goldfields. He was quickly promoted from steam point crew member, tasked with the thawing of the frozen ground in front of the dredge, to one of the four lead hands responsible for the care, maintenance, and overall operations of Dredge #11, right up to the day of its tragic demise when it sprung a leak and sank to the bottom of the pond it was creating.

We discover and discuss the beginnings and the end of the YCGC dredging operations with the people who actually ran the equipment, toiled for gold, and raised their family during these halcyon times in the Bear Creek camp.

While visiting the Dawson City area today, evidence of this mining technology can still be seen throughout the Klondike Valley region. Each dredge left behind enormous "tailings piles" of washed white quartz rock and gravel as the waste material exited the conveyor belt, while it's bucket line scoured down to bedrock extracting tens of millions of dollars worth of gold over its productive lifetime.

This extremely prosperous, yet destructive mining process that worked the creeks of the Klondike Valley was fast coming to an end due to environmental pressures, newly refined extraction methods, and overall lack of staked claims to expand operations, thus, putting an end to these incredible machines just prior to the winter freeze up of 1966.

To listen to the full M.A.Y.L. podcast show series, please click on MyAmazingYukonLife.com where you’ll find each weekly podcast link along with show notes and pictures related to each of the episodes. You can also download each episode from Buzzsprout or wherever you get your podcasts from. While you’re there, hit the subscribe button and leave me a comment on what you’d like to hear next on the show.

I encourage you to become a member of the My Amazing Yukon Life Facebook Group where our stories can come together as we build upon the collective memories of one another, recording and preserving personal stories of the Yukon's rich history and colourful life adventures.

I hope you enjoy this podcast and I thank you for joining me as a "M.A.Y.L. carrier”, as we proudly deliver our amazing Yukon life stories to the outside world.

Cheers

“Trapper Dan your Renaissance Man”

Daniel Halen

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In order to live life to the fullest here in the Yukon, you have to get outside of your comfort zone and experience this place and all of its beauty, danger, and grandiose magnitude up close and personal while embracing both the journey and the destination. As they say, " if you're not living on the edge, then you're taking up too much space".

The range of adventures and experiences awaiting you in the Yukon are unlike anything else in the world, and if you choose to live here, then you owe it to yourself to test your mettle on the rivers, mountains, glaciers, and snow pack, living life to the max as it was meant to be lived.

Today's guest, adventurer Angie Sabo, lives her life in this manner and has recently tackled Canada's 5th tallest peak, Mount Steele, with an elevation 5067 metres. Mount Steele, located in the St. Elias Mountain Range of the Yukon Territory, has long been one of the "bucket list" mountains for adventures from around the world and has been on Sabo's radar for many years.

Join us today as we learn about Angie's training, preparation, support network, and overall excitement for adventure as she reflects upon and her Mount Steele ascent along side her son Ray Sabo, as they climb into the wilds of the St. Elias Mountain range to tackle this ominous peak.

To listen to the full M.A.Y.L. podcast show series, please click on MyAmazingYukonLife.com where you’ll find each weekly podcast link along with show notes and pictures related to each of the episodes. You can also download each episode from Buzzsprout or wherever you get your podcasts from. While you’re there, hit the subscribe button and leave me a comment on what you’d like to hear next on the show.

I encourage you to become a member of the My Amazing Yukon Life Facebook Group where our stories can come together as we build upon the collective memories of one another, recording and preserving personal stories of the Yukon's rich history and colourful life adventures.

I hope you enjoy this podcast and I thank you for joining me as a "M.A.Y.L. carrier”, as we proudly deliver our amazing Yukon life stories to the outside world.

Cheers

“Trapper Dan your Renaissance Man”

Daniel Halen

Support the show

Support the show